Matthew D. Cacopardo
1. Students will understand that energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, from photosynthetic organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers.
2. Students will know that plant cells and many microorganisms contain chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis.
3. Students will recognize that organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems.
4. Students will be aware that the complexity and organization of organisms accommodates the need for obtaining, transforming, transporting, releasing, and eliminating the matter and energy used to sustain the organism.
5. Students will recognize that many factors influence environmental quality.
6. Students will comprehend the significance of the fact that human beings live within the world's ecosystems and that human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected.
7. Students will understand that the distribution and abundance of organisms and populations in ecosystems are limited by the availability of matter and energy and the ability of the ecosystem to recycle materials.
8. Students will understand that the great diversity of organisms is the result of 4 billion years of evolution that has filled every available niche with life forms.
