Bluebirds Project

blue feather Photos & Movie

blue feather Altricial or precocial

blue feather Feeding

blue feather Song

blue feather Camouflage

blue feather Winter

Activities

blue feather Charting eggs ele

blue feather All about Birds ele/ms

blue feather Frayer Model Birds - doc. | pdf

blue feather Collecting data ele/ms

blue feather Compare/Contrast

blue feather Food Web

blue feather Nest Box Log ele/ms/hs

blue feather Life Cycles ele/ms

blue feather Variables ele/ms/hs

blue feather Feather Facts ms/hs

blue feather Scientific Thinking ele/ms/hs

blue feather Feeder Project doc | pdf

blue feather Systems & Controls ms/hs

blue feather Science Journal Entry ms/hs

blue feather Make Puzzle ele/ms/hs

blue feather Ecology Vocabulary ms/hs

blue feather Classification ms/hs

blue feather Resources

spaceBluebird video at NGS

spaceEggs Fact Hunt

spaceBirds Book online

spaceBirds Facts Activity

spaceLearn about Nests

spaceNestWatch

spaceCitizen Science Projects

spaceFields, Meadows EcoUnit

Other Nestbox residents:

spaceTree Swallows

spaceEnglish Sparrow

spaceWren

spaceWren Chicks

spaceNuthatch

spaceMice

spaceChickadee

Bluebirds Project

Male Eastern bluebird photo Bluebirds Ecology Vocabulary Exercise

Use this vocabulary - Categorize the bluebird species found in your state or region.

right button Species -

right button Population -

right button Community -

right button Habitat -

right button Niche -

right button Ecosystem -

How would the loss of this species impact the ecosystem?

Ecology Vocabulary - Read the definitions.

Species (organism level) - An organism which has certain characteristics of a given population and is potentially capable of breeding with the same population defines a member of a species. This definition does not apply to asexually reproducing forms of life such as Monera, Protista, etc. Species can be considered the lowest (most specific) area of biological classification, but lower groupings are sometimes employed (e.g., subspecies, variety, race).

Population - This term applies to organisms of the same species which inhabit a specific area.

Community - A community is an aggregate of populations of different plant and animal species occurring within a given area.

Habitat - A habitat is an area where a specific animal or plant is capable of living and growing; usually characterized by physical features, or the presence of certain animals or plants.

Niche - This term applies to an organism's physical location and, most importantly, functional role (much like an occupation; what the organism specifically does) within an ecosystem.

Ecosystem - a functioning natural unit with interacting biotic and abiotic components in a system whose boundaries are determined by the cycles and flux of energy, materials and organisms.

Ecotone - An ecotone is a boundary ecosystem, specifically the ecosystem which forms as a transition between two adjacent systems. It may possess characteristics of both bordering ecosystems, while developing a suite of its own characteristics. Examples: Riparian zones, coastal forests.

Biosphere - This is the surface zone of the planet earth, extending from within the earth's crust up into the atmosphere, within which all known life forms exist.

Example: Ecological Levels
Species: Cervus elaphus (Roosevelt elk)
Population: The sum total of all the elk in a given herd (e.g., migrating through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem)
Community: The elk, and other populations associated with them (e.g., wolf, grizzly, bison)
Habitat: The place where these elk live -- the open timberlands of Yellowstone NP
Niche: Primarily browses on shrubs, broadleafs, and new growth of conifers
Ecosystem: Yellowstone NP and surrounding forest, shrubland and grassland, extending to the limit of the elk range (if we define it from the elk's perspective)

From EPA Watershed Academy - Ecology - The Biological Setting - Table of definitions

 

BirdSleuth: Investigating Evidence - free materials from Cornell University

Proof your responses. It is funny how speling errors and typeos sneak in to the bets work. smiling icon
Make your own printer paper answer sheet

Nature / Internet Hunts / Pennsylvania Projects / Puzzles and Projects / Computers / Home / Site Map

Cindy O'Hora, Posted September 2008 Contact: email address

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

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Aligned with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Science & Technology, Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Environment and Ecology, Science & Technology.

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