Ecological Levels Lesson

Levels of Ecological Organization

Mrs. Washington's Science Class

​Ecology Vocabulary

Community: Many populations living in the same area.
Niche: The role an organism plays in an ecosystem. This includes where it lives, what it eats, and what conditions it can survive in (temperature, humidity, etc.).
Competition: When two organisms are fighting for the same resources. Intraspecific competition is between the same species, interspecific competition is between different species.

​Ecology Vocabulary

Organism: A single living thing
Population: Group of the same species living in the same area
Carrying capacity: Greatest number of individuals that the environment can sustain
Limiting factors: prevent overpopulation. These include lack of resources, competition, disease.

 SEV1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to

investigate the flow of energy and cycling of matter
within an ecosystem. a. Develop and use a model to
compare and analyze the levels of biological organization
including organisms, populations, communities,
ecosystems, and biosphere.

Standard

Multiple Choice

What level of ecological organization does this entire picture represent?

• Organism

• Population

• Community

• Ecosystem

I can analyze the levels of organization.

Learning Target

ECOSYSTEM

Within each biome are many ecosystems. Inside an ecosystem, living and nonliving factors interact to form a stable system. An ecosystem is smaller than a biome and includes only organisms and their local environment.

Community

Biotic factors

Abiotic factors

Multiple types of animals

Which word does not belong?

Multiple Choice

What level of ecological organization does the bird represent?

• Organism

• Population

• Community

• Ecosystem

 An ecosystem includes all livingorganisms in a

defined area and their nonliving environment.

 Ecosystems are made up of living and nonliving factors:

 Biotic factors - living

 Abiotic factors - nonliving

 Think about the biotic and abiotic factors in your

environment!

Ecosystem

Organism (Individual)

An organism is a single individual animal, plant, fungus, or other living thing. An organism plays a part in each level of the environment.

 Anything living:
Biotic Factors

Multiple Choice

What level of ecological organization do the organisms represent?

• Species

• Population

• Community

• Ecosystem

 Parts that make up the environment that are not

living:

Abiotic Factors

Community

A community is made up of the living components of the ecosystem. In a community, different plants, animals, and other organisms interact with each other.

 An organism is any living thing – a plant, a germ, a

human, a fish, a bird, etc.

 One organism by itself is the simplest level of

ecosystem organization

 An organism is classified as being a member of a

species – a distinct sort or kind of organism

Example: whitetail deer

Level 1: Single Organism

Multiple Choice

The temperate decisuous forest, the tropical rain forest, the desert, and the tundra are all examples of...

• the biopshere.

• biomes.

• ecosystems.

• communities.

 A population is made up of all the individuals of a

given species in a specific area or region at a certain
time.

 A group of organisms of the same kind

Example: a herd of
whitetail deer

Level

2

: Population

Biome

A biome describes in very general terms the climate and types of plants that are found in similar places around the world.

 A community includes all organisms in a given area

 Sizes of communities vary greatly

 Populations within a community are interdependent

because of the food webs that bind them together

 Example:

Level 3: Community

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is a population?

• hawks, barred owls, and eagles on NC coast

• mountain stream

• all the frogs in a pond

• blue-tailed skinks (lizards) around a barn

 An ecosystem includes all organisms in a defined area and

their nonliving environment
 When you study an ecosystem, you look at how the living

and nonliving parts interact and affect each other

 The Earth is the largest of all ecosystems, called the

biosphere

Level

4

: Ecosystem

Population

A population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area.

A group of phytoplankton is an example

of?

We produce the most

food in the water.

Community

Population

Ecosystem

Multiple Choice

An ecosystem contains living and nonliving things.

• True

• False

 The biosphere can be divided into smaller regions

that have distinct characteristics. These regions are
called biomes.

 The major biomes include:

 Desert

 Rainforest

 Grassland

 Tundra

 Taiga

 Temperate forest

The Biosphere

Multiple Choice

The role or job of a species in a community.

• habitat

• diet

• niche

• ecosystem

Questions: If looking at the picture
below, what level of organization is
presented?
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcPcT7dJ3Hc

Claim (What is your answer to the questions):

Evidence: What evidence can you state to back up your claim? What do you see?:

Reasoning: Explain why your claim is valid. Define words:

Choose which Google doc
you want. One with word

bank and sentence

starters or one without.

Multiple Choice

A place where an organism lives.

• Terrain

• Habitat

• Community

• Population

Go here: https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-
life-science-2.0/section/12.2/primary/lesson/levels-of-ecological-
organization-ms-ls/

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