VARIABLES

There are two types of variables that we need to

think about when writing hypotheses.

Independent Variable (IV): the variable that is

being changed or manipulated
!

The variable that you are controlling

Dependent Variable (DV): the variable that

changes as a result of the independent variable
!

The DV depends on the IV

Ecology

Hiroshima

City Planning Project

S You are a consultant for a housing company.

S They want to start a new community somewhere in Arizona to

support around 1,000 people at first and grow the community

into a successful city.

S You are in charge of selecting a region and creating a plan and

proposal for this housing company to create a prosperous city.

Plan

S You will work in pairs for this project and you can pick your

own partner.

S I will give you the tasks to complete each day.

S You will be graded during the period and will turn in a paper

each day with a grade on it.

Today

S The housing company wants you to gather background

information for them about various regions in Arizona that have

potential to become a great city.

S Task:

S Find three different regions in Arizona that have potential.

S Pros and cons for each region (resources, location, environment,

etc.)

S A vision for the city you are proposing.

Day 2

Your City

S An environmental conservation group has heard about your new city

being planned and are not very excited about it.

S The housing company you work for has had trouble with this group in

the past when trying to build new residential areas.

S The housing company wants you to make sure you cover all of your

bases when it comes to this environmental conservation group and

make sure there arent hazards that will wipe out their new city.

Environmental Concerns

S In order for the housing company to approve your city proposal you

must include environmental considerations for your city.

S Task:

1. Explore and complete a chart of all potential hazards to a city (flooding,
drought, earthquakes, fires, pollution, clear cutting, chemical runoffs.. +2
more hazards that you choose)

2. Find out what populations of plant and animal species exist in your region.

3. Discover the natural resources that are in your region.

4. Come up with a draft of a map of your city in the region you chose with
what you want your city to look like.

Population

S Definition: group of individuals of the same species occupying a

given area.

!
S What populations of organisms do we have in Flagstaff?

Population size

S Turn to a partner:

S Come up with a couple factors that have an influence on the size of

populations.

Population Size

S Population size is determined by:

S Births

S Deaths

S Immigration

S Emigration

!


See if you and your partner can come up with an equation for
population size using those four terms above.

Limiting Factors

S What are some factors that would limit population size?

!
S What are the limiting factors for your region you chose to put

your city?

Carrying Capacity

S Definition: The maximum number of individuals of a population

that a given environment can sustain indefinitely.

S Can the region you chose for your city proposal sustain a

population indefinitely?

S You should be thinking of a way to manage resources for your

city.

Does the Earth have a carrying capacity?

Age Structure

S What does the age structure of this class look like?

Population Density

S Definition: The number of individuals in some specified area or

volume.

Distribution Patterns

S Clumped- most common, patchy resources

S Nearly uniform- creosote bushes

S Random- unpredictable, one individual doesnt affect another

individual

City Planning-Day 3

S The housing company wants you to start developing an idea for the

distribution patterns you want in your city and what your vision is for
age structures.

S They want to know who are you appealing to in your vision of your

city and what are some limiting factors that can have an affect on your
city.

S What will you do to battle the limiting factors? How will you get

sustainable food to support your age structure? Is there a carrying

capacity based on the resources you have?

Today

S Task:

1.
2.
3.

Plan for your ideal distribution pattern for plants, animals, and
citizens of your city.

What is your vision for age structure after 1 year, 10 years, 50
years?

What are some limiting factors for your region? How will you
make sure the limiting factors wont affect your city dramatically?

Class Community

S Rules:

S The coyote eats the rabbit, the rabbit eats the plant, the plant gets

eaten.

S You will have 30 seconds to shake hands with someone and find
out what they are and potentially eat them (take their card)

S Coyotes must consume 3 rabbits to survive, Rabbits must consume
3 plants to survive, plants just get eaten.

S We will look at our community after each trial.

Community

S Definition: the populations of all species in a habitat as they

associate with one another.

Factors that influence a community

S 1. Interactions between climate and topography help dictate

conditions.

S 2. Type and amount of resources.

