Background Information for Teachers
If you are required to teach about ecosystems and populations and you did not major in ecology, do not despair!
This section highlights resources intended for teachers or college or high school ecology students. They contain
content as well as illustrations, graphs, photographs, and examples of the important concepts in population ecology
and ecosystems. In exploring these resources you will enhance your content knowledge, enabling decisions regarding
which ecology topics will be both interesting and beneficial to your students.
An overview of two enrichment programs for urban high school students from Hartford, Connecticut,
is provided here. The programs were designed to expose students entering the tenth grade to earth science as a
problem-solving science. Developers focused on understanding watersheds and water quality, primarily using chemical
techniques on samples collected from the Connecticut River and adjacent waters. The students worked in groups and
student-faculty ratios did not exceed three to one. The majority of the students indicated that the programs were
a positive experience and that they developed a greater appreciation for science. MSP full record
This is a real working research project in ecology of ecosystems that might assist a teacher in understanding
the methods of science related to ecology, not to mention the interesting aspect of the topic alone! The NSF-funded
project seeks to understand the complex linkages between biogeochemical cycles, vegetation, disturbance, and climate
across the full summer temperature gradient in the Arctic. Researchers examine the complexity associated with
self-organization in frost-boil, complexity associated with interactions between biogeochemical cycles, cryoturbation,
and vegetation, and biocomplexity across spatial-temporal scales. The web site includes the project proposal,
research objectives, preliminary results, maps, photographs, data sets, and publications. MSP full record
This title page contains a link to
Research Problems, a one-page reference about real ecological issues
in forest management — helpful background if your school is near a forested area and you are
considering an authentic learning experience for your students. MSP full record
A short narrative on what has been learned, and how, about forest management. The
Fire Management link at the bottom of the page goes to a recently updated explanation of
the use of fire by the National Park Service. MSP full record
This PBS site provides information about the six ecosystems on which life on earth most heavily depends:
agricultural, forest, freshwater, grassland, coastal, and urban. Ecosystems are described as communities of interacting
organisms and the physical environment in which they live. The goods and services that ecosystems provide are said to
form the foundation of human economies. Ecosystems purify air and water, help to control climate, and produce valuable
soil services. Site users may access a discussion guide to accompany the video of the television program, which can be
used in colleges, secondary schools, and community groups. Case studies are taken from the companion book,
People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life, and from Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems: Agroecosystems
(World Resources Institute). The online text includes profiles and ecosystem assessments, which you can adapt to
fit your teaching context with references to ecosystems around the world. A list of additional resources includes
links to environmental organizations, books, and periodicals. MSP full record
A comprehensive report prepared by experts from businesses, environmental organizations, universities,
and federal, state, and local government agencies is an overview of what the nation most needs to know about the
changing state of its ecosystems. The report offers information from research in many fields and is organized into
chapters covering coasts and oceans, farmlands, forests, fresh waters, grasslands and shrublands, and urban and
suburban areas. The entire report may be searched by keyword, and each chapter may be downloaded. This web site can
inspire numerous ideas for student research into current ecological issues in your own community.
MSP full record
This resource provides links to many resources pertaining to
freshwater and marine ecology. Particularly informative is the
common freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates link at the bottom of page, which contains
numerous photographs of the relevant organisms. MSP full record
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Copyright
September 2007 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work
supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any
opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this
material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the National Science Foundation.
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This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.
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