Ecología: los fundamentos de la naturaleza (de 13 a 18 años)

Have you ever wondered about how interactions between organisms can greatly impact our environment?  For example, how removing an ecosystem's top predator can greatly impact the rest of the food chain.  Or how natural disasters such as fires, pollution and landslides can have severe impacts on an entire ecosystem of organisms and wildlife. Or how the presence of one organism can alter the behavior of another.  

In this class, students will be introduced to the dynamics of environmental food chains and how the addition or removal of one keystone organism can effect the entire balance.  Students will look at topics such as invasive species from pollution, predator and prey interactions between organisms, the breakdown of habitats, food chains, and human impacts on wildlife.   Students will get an introduction into how processes such as habitat fragmentation can cause decreased population numbers in animals possibly leading a species to be at risk of endangerment.  

Week 1: Biotic & Abiotic Factors
Week 2: Animal Populations
Week 3: Ecological Interactions
Week 4: Food Webs & Food Chains
Week 5: Community Structures & Biodiversity
Week 6: Energy Systems
Week 7: Biochemical Cycles
Week 8: Human Impacts on Ecosystems