Module 1

Environmental science

 Aspects of biology, geology, chemistry, physics, meteorology, and many other disciplines.

 Is a quantitative discipline with both applied and theoretical aspects and has been influential in
informing the policies of governments around the world.

Importance

 Environmental studies is useful in checking environmental pollution and related solutions.

 It helps in maintaining ecological balance.

SPHERES OF THE EARTH

Biosphere

Lithosphere

Contains:

 All of the cold

 Hard soil

 Planet’s crust (surface)

 Semi-solid land underneath the crust

 liquid land near the center of the planet

Facts:

 Its surface is very uneven.

 There are high mountain ranges, huge plains or flat areas, and deep valleys along the ocean
floor in the Philippines.

 The solid, semi-solid, and liquid land of the lithosphere form layers that are physically and
chemically different.

Hydrosphere

Contains:

 all the solid

 Liquid

 Gaseous water of the planet

Facts:
  Ranges from 10 to 20 kilometers in thickness

 extends from Earth's surface downward several kilometers into the lithosphere and upward
about 12 kilometers into the atmosphere

 A small portion of the water in the hydrosphere is fresh (non-salty)

 Most of Earth's fresh water, however, is frozen

Biosphere

Contains:

 all the planet's living things

(This sphere includes all of the microorganisms, plants, and animals of Earth)

Facts:

 Within the biosphere, living things form ecological communities based on the physical
surroundings of an area, referred to as biomes.

 Grasslands and tropical rainforests are some of the many types of biomes that exist within the
biosphere especially in the Philippines.

Atmosphere

Contains:

 all the air in Earth's system

Facts:

 It extends from less than 1 m below the planet's surface to more than 10,000 km above the
planet's surface.

 The upper portion of the atmosphere protects the organisms of the biosphere from the sun's
ultraviolet radiation.

 It also absorbs and emits heat. When there is change in the air temperature in the lower portion
of the sphere, weather can occur.

 As air in the lower atmosphere is heated or cooled, it moves around the planet. The result can
be as simple as a breeze or as complex as a tornado.
 SPEHERES OF THE EARTH

Litosphere Hydrosphere
(land) (water)

Biosphere Atmosphere
(living things) (air)

Ecology

 From the Greek word Oikos “house” and logia “study”

 The study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical
environment; it seeks to understand the vital connections between plants and animals and the
world around them.
 The study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical
environment; it seeks to understand the vital connections between plants and animals and the
world around them.

Two subdivisions of Ecology

1. AUTECOLOGY

It deals with the study of the individual organism, its life history, behaviour, characteristics and
its adaptation to the environment.

2. SYNECOLOGY
It deals with the study of groups of organisms which are associated as a unit in relation to its
environment.

 Organisms are expected to adapt to their environment, so they ‘fit’ into their surroundings, to
ensure survival.
  An adaptation is an inherited or learned characteristic of organisms whether plants or animals
during their spans of lifetime.

A. Ecosystem
 is the interactions between living and non-living things in a particular environment that occur.
Example: rotting log, decaying plants

 a simple aquarium with water, fishes, sands and stones, shells, and plants, is an example of
ecosystem.
 There are different ways or methods that organisms can interact with each other, referred to as
symbiosis.
 Mutualism

Occurs when there is a relationship between two different organisms, in

which partner benefits from the relationship
Example: the clown fish dwell among the tentacles of sea anemones, an
insect sips nectar of the flowers.

 Commensalism
Occurs when there is a relationship between two different organisms, in
which one partner benefits from the relationship, while the other
neither benefits, nor is harmed.
 Parasitism
Occurs when there is a relationship between two different organisms, in
which one partner benefits from the relationship, while the other
partner is harmed.
Typically, the partner that benefits (parasite) lives on or in the other
organism (host) and feeds on it.

 predation
is a biological interaction where a predator (an organism that is hunting)
feeds on its prey (the organism that is attacked).

TWO BASIC FACTOR

 Abiotic- These are non-living conditions or things, such as climate or habitat, that influences or
affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it. Water, soil, sunlight, and temperature are part of
these.
 Biotic -These are living things, plants and animals, which influence or affect an ecosystem.
LIMITING FACTORS
 Competitors
 Diseases and parasites
 Weather
 Fires
 Available habitat
 Predators

 Are the forms of an environmental resistance that limits the population? These are some things
that keep population from growing too large.

 these are any biotic or abiotic factors that restrict the numbers, reproduction or distribution of
organisms

Classification of limiting factors

 Density independent - can affect the population no matter what its density is.

Density Independent Factors

•Natural Disasters

•Temperature

•Sunlight

•Human Activities

•Physical Characteristics

•Behaviours of Organisms

 Dependent factors- can only affect a population when it reaches a certain density.

Density Dependent Factors

 Competition

 Parasitism

 Predation

 Crowding stress, disease

CARRYING CAPACITY- is the maximum number of organisms of a single species that an area can hold

MODULE 3
 Ecosystem and the Levels of Organization

Ecosystem is a combination of biotic and abiotic components through which energy flows and inorganic
materials recycles.

⮚ Biotic factors have to rely on abiotic factors to survive.

ECOLOGY- is the scientific study of the inter-relationship of plants, animals and the environment.