S 3. Individuals have adaptive traits that help them survive.

S 4. Species interaction (competition, predation, etc.)

S 5. Community structure is influenced by the pattern of

population size and disturbances.

With a partner:

S Come up with an example from the Predator-Prey activity that

would support each of the five factors we just discussed.

Symbiosis

S Definition: Interaction between two different organisms living

in close physical association.

S We will discuss three types

1. Commensalism

S Definition: An association between two organisms in which one

benefits and the other isnt helped or hurt.

!
S Come up with one example with a partner

2. Mutualism

S Definition: Symbiosis where both organisms benefit from the

interaction.

!
S Come up with one example with a partner

2. Parasitism

S Definition: interaction between two organisms where one

benefits and the other is harmed.

!
S Come up with one example with your partner

Co-evolution

S Come up with a definition with your partner for what you think

coevolution is

!
S Definition: the influence of closely associated species on each

other in their evolution.

!
S Can you think of an example?

City Planning Day 4

S The environment conservation group wants to know what

communities are in the region you chose and how your new city
will impact those communities.

Today

Task:

1.
2.

3.
4.
5.

You need to identify the environmental community in your region ( plants,

fungi, bacteria, animals, etc.)

You must show how each of the populations of organisms are related to each
other in the community. (For example what are the predator and prey
relationships)

You also need to identify any symbiosis occurring in your region before and
after you put a city there.

You must identify any potential co-evolution that exists or might exist after
you put your city there.

Finally you must propose an idea for how you wont disrupt the community.
Find three examples that other cities have used.

Ecosystems

S Definition: relations of organisms to one another and to their physical

surroundings.

!
S How did the coyote, rabbit, and plant transfer energy from one

another?

Food Webs

S Food webs show how ENERGY transfers in an ecosystem

With a partner:

S Create a food web using at least 1 plant, 1 insect, and three

animals that you would find in Flagstaff.

Trophic levels

S Definition: A position in a food chain occupied by a group of

organisms with similar feeding mode.

S On the food web you just made, group the organisms into tophic

levels.

S What happens to the food web if a new species is introduced to

the ecosystem?

Water cycle

S With a partner: Show how water flows through an ecosystem.

!
S Write down a reason why it is important to understand the water

cycle when building a city.

More Cycles

S When building a city it is important to consider any other cycles

that are important to your ecosystem.

!
S Can you think of any other important cycles for an ecosystem?

S We will look at Carbon and Nitrogen

Today

To make sure the environmental conservation group is happy you must

develop more information about the ecosystem of your region.

Task

1.
2.
3.

Create a food web for your ecosystem containing at least seven organisms.

Identify the trophic levels that the organisms are in. (You must have four
trophic levels)

The conservation group wants to know if it would be okay to add a species of
wolf in your area. Write a response if that would be fine and why or why not.
(show using a food web) Find a real life example from the past to support
your explanation.

Biosphere

S Definition: The regions of the surface and atmosphere of the

earth or other planet occupied by living organisms.

Biome

S Definition: A large naturally occurring community of flora and

fauna occupying a major habitat.

Biomes

Climate

S Definition: The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or

over a long period.

Climates

Humans

S Humans bring hazards to our populations, communities,

ecosystems, and biosphere.

!
S What are some strategies to fix or avoid the hazards?

With a partner:

S Put these in order:

S Biosphere, biome, cell, organ, ecosystem, organ system,

population, tissue, organism, community.

Today

S The company wants to know where you will get power from,

how you will manage waste, and other essential city things like
schools, businesses to bring in, parks, transportation, etc

S The environment group wants you to consider how to handle

potential hazards and keep the environment healthy.

Final Day of Tasks

S Tasks:

1.
2.

3.

Identify where you will get these: power, waste management,

schools, businesses, parks, transportation, etc

What strategies will you use to avoid or prevent hazards from
happening like chemical runoff, pollution, greenhouse gasses,
etc

How will you keep the environment healthy? (alternative energy,
preservation of species, etc)

Find real life examples to support your ideas.