Adams Science

  Watch this video: Generation Genius Competition in Ecosystems Read this article  (or click  here  to have it read to you)  A limiting factor is anything that constrains a population's size and slows or stops it from growing.  Some examples of limiting factors are biotic, like food, mates, and competition with other organisms for resources.  Others are abiotic, like space, temperature, altitude, and amount of sunlight available in an environment.  Limiting factors are usually expressed as a lack of a particular resource. For example, if there are not enough prey animals in a forest to feed a large population of predators, then food becomes a limiting factor. Likewise, if there is not enough space in a pond for a large number of fish, then space becomes a limiting factor.  There can be many different limiting factors at work in a single habitat, and the same limiting factors can affect the populations of both plant and animal species.  U...

Watch this Video:  Generation Genius Ecosystems   Read this article (or click  here to have it read to you ) and then answer the questions on your journal page for DAY 1.  QUESTION 1: Where can you find an ecosystem? What Is An Ecosystem? Just about everywhere you could go in nature, you would be taking a  field trip  to an  ecosystem . There are underwater ecosystems and coastal ecosystems. There are small scale ecosystems and large ones. There are even ecosystems inside your body! An  ecosystem  is a group of living things and their environment. The word ecosystem is short for “ecological system.” Like any system, an ecosystem is a group of parts that work together. You can see examples of ecosystems in  Figure  below. The forest pictured is a big ecosystem. Besides trees, what living things do you think are part of the forest ecosystem? The dead tree stump in the same forest is a small ecosystem. It includes plants, mosses...

  Watch this video: Generation Genius Symbiosis Read this article    (or click  HERE  to have it read to you) and then answer the questions on your journal page for  DAY 2 .  QUESTION 1 Symbiotic Relationships Symbiosis  is a close relationship between two species in which at least one species benefits. For the other species, the relationship may be positive, negative, or neutral. There are three basic types of symbiosis:  mutualism ,  commensalism , and  parasitism . QUESTION 2 Mutualism Mutualism  is a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. An example of mutualism involves goby fish and shrimp (see the  Figure below ). The nearly blind shrimp and the fish spend most of their time together. The shrimp maintains a burrow in the sand in which both the fish and shrimp live. When a predator comes near, the fish touches the shrimp with its tail as a warning. Then, both fish and shrimp retreat to the burrow until...