The term Ecology comes from the Greek word "oikos” meaning "house." It was coined by
German scientist -Ernst Haeckel.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HABITAT AND NICHE?

Habitat -an area where organisms live.

Many different organisms can share a habitat, but each organism has a certain role or "niche"
in its habitat.

✔ Niche - the role an organism plays in a community.

Levels of biological organization

⮚ Levels of organization are structures in nature, usually defined by part-whole relationships, with
things at higher levels being composed of things at the next lower level.

Levels of Organization Description

Atom is the smallest particle of matter

Molecules Smallest particle of a substance

Organelle specialized structures that perform various jobs inside cell

Cell is the smallest unit of living things

Tissue is the group of similar cells

Organ is the group of differentiated tissues work together doing the same wor

Organ System basic chemical unit that makes up the parts of the cell

Organism is an individual living thing or organism either plant or animal

Population is the group of similar organisms occupying in the same area

 Community is the group of different populations interacting with one another

Ecosystem is the group of communities interacting with their physical factors

Biosphere refers to all the ecosystem on earth with the physical environment

Atom - smallest unit into which matter can be divided without the release of electrically charged
particles. It also is the smallest unit of matter that has the characteristic properties of a chemical
element

Molecules -a group of two or more atoms that form the smallest identifiable unit into which a pure
substance can be divided and still retain the composition and chemical properties of that substance

Organ - is a collection of tissues that structurally form a functional unit specialized to perform a
particular function? Your heart, kidneys, and lungs are examples of organs.

Organ system- a group of organs that work together to perform a certain function in an organism's
body.

Organism - An individual form of life, such as a plant, animal, bacterium, protist, or fungus; a body
made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of
life.

Population- defined as a group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a
given area.

Community- an interacting group of various species in a common location.

Eco-system- consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact.

Bio-sphere - is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists. The planet earth and all its
inhabitants may be regarded as a giant ecosystem, called the biosphere.

Module 4
Abiotic and biotic factors
BIOTIC FACTORS

It is the interactive relationship among biotic factors in the community.

ABIOTIC FACTORS

it is the interaction relationship among physical factors in the environment.

ABIOTIC FACTORS BIOTIC FACTORS

Water, Plants,

Sunlight, Animals, Microorganisms, All Living Things

Soil,

Oxygen

Components of the Ecosystem

Water is an important ecological factor. It is an inorganic substance which plays an important role
in the ecosystem. It brings about changes in the life forms of plants and animals. As aquatic
plants and animals have different structures from terrestrial form. Water is very irregularly
distributed on the earth's surface.
 Plants have different adaptations that help them survive in different condition.

 TROPOPHYTES- these plants that can adapt it year after year where seasonal changes
bring mark change in the amount of available water from the soil.
 MESOPHYTES-most of our plant bearing flowers and fruits are classified as
mesophytes. They need a moderate supply of water for their subsistence.
 XEROPHYTES- Plants that can tolerate where water supply is very scantly
 HYDROPHYTES- These plants thrive in places where the amount of water is abundant:
usually fresh water plants are called aquatic or hydrophytes
 HALOPHYTES- Plants capable of normal growth in saline habitats and also able to
thrive on “ordinary” soil. Can tolerate salt concentrations over 0.5%.
Soil
 The soil is another important ecological factor. On land, the character of the soil
determines largely the character of vegetation and the types of animals that maintain
themselves upon on it.
 Organisms find different kinds of soil available for their habitats.

Types of Soil

 LOAM- Soil which is good for agriculture and made up of particles of gravel sand
and clay with the addition of organic materials called humus, with 1inch diameter.
 CLAY- Smallest inorganic particle of soil compared with silt and sand. It retains
water before drying; it is sticky and not suitable for plant growth. Water moves
very slowly. It is often damp and poorly drained, about 0.005millimeters in
diameter.
 Silt - Made up of very fine particles of soil and clay, deposited as sediments. It is
about 0.05 to 0.005 in diameter.
 Sandy- Inorganic soil particles those are larger than a clay or silt. Plants do not
grow well because water goes rapidly through the spaces between particle, and
water dries quickly. Its size about 1 millimetre to 0.05 in diameter.
Sunlight
Light is an important physical factor. Without light, life on earth would be impossible.
The process of photosynthesis on which organisms depend on the manufacture of food, does
not take place except in the presence of light.
The character of the lightning of an area has a profound effect on animals and plants that live
there.

Temperature

Temperatures in sunlight and in shade differ and influence animals in their selection of a
habitat.

Types of animals in different body temperature: Cold Blooded (fish, amphibians, reptiles) and
Warm Blooded (birds and mammals)

Oxygen

Like water, oxygen (O2) is another important abiotic for many living organisms.
 Without oxygen, humans would not be able to live. Oxygen is produced by green plants through
the process of photosynthesis, and is therefore directly linked to sunlight.

The biological relationships may be between individual of the same species (intraspecific) or
between animals of different species (interspecific) or between plants and animals.

Intra-Specific

It is the relationship includes mating, assistance, and competition. Organisms

belonging to the same species must compete with one another for space, food, and mates.

Inter- specific

a form of competition between different species inhabiting the same ecological area.

BIOMES OF THE WORLD

What are biomes? A biome is an area that has the same climate (weather) and the same
organisms that live there.
There are 6 land biomes and 2 water biomes