What is Ecology?

Questions for Today:

• What is the Basic Building Block of Life?

• How many species are there in the World?

• What are the levels of organization of matter in nature?

Cells are the Basic Units of Life

• Any living organism, alive or dead, are composed of cells.– The smallest and most fundamental structural

and functional units of life.– This is Called the Cell Theory and it states

• All living things are composed of one or more cells.• Cells are the basic units of structure and function

in living things.• New cells are produced from existing cells.

Cells are the Basic Unit of Life

• Remember from Biology:– Two Types of Cells– Prokaryotic

• No Nucleus or membrane bound organelles• Example: Bacteria

– Eukaryotic• Contains a nucleus and membrane bound

organelles• Animal and Plant Cells.

Structure of a Eukaryotic Call and a Prokaryotic Cell

Species Make Up the Encyclopedia of Life

• A species is a set of individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring.– Named using the Binomial Nomenclature

System developed by Carolus Linnaeus.

• Remember from Biology– DKPCOFGS– Scientific names and the rules when writing

them.

Species Make Up the Encyclopedia of Life

• Scientists estimate that there could be 4 – 100 million species in the Environment.– Best guess is 10-14 million

• Biologist have identified and classified 1.8 million species.– Most species are insects– Over half of the animal and plant species are

found in the Tropical Rainforests.

Have You Thanked the Insects Today?

• Pollinators

• Eat other insects

• Loosen and renew soil

• Reproduce rapidly

• Very resistant to extinction

Species Make Up the Encyclopedia of Life

• In 2007, Scientists began a $100 million, 10-year project to list and describe all1.8 million known species.– www.eol.org

Levels of Organization

• From the inclusive to the most exclusive:– Biosphere– Ecosystem– Community– Population– Organism– Cells– Molecule– Atom

Fig. 3-3, p. 52

Stepped Art

Smallest unit of a chemical element that exhibits its chemical propertiesAtom

Molecule Chemical combination of two or more atoms of the same or different elements

CellThe fundamental structural and functional unit of life

Organism An individual living being

Population A group of individuals of the same species living in a particular place

Community Populations of different species living in a particular place, and potentially interacting with each other

Ecosystem A community of different species interacting with one another and with theirnonliving environment of matter and energy

Parts of the earth's air, water, and soil where life is found

Biosphere