AP Daily: AP Environmental Science (1.1)

Summary

In this introductory video to AP Environmental Science, Lisa Bagley explores ecosystems and their interactions. She delves into predator-prey dynamics, emphasizing how resource availability affects species relationships. The video introduces key concepts like biotic and abiotic components, and discusses different types of species interactions, including mutualism, commensalism, and competition. Bagley also guides viewers on interpreting graphical data related to predator-prey oscillations, encouraging critical thinking about ecological relationships.

Takeaways

• 😀 The video is an introduction to ecosystems, focusing on predator-prey relationships and resource availability's influence on species interactions.
• 👩‍🏫 The instructor, Lisa Bagley, has been teaching AP Environmental Science since 2010 and currently works at West Mesquite High School.
• 🌿 Ecosystems consist of biotic (living organisms) and abiotic (non-living components) parts that interact as a system.
• 🌱 Biotic components include producers, consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores), and decomposers, while abiotic factors encompass sunlight, temperature, and water.
• 🐻 Predator-prey relationships are a type of biotic interaction where predators hunt and kill prey for food, affecting population sizes.
• 🦐 The availability of prey as a resource drives the predator-prey interaction, with predator numbers fluctuating based on prey availability.
• 📊 The video discusses how to interpret graphical stimuli, such as predator-prey oscillations over time, focusing on the descriptive analysis of environmental concepts.
• 🔍 Students are encouraged to observe and explain the lag between prey and predator population peaks and the reasons behind it.
• 🤔 The video prompts students to consider other factors besides predation that might cause fluctuations in predator and prey populations.
• 🎯 The learning objectives (ERT 1.a and ERT 1.8.1) are to connect essential knowledge with science skills required for the AP exam.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video on AP Environmental Science?

The main focus of the video is on predator-prey relationships and the basic background information on ecosystems, specifically how the availability of resources influences species interactions.

Who is the instructor presenting the video?

The instructor presenting the video is Lisa Bagley, who has been teaching AP Environmental Science since 2010 and currently works at West Mesquite High School in the Dallas area.

What are the two main components of an ecosystem as described in the video?

The two main components of an ecosystem are the biotic part, which includes living organisms, and the abiotic part, which includes non-living environmental factors.

What are some examples of biotic components in an ecosystem?

Examples of biotic components in an ecosystem include producers like plants and photosynthetic algae, consumers such as herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and detritivores, as well as soil organisms.

What are some examples of abiotic components in an ecosystem?

Examples of abiotic components in an ecosystem include sunlight, temperature, precipitation, moisture or water levels, and the pH of soil or water.

Why is soil considered both a biotic and abiotic component of an ecosystem?

Soil is considered both a biotic and abiotic component because it contains living organisms like bacteria and fungi, which contribute to the biotic part, and also provides non-living elements like nutrients and minerals, which are part of the abiotic aspect.

What are the three major categories of species interactions in ecosystems mentioned in the video?

The three major categories of species interactions in ecosystems mentioned in the video are predator-prey relationships, symbiotic interactions (including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism), and competitive relationships.

What is the definition of a predator-prey relationship in the context of the video?

A predator-prey relationship is defined as a biotic interaction where a predator hunts and kills its prey, which serves as a food resource for the predator.

How does the availability of prey as a resource influence the predator-prey relationship?

The availability of prey as a resource influences the predator-prey relationship by affecting the population sizes of both predators and prey. As prey availability fluctuates, the number of predators also changes, often with a lag due to the time it takes for predator populations to respond to changes in prey populations.

What is the significance of the title 'Predator-Prey Oscillations Over Time' in the context of the graph discussed in the video?

The title 'Predator-Prey Oscillations Over Time' signifies that the graph illustrates how the populations of predators and prey fluctuate regularly over a period, with peaks and valleys that represent changes in their numbers.

What is the importance of understanding predator-prey relationships in the study of ecosystems?

