Module 11: Ecology

Part of studying living organisms is examining how they interact with their environment and the other living organisms within their environment. Biologists who study the interactions between living things and their environments are called ecologists, and they work in the field of ecology. In this module, you will learn the basic levels of organization from the individual all the way up to the massive biome regions. In addition, you will explore the field of population dynamics, which is the study of how populations change over time. Then, you will examine how energy flows through ecosystems and what happens when there are disturbances to ecosystems. Finally, you will study the ecosystems that surround you in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As a human, make sure to keep in mind how your actions and the actions of other people impact ecosystems as you complete this module.

Getting Started

Ecology is a study with many different sub-topics. Check to see what you know about ecology in this non-graded activity. Read each question and select the correct answer. Then, click SUBMIT to check your responses. Click the player button to get started.

 

Key Vocabulary

To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.

abiotic factors	energy pyramid	population
autotroph	exponential growth	population curve
biomass pyramid	food chain	primary succession
biome	food web	producer
biotic factors	herbivore	quadrat studies
carbon cycle	heterotroph	random sampling
carnivore	mutualism	population density
carrying capacity	organism	scavenger
commensalism	nitrogen cycle	secondary succession
community	number pyramid	symbiotic relationship
consumer	omnivore	trophic level
decomposer	parasitism	water cycle
ecosystem