NavjotG

Science 10: Final Project
Done by: Joyti Gill Block : E

The earth is a fragile place to live on. Humans are a part of this. The way we treat our earth comes back with a natural phenomenon to our planet. Humans play a huge role in this and do much harm to our plant. Considering the fact we pollute everyday makes natural phenomena occur faster.

1.1

Biome- the largest division of the biosphere, including large regions with similar biotic components. Initially biomes are being affected with this Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Biome that is being affected is the Marine Biome and it is the worst place for oil spills and the Persian Gulf is also being affected. The biotic and abiotic components are greatly damaged. Biotic components such as animals, plants and fungi. Abiotic components such as water, rock, soil and rainfall. Biotic components are being affected by getting food and abiotic components are being harmed. The oil spill has caused destruction of wildlife and plants in the marine biome. The oil spill has also caused more than 300+ deaths of animals within the region.

1.2

Since the oil spill has been such an impact on both (aquatic and terrestrial) it been a struggle for the animals and plants to find resources of food. With less food it can cause the animals to have even more competition than before. With the oil spill causing more damage to the food change many smaller organisms such as plankton, fish, larvae and shrimp are dying. The larger species depend on these.

Organisms have a lot of relationships within a population. These relationships are called symbiotic relationships. The relationships are commensalisms, mutualism, parasitism and predator- prey. These relationships can be harmed due to the oil spill because some species might be harmed or even dead.

2.1 Biodegration is becoming a problem with the oil spill. It makes it hard it hard for living organisms to break down dead organic matter. There aren’t a lot of producers, ‘’producing’’ a lot of food because of the inability to grow. Many organisms are not consuming, because of the fact that many may end up dying. Decomposition is becoming a problem, as the decomposers can not have change wastes and into usable nutrients due to the oil.

In this food chain below you can see that it displays the energy from plant to animal and from animal to animal. As you can see the first on the food chain are the producers; the producers (grass) are organisms that produce food in the form of carbohydrates during photosynthesis. Secondly, primary consumers (grasshopper) they obtain energy by eating plants. Secondary Consumers (snake) and Tertiary Consumer (hawk) obtain their food by the trophic level before them. After this stage decomposers break down dead organisms into nutrients through a process called biodegradation. The food chain depends on one another and it can mess the whole thing up if one organism is not in its place. It like dominos, if one falls the next has to.



2.2

The carbon cycle is the essential component in all life with its chemical reactions that sustain life. The carbon cycle is cycled through ecosystems in several ways: photosynthesis, cellular respiration, decomposition, ocean processes, volcanic eruptions and forest fires. Photosynthesis is the most important way that carbon is cycled and that is through, producers removing CO2 from the atmosphere and produce C02 again. The oil spill has an effect on photosynthesis and the other ways that carbon is cycled because the majority of the ways carbon is cycled is through abiotic components. Saying that, due to the oil spill spreading and harming nearly all abiotic and biotic components the cycles will be hard enough to occur.

2.3

There are many effects of bioaccumulation within in an ecosystem. When chemicals are built up in an environment the decomposers can’t break them down. When the chemicals build up in an organisms they cannot be decomposed naturally. Chemicals can enter organisms by food, skin contact and respiration. If the chemical is not released properly the animal can be seriously harmed. The oil spill relates to this because there are tones of oil accumulating everywhere making it hard for the animals. Some keystone species in the Gulf of Mexico are manatees, bottlenose dolphins, gators and crocs, sea turtles and whales and sharks. Keystone species play a huge role within an ecosystem and can be greatly affected. With the oil spill it is causing the keystone species to die and it is affecting the food chain. Biomagnification is when the chemicals not only accumulate but become even more concentrated in each trophic level. This is related to the oil spill because the oil is becoming accumulated and is being stored in the fat tissue or organisms. Bioremediation is cleaning up naturally done by the organisms. This is an issue with the oil spill because they are taking in oil which means bioremediation cannot happen.

3.1 Many organisms in the Gulf of Mexico have adaptions that help them survive better. Many organisms such as whales, dolphin’s sharks & seals live within this region they use several adaptions to help them survive better such as color coded skin to hide from enemies &fins to swim faster. Natural Selection is the process that makes change in living things possible. Many animals like the Baleen whales are affected with the air they breathe, the oil that is accumulated, the oil is stuck to skin makes it hard to tolerate. The oil also affects all the creatures in the sea. ‘’Even if they are not direct impacts that kill certain marine mammals they depend on. .. . Is destroyed and then they won’t be able to survive,’’ Reynolds says. You can’t have an animal if its habitat is gone’’. Ecosystems change over time. Ecological Succession refers to the change in biotic characteristics in an area over time. There are two types of succession: 1) Primary Succession- starts off with nothing but bare land; this eventually can take up to hundreds or years until a mature community is formed. 2) Secondary Succession- already has soil and living organisms on it; ex. Forest fires



3.2 Resource Use the way we obtain and use materials such as: soil, wood, water, gas and oil. We always use the land to meet our needs but we don’t necessarily think about the consequences others will have to face to meet out needs. This leads to Habitat loss, with fulfilling our needs we lose habitats and from that habitats can’t support the species that are in it. When new chemicals are introduced in the environment it can contaminate living things. Just like oil, it can contaminate water and