Plants and Ecosystems

          During the first half of this unit students will be studying the basic structure of plants, and will look at the functions of the roots, stems, and leaves of plants.  Students will then move on to specifically study the flower, which is the reproductive organ of flowering plants.  Students will review the processes of photosynthesis, pollination and fertilization, seed dispersal, and germination.

            During the second half of the unit, students will review ecosystems by discussing communities, such as boundary communities and discussing how populations within those communities might change.  We will review concepts like competition, territory, and other limiting factors for population growth.  We will also discuss how natural environmental cycles such as the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles work to sustain life on earth.  We will end the unit by discussing the fact that all organisms within a community are dependent upon one another because of the roles they play within a food web.   

Our culminating lab activity for this unit will be an owl pellet dissection, which will involve students determining what the owl ate, and reconstructing the skeleton that they find in their owl pellet.  Students will also construct a food web for the barn owl.