Understanding predator-prey relationships is important in the study of ecosystems because it helps to explain how species populations are interconnected and how they can influence each other's numbers and behaviors, which in turn affects the overall stability and health of the ecosystem.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Introduction to Ecosystems and Learning Objectives

The video introduces the topic of ecosystems within the context of AP Environmental Science, focusing on predator-prey relationships and the influence of resource availability on species interactions. The instructor, Lisa Bagley, shares her background and sets the stage for the educational journey. The learning objective for this segment is to connect essential knowledge about ecosystems, including biotic and abiotic interactions, with the science skills required for the AP exam. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding how resource availability affects species interactions, which is encapsulated in the enduring understanding and learning objective ERT1.A.

05:02

🐾 Predator-Prey Dynamics and Graphical Analysis

This segment delves into the concept of predator-prey relationships, explaining that predators hunt and kill their prey, which is a biotic interaction. The prey serves as a food resource for predators, and the availability of this resource influences the interaction between predator and prey populations. The instructor guides viewers through analyzing a graphical stimulus that illustrates predator-prey oscillations over time, emphasizing the importance of understanding how resource availability, in this case, prey, affects predator populations. The video also touches on the classification of prey and predator species within the trophic structure and encourages students to consider other factors that might cause fluctuations in predator and prey populations beyond predation.

10:02

📊 Understanding Predator-Prey Relationships through Graphs

The final paragraph reinforces the key aspects of predator-prey relationships and challenges viewers to describe these relationships when presented in a graphical format. It emphasizes the ability to identify and explain how resource availability, specifically the prey, influences the predator-prey dynamic. The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to apply their understanding of these concepts, indicating that if they can successfully identify and describe predator-prey relationships from a graph, they have grasped the material. The instructor expresses gratitude for watching and looks forward to continuing the educational journey in the next video.

Keywords

💡Ecosystems

Ecosystems are defined as a community of living organisms, or the biotic part, interacting with the non-living components of their environment, or the abiotic part. This concept is central to the video's theme as it sets the stage for understanding the various interactions between species and their environment. The script uses ecosystems as a foundational concept to explore predator-prey relationships and resource availability.

💡Predator-Prey Relationships

Predator-prey relationships refer to the interactions where one species, the predator, hunts and kills another, the prey, for food. This is a biotic interaction and is a key focus of the video. The script discusses how the availability of prey as a resource influences the predator population, illustrating this with examples such as a grizzly bear catching a salmon.

💡Biotic Components

Biotic components are the living parts of an ecosystem, including producers like plants and algae, consumers like herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, and decomposers like detritivores. The script emphasizes the importance of biotic components in shaping ecosystem dynamics and their interactions with abiotic factors.

💡Abiotic Components

Abiotic components are the non-living parts of ecosystems, such as sunlight, temperature, and water levels. These factors influence the living organisms within an ecosystem. The script mentions soil as an example of an abiotic component that is also crucial for the biotic interactions, highlighting its dual role.

💡Resource Availability

Resource availability pertains to the accessibility of materials necessary for the survival and reproduction of species within an ecosystem. The script connects this concept to species interactions, particularly predator-prey dynamics, explaining how fluctuations in prey populations due to resource availability can affect predator populations.

💡Symbiotic Interactions

Symbiotic interactions are relationships between two different species where at least one benefits. The script mentions mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism as types of symbiotic interactions. An example given is the mutualistic relationship between a clown fish and a sea anemone, highlighting the diverse ways species can interact.

💡Competitive Relationships

Competitive relationships occur when two or more species vie for the same limited resources. The script uses the image of various species on an African savannah competing for a resource to illustrate intraspecific and interspecific competition, which is a key aspect of species interactions within ecosystems.

💡Graphical Stimulus

A graphical stimulus in the context of the video refers to the use of visual data representations, such as graphs, to understand ecological concepts. The script guides viewers on how to analyze a graph showing predator-prey oscillations over time, emphasizing the importance of understanding titles, axes, and trends in ecological data.

💡Trophic Structure

Trophic structure refers to the arrangement of species within an ecosystem based on their feeding relationships. The script prompts viewers to consider the position of prey and predator species within the trophic structure, which influences their population dynamics as depicted in the graphical stimulus.

💡Oscillations

Oscillations in the ecological context refer to the regular fluctuations in population sizes over time. The script uses the term to describe the pattern seen in predator-prey graphs, where predator and prey populations rise and fall in a cyclical manner, though not always in sync, as observed in the graphical stimulus.

