Rocks Rock




Symbiosis is the process of organisms living together within the same environment.
The three main types:
Mutualism is a win/win situation. Remember putting your fingers in a "m", then flipping them upward into a "w". This relationship is positive for both organisms.
Commensalism is positive for one organism and it really has no effect on the other (neither positive or negative).
Parasitism is positive for the parasite, but negative for the host organism.
Two other relationships to add are predator/prey and competition. The predator is the hunter and the prey is the hunter. Competition is negative for the entire population of organisms if the food situation gets too slim. If all of that population depends upon the same food source, then eventually there will not be enough food.




This six weeks is going to be a lot of fun!!!! I love teaching about the interaction and interdependence among living systems. We studied the human body and how the human systems interact with each other to make a whole. The biosphere (earth) is the same way. Many important parts have to be in place before everything runs smoothly. Last week we studied food webs and how each organism plays an important role in the ecosystem as a food source or as a predator.
The three main types of organisms within a food web are:
Producers
Consumers
Decomposers
Now the Producers are organisms that make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Radiant energy (sunlight) begins this process and plants take carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to produce glucose (carbohydrate),oxygen, and water. Consumers take in producers and other consumers in order to get their energy. Consumers are labeled primary (eating herbivores), secondary and tertiary depending on what other consumer they eat. If you play card games you will know what a "trump" card is. That is the card that can win any hand. Decomposers are a bit of a "trump" in that all organisms, even top consumers, will be decomposed at some time.
Refer to the following web sites to review food chains and webs.
www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/index.cfm




Okay you should know the main particles of an atom now. Please answer these questions on a piece of notebook paper and turn it in to the basket above your composition books.
A proton has a _____________ charge. A neutron has a ________________ charge. An electron has a _________________ charge. Who's in the house? The ____________ in the house. Who's in the house? The _______________ is in the house. The house is the __ __ __ __ __ __ __. Who's not in the house? _____________ in the ___________. Please add to this an additional two pieces of knowledge that you have learned about the atom during the past two days.
Refer to the following website: www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0501/es0501page04.cfm
Refer to the following website for atomic structure: go to the All About Atoms and the section labeled Atoms http://www.sciencejoywagon.com/chemzone/02atomic_structure
