Module 3 Intro

Module 3—Ecosystems and Their Diversity

Reflect and Connect

 

Go back to the beginning of this lesson, and think about the trip to a national park. Now that you have worked through Lesson 1, can you identify some of the more important relationships that exist between the species you could have encountered?

 

Work alone or with a partner to research species within the ecosystem of the park and how they interact with each other and their abiotic environment. Create a podcast, a collage of images, a PowerPoint presentation, a bulleted list, a flow chart, or a descriptive essay to present these relationships.

 

Share your work with the class in the discussion area.

 

Self-Check

 

SC 4. Complete the Ecosystem Self-Check.

 

Discuss

 

If you have been to Banff, you have probably seen elk wandering through yards and streets. You may have also heard stories of bears walking into town.

 

You may question who is interacting with whom. Are the bears interacting with the people or the elk?

 

Humans affect other populations of organisms within the national parks with the development of housing and shopping areas, their lifestyle choices, and their travels. In light of this, should there be more public access to remote wilderness areas? Should there be more housing and resorts built within the national parks? With your teacher or classmates, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of development in the national parks.

 

What is your opinion about increasing development within the national parks?

 

Prepare your statement and post it in the discussion area.

 

Reflect on the Big Picture

 

You will now begin to work on the Module Project. You will continue to work on it in other lessons in this module. For this part, you will be creating an advertisement. Save your work for the advertisement into your course folder so it is readily available for future work on the project.

 

In the Big Picture for this module you were asked to think about what makes a vacation spot unique and to identify how vacationers may affect ecosystems they visit. Well-studied distinct ecosystems in Alberta are national parks, which are prime vacation destinations.

 

Now you will integrate what you know about the interactions of biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem. You will apply this information to the concept of maintaining ecological integrity.

 

Ecological integrity exists when human activity doesn’t interfere with the structure and function of an ecosystem. In other words, the stressors present in an ecosystem are manageable. The ecosystem will adapt and continue to coexist alongside human activity without being drastically altered. 

 

Parks Canada Ecological Integrity Advertisement

 

Parks Canada constantly monitors ecosystem changes in order to maintain and restore ecological integrity. Your task is to develop a public-awareness advertisement describing the work Parks Canada does to maintain ecological integrity in national parks. The following six questions should be answered in your advertisement:

• In your own words, what does ecological integrity mean to you?

• Why is ecological integrity important in national parks?

• What are some stressors affecting ecological integrity? Describe how humans are directly and indirectly causing many of these stresses.

• How does Parks Canada monitor ecological integrity?

• How does Parks Canada maintain ecological integrity?

• How does Parks Canada draw on the traditional knowledge of First Peoples and integrate this knowledge into the management of park ecosystems?

Your advertisement may be in any of the following forms:

• a television advertisement (PowerPoint presentation)

• a radio advertisement (recorded on tape, computer, or a printed transcript)

• a poster

• a brochure

• any other form approved by your teacher

You are creating an advertisement and will need to keep your message short and to the point. The television or radio advertisement should be no longer then 60 seconds. Read over the rubric to make sure your advertisement meets all the necessary criteria.

 

The Parks Canada Website on Ecosystem Management will provide most of the information needed for your advertisement.

 

To get to this website, perform a search by entering the keywords “parks Canada” into a search engine. Once at the Parks Canada website, enter “ecosystem management” into the website search bar. You will know you have chosen the correct article if the navigation bar to the left contains headings such as the following: “Ecosystem Principles” and “Ecosystem Restoration.”

 

You will be able to use the information from these web pages to begin creating your ad. You may need to perform other searches in the Parks Canada website to complete this assignment.

 

Going Beyond

 

Are you interested in helping Parks Canada maintain ecological integrity? Do you enjoy working outdoors? Maybe a career with Parks Canada interests you. Student summer jobs and careers are available. Are you qualified? Check out the Parks Canada website to learn more about the types of jobs available in ecology and what qualifications are needed.

Module 3: Lesson 1 Assignment

 

Remember to submit the Assignment answers to your teacher as part of your Module 3: Lesson 1 Assignment.

 

Biology 20 © 2008 Alberta Education