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Ecology (Essential Biology Stage 9)

The document discusses key concepts in biology, including classification tools, food chains, energy flow, and the role of decomposers in recycling nutrients. It also covers genetics, selective breeding, and natural selection, highlighting how organisms adapt and evolve over time. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection is emphasized, along with examples such as the peppered moth and antibiotic resistance.

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37 views32 pages

Ecology (Essential Biology Stage 9)

The document discusses key concepts in biology, including classification tools, food chains, energy flow, and the role of decomposers in recycling nutrients. It also covers genetics, selective breeding, and natural selection, highlighting how organisms adapt and evolve over time. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection is emphasized, along with examples such as the peppered moth and antibiotic resistance.

Uploaded by

Jason
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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3.

1 Classification and keys


Keys
• A key is a tool that can use to help identify and classify organisms (plants and animals)
3.2 Food chains, food webs and energy flow
Pyramid of numbers
• The numbers of organisms in a food
chain ( not always in pyramid shape)

Pyramids of biomass
• Biological materials that less and
less biomass along the food chain
(always pyramid shape)
Energy flow through a food web
3.3 Decomposers, trophic levels and recycling
The decomposers and recycling
• One important group of organisms
• Dead bodies and wastes are broken own by decomposers
• Bacteria, fungi, earthworm and woodlice
• They break down during respiration to get energy
• Minerals form plants and animals released back into the soil
• Roots of plants used and pass through food chains and food webs again
Trophic level
3.4 Genes and genetics
Information in the genes
• Nucleus contains genetic materials (genes)
• Genes carried pairs of chromosomes
• Chromosomes made of DNA
• Humans have 23 pairs, 46 chromosomes
• Horses have 32 pairs, 64 chromosomes
• Animals passed down from parents to offspring
• Mixture genetic information different in egg and sperm
• Exception in identical twins
• Plants pass on genetic plan in the seeds
3.5 Selective breeding of plants and animals
Selective breeding
• The features that want in different types of organisms
• Choose two animals or plants which have the features to improve and breed together
• Select individual to breed
• select the offspring that show an improvement features and breed again
• Continue the process until the organism that you want
Food for all
• All members of cabbage family come originally from wild mustard plants
• Now have some very vegetables
• Selective breeding gets results more effectively and faster
• Develop crops with extreme conditions
• Little water but produce a lot of grains
• Cereals crops with much shorter stems, less damaged by storm
• Produced more food
3.6 Natural selection in nature
Natural selection
• Selection takes place by survival in nature
• Might not be enough food
• A new disease may attack the organisms
• New predators may arrive

Adaptations
• Can survive better than others
• To reproduce and pass on their genes
• The population will gradually change until all of them have characteristics to survive
• This natural selection is also known as “ the survival of the fittest”
Definition of Natural selection
• Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive
and reproduce by pass on the genes.

Definition of Adaptation
• An adaptation is a characteristic of an organism that improves its chances of
surviving and reproducing.
3.7 Darwin and natural selection

Charles Darwin
(1809-1882)
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection
• All living organisms have evolved from simpler life forms
• Evolution has come about by a process of natural selection
• Reproduction always gives more offspring than the environment can support
• Have inherited features most suited to their environment (the fittest)- will survive
• They breed, pass on genes for useful inherited characteristics to offspring
3.8 Natural selection in action
The story of peppered moth
Antibiotic resistance
3.9 Problems in investigating natural selection
• Natural selection cannot always save organisms when conditions change very fast

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