Activities

1. Give an example of a natural disturbance to an ecosystem.
   
   
2. Give an example of a human disturbance to an ecosystem.

3. Humans frequently change ecosystems by doing things such as replacing a field with a parking lot. Explain what happens to the level of biodiversity in that area and why.
   
   
4. When humans pollute an ecosystem explain what could happen to the concentration of the pollution as it travels through the food chain.

5. When a forest fire destroys an entire forest all that remains is dirt and dead charred tree trunks. Describe the steps needed for the forest to regrow.
   
   
6. When humans take a large field and dig a pond they are changing the environment. If left alone explain what will happen to the pond over a long period of time.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• Lightening strikes a tree and starts a forest fire.
• Tornado wipes out a forest.
• Extreme heat dries up a pond.

2. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• Cutting down trees to build a house.
• Removing plants in a field to put in a parking lot.

3. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• The biodiversity decreases because many of the organisms are removed.

4. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• The pollution could become more concentrated as you go up the food chain because the organisms at the top of the food chain have to consume larger amounts of the organisms below them.

5. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• The following will need to be grown in this succession: mosses and lichens, grasses, shrubs, small bushes, trees, large trees

6. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• The pond will fill in with plants around the edges
• Fish will start to die from lack of oxygen
• The pond will start to fill in
• Eventually it will not seem like a pond was ever there.