Highlights

Introduction to ecosystems and the focus on predator-prey relationships.

Background information on ecosystems and the influence of resource availability on species interactions.

Introduction of the instructor, Lisa Bagley, and her experience teaching AP Environmental Science.

Learning Objective ERT 1a: Connecting essential knowledge with science skills for the AP exam.

Definition of an ecosystem as a community of living organisms interacting with their non-living environment.

Identification of biotic components of ecosystems, including producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Identification of abiotic factors in ecosystems, such as sunlight, temperature, and water.

Discussion on why soil is considered both a biotic and abiotic component.

Explanation of three major categories of species interactions: predator-prey, symbiotic, and competitive relationships.

Graphical representation of predator-prey relationships and how resource availability influences these interactions.

Essential Knowledge ERT 1.8.1: Understanding predator-prey relationships as a biotic interaction.

Practice with graphical stimuli to analyze predator-prey oscillations over time.

Description of how to approach a graphical stimulus in AP Environmental Science.

Observation of prey and predator population trends and the lag between their peaks.

Consideration of factors other than predation that might cause fluctuations in predator and prey populations.

Assessment of understanding through the ability to identify key aspects of predator-prey relationships and describe them graphically.

Transcripts

hey everyone welcome to topic 1.1

of ap environmental science this is

introduction to ecosystems

in daily video 1 we're going to cover

predator prey relationships

as well as some basic background

information on ecosystems

and we're going to focus on how the

availability of resources

influences species interactions before

we get further into the video i'd like

to introduce myself

my name is lisa bagley i've been

teaching apes since

uh 2010 here in the dallas area i

currently work for mesquite isd

at west mesquite high school and i am

excited to be part of

your educational journey for apes so

here here we go

what are we going to learn today let's

find out

we're going to focus on learning

objective ert

1 a so what is that well

in this video we're going to explore how

to connect

the essential knowledge which is what

you need to know in this course the nuts

and bolts

to the science skills which is how you

have to show what you know

on the actual ap exam we're going to

review some basic characteristics of

ecosystems

focusing on biotic and abiotic

interactions you may be familiar with

those words from previous courses

we're going to begin to explain how the

availability of resources

influences species interactions which

is our learning objective that's the

ert1.a

and we're going to discuss some aspects

of predator prey relationships

so what exactly is an ecosystem well

it's a community of

living organisms that's the biotic part

in conjunction with the non-living

components of their environment

that's the abiotic part and they

interact as a system

ecosystems are the result of both biotic

and

abiotic interactions and that's our

enduring understanding

so you're going to see that enduring

understanding of biotic and abiotic

interactions

as well as our lo our learning objective

about

um how species how resource availability

influences species interactions woven

throughout these videos

so here's a question for you based on

the definition above the definition of

ecosystems

take a look at these scenarios that are

in the fat bubble here and consider

which of them might be an ecosystem

interaction

you can pause your video and take a look

at those be sure to justify your why

based on that definition of an ecosystem

i'll see in a second

so let's talk about some biotic and

abiotic components of ecosystems

the biotic parts of ecosystems are the

living parts

they include things like producers

plants photosynthetic algae

phytoplankton herbivores carnivores

omnivores detritivores and

soil soils in that living category

but we also have abiotic factors in

ecosystems those are the non-living

parts such as sunlight temperature

precipitation

moisture or water levels the ph of

the soil or the water and soil

there it is again in the abiotic factor

list

so consider this why is soil in both the

biotic

and the abiotic lists

let's take a look at the big picture for

species interactions here

interactions in ecosystems between

species can include

three major categories that the college

board would like you to know

the first is predator prey relationships

and if you take a look at

some of the images that are over there

on the side of the this slide

you'll see a grizzly bear with a salmon

in its mouth that is a predator-prey

relationship

interactions can also include symbiotic

interactions such as mutualism

commensalism or parasitism and we'll get

to those in a subsequent video if you

take a look at your

images there we've got a clown fish

hanging out in a sea anemone

that is an example of mutualism we also

can have competitive relationships and

competition can happen between

different species or within a single

species so your final image here

is many different species on an african

savannah

and they are surrounding a resource

there and they may or may not be

competing

over that abiotic resource so again as

we consider

each of these interactions we're going

to try to identify the biotic

or the abiotic resources that are

