Energy Flow Within Ecosystems

What is one thing that is crucial for all organisms? Energy. All forms of life have energy, especially in forms of heat. The major source of energy is the Sun. Producers directly gain energy through sunlight, whereas consumers gain energy indirectly. Sunlight is also used when a loss of energy must be regained. Yet, energy...

Types of Greenhouse Gases

The greenhouse effect is currently one of the most popular debate topics among not only environmentalists, but also the general public. It is also mainly discussed in several school curriculums such as biology, ESS, and geography. They are produced mainly by three producers: the United States, China, and the European nations. These gases are carried...

Modes of Nutrition

Obtaining energy, especially chemical energy, is crucial for living organisms to support growth, reproduction, and movement. Still, diverse organisms do not gain nutrition, which includes glucose and amino acids, in a single way. In fact, there are various modes of nutrition. We have covered some of this material in the past so today's lesson will...

The Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen (N) is a type of gas that is abundant in the atmosphere of Earth. In fact, it takes up four-fifths of the Earth's atmosphere. Nitrogen is essential to organisms since it constitutes all living matter. One interesting point about this gas is that it can be converted into various chemical forms. This biogeochemical cycle...

The Food Chain and the Food Web

The food chain is an integral part of ecology since every organism needs energy from food to live. Plants and animals differ when obtaining energy in that plants get energy through photosynthesis, whereas animals gain energy by consuming organisms. A food chain organizes the sequence of who eats whom in an ecosystem. The lowest level...

Metabolism

Metabolism is a term that means the chemical reactions that occur in every cell of living things. It provides energy for vital processes in the body such as synthesizing organic materials. During the process of metabolism, energy obtained from nutrients or photosynthesis (in the case of plants) convert materials required for growth, reproduction, movement, and...

Ecology

You have all probably looked at different organisms such as trees, plants, and animals. If you go on hiking, you can see flowers, shrubs, mushrooms, and maybe some squirrels. The organisms are so different in size, height, color, and countless other features. This diversity is the key to ecology, which we will learn more about....

Deserts, Forests, Freshwater

Today we will be starting a discussion on biomes, or biotic communities of plants and animals that have common characteristics for the environment they live in. This post will cover deserts, forests, and freshwater biomes, and the next post will cover grassland, marine, tundra biomes. Since biomes are mostly characterized according to biotic factors and...

Nutrient Cycling

Last post, I mentioned that we will be learning about nutrient cycling, one of the key components of ecology. Nutrient cycling can be divided into three types: carbon cycling, nitrogen cycling, and water cycling. Let's look at each one in greater detail. Carbon Cycle The Carbon Cycle The first part of the carbon cycle is...

Ecology Key Terms

For several weeks, we will be learning ecology - one of my favorite units! So before we get into some challenging concepts, I would like to let you know of the key terms that will be discussed. That way, you can familiarize yourself with the subject to help your understanding. The key vocabulary and their...