Author: Zach

Chapter 4 { Ecosystem Change Contents } Dr. Steven Schneider, climatologist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has been very vocal in alerting the public to the impending dangers of global climate change. In an interview for the TV documentary, “Race to Save the Planet,” he shares his sense of urgency…. “Fifteen thousand years […]

Chapter 3 { Ecosystem Change Contents } I. An Interview with Dr. Samira Omar Desert ecosystems are very vulnerable to overgrazing by domestic animals. Herds people living at the edges of desert ecosystems have often triggered positive feedback mechanisms that have further reduced the productivity of the land both for wildlife and people. Nature’s time […]

Chapter 2 { Ecosystem Change Contents } Picture the following chain of events: hundreds of oak caterpillars munching holes in the leaves of an old oak tree while squirrels and jays collect acorns and gobble caterpillars too. The squirrel stops to scratch a flea. A pair of chickadees hop through the branches collecting caterpillars for […]

{ Ecosystem Change Contents } { All GSS Books } Design your own miniature ecosystem in a clear plastic or glass container and observe it for at least one month.  In the following laboratory investigation, you will design a small model ecosystem in a terrarium and follow the changes in the living and non-living components […]

Chapter 1 { Ecosystem Change Contents } Imagine you are an astronaut viewing planet earth from a space shuttle 160 miles above the surface. Changing patterns of clouds and reflections from water and snow fields create the illusion of a colossal spherical organism. Many human cultures have believed that Earth is alive; many have attributed […]

{ Ecosystem Change Contents } { All GSS Books } Bryant, Jeannette, ed. Conservation Directory: A list of Organizations, Agencies, and Officials Concerned with Natural Resource Use and Management. National Wildlife Federation, 1995. Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. Chadwick, Douglas H. “Dead or Alive: The Endangered Species Act.” National Geographic. Vol. […]

ECOSYSTEM CHANGE is about the interdependence of all living things and the nonliving environment. It is also about how human activities are changing ecosystems around the world. See Overview. Contents Chapters Investigations Stay Current 1. Earth Alive! 1.1 Make a Model Ecosystem Chapter 1 2. Energy Through the System Chapter 2 3. Studying Desert Ecosystems […]

Staying current for Chapter 8 See Non-chronological resources for this chapter { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2023-12-21. A landmark environmental law looks ahead. [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn3245] By ROBERT L. FISCHMAN , J. B. RUHL, BRENNA R. FORESTER , TANYA M. LAMA, MARTY KARDOS, GRETHEL AGUILAR ROJAS, NICHOLAS A. ROBINSON , PATRICK D. SHIREY , GARY A. LAMBERTI, […], AND YING ZHAO, Science. Excerpt: Late in the winter of 1973, President Richard Nixon signed into law what the Supreme Court would later […]

Staying current for Chapter 7 See Non-chronological resources for this chapter { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2024-07-25. Can scientists help corals by killing starfish? By SOFIA QUAGLIA, Eos/AGU. Excerpt: The problem began in the 1960s, when biologists who study Australia’s Great Barrier Reef began to notice an uptick in crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), a spiny, […]

Staying current for Chapter 6 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2022-11-28. Top-flight recovery: the inspiring comeback of the California condor. [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/28/top-flight-recovery-california-condor-comeback-aoe] By Patrick Greenfield, The Guardian. Excerpt: Nearly extinct in the 1980s, an intensive programme to reverse the bird’s decline has made it a conservation success story. Despite being the largest flying bird in North […]