driving the interaction in each scenario

and we're going to explain how the

availability of those resources

the species interaction because that's

our learning objective

okay time for the nitty gritty this is

essential knowledge ert

1.8.1 it is the first essential

knowledge

piece that is uh in ap environmental

science and this is predator prey

relationships

in the simplest terms predators hunt and

kill

their prey that's what they do this is a

biotic

interaction these are two living species

that are interacting in this

exchange for predators the prey

is a food resource so as we loop back in

to our lesson objective and our enduring

understanding

how do we how does resources drive the

interaction the prey is a resource it's

a food resource for the predators

so the final part of this is as the

availability of the prey fluctuates

the numbers of the predators do as well

and that again goes back to how does the

availability of resources

influence in the interaction something

to

consider as we move forward based on

your prior knowledge of ecosystems

how do we normally classify a prey

species when we're talking

in terms of trophic structure what about

a predator species

you're going to learn more about these

later in unit 1 but i want you to kind

of think about that as we move through

so let's do some practice

we're looking at here a graphical

stimulus

that was pulled up from ap resources so

when i'm talking to students about how

do we approach a graphical stimulus in

ap environmental science there's a

couple of steps that i'd like you to go

to

that will help you understand a

graphical stimulus and help you get to

a better and more thorough answer so the

first thing i'd like you to look at is

what is the title of the graph

the title of the graph in this

particular regard

is predator prey oscillations over time

the title of a graph can actually tell

you a lot about

what is going on in the graph titles

should be descriptive so taking a look

at that's going to give you some

information

you may or may not be familiar with the

word oscillation to oscillate

means to go up and down or have a

regular periodic

um peak and valley over a certain time

period

so once we've looked at the title let's

take a look at the x-axis

and the y-axis in this case it's axes

because there are two y-axis

axises axes so time is across the bottom

here that's our x-axis

and in this particular case time does

not have any um there's no hash marks

there's no

it doesn't tell us years or anything

like that we just know the time is going

from some

time in the past to sometime in the in

the future time is moving uh linearly

from left to right

our um two y axes we've got one that

says prey population size and if we look

at our key here the prey is the solid

line

and then we've got predator population

size and the predator is our dashed line

so now we've got an idea that we're

comparing prey and predator population

sizes across some

type of time period so the final

question that i'd like you to take a

look at for this particular

part of the graph is what is the what

did the the lines look like on this

graph describe the trends that you see

in the populations over time what are

your observations

well the title tells you that that the

lines are oscillating they're going up

and down on

kind of in a regular manner but you can

see that those lines don't completely

overlap

exactly and that the peaks and the

valleys aren't quite the same so we need

to kind of think about that

so overall picture here and i'd like to

draw your attention down to the bottom

of your screen

we are right now doing science practice

1.a which is a description of

environmental concepts and processes

this is a foundational skill for apes

you'll be asked to do this throughout

the ap exam and we're going to practice

this a lot

okay same graph but let's go into it a

little bit further

and when we're looking at this when

we're describing what this graph looks

like

i might say something along the lines of

as the number of

prey increase the number of predators

also increases that's what i'm seeing

there

and as the number of prey decreases the

number of predators also decrease

okay that's fair enough it's right there

uh right there

in front of you um but there's this lag

here so consider

why am i there why is there a lag

between the peak of the prey population

and the peak of the predator population

you can see that the the peaks are

uh they're subsequent but they're not

they don't overlap

the other thing i'd like you to consider

is why is the population size why does

that peak higher for the prey

than for the predator and i want you to

think back to the question that i asked

before

about where those populations fall

on a trophic structure okay

finally when we're taking a look at a

graph like this a fully

realized free response question might

ask you to consider other factors

um something other than predation that

might cause the

population of predators or prey to

fluctuate there are other things in

ecosystems that can cause

changes in predator and prey populations

and you might be asked to consider those

as well all right

so let's check for some understanding

from this video

can you identify the key aspects of

predator prey relationships

can you describe how resource

availability

the prey influences the predator prey

relationship

and can you describe key aspects of the

predator prey relationship if it's shown

in a graphical format

if you can then you got it

congratulations

thanks for watching and i'll see you in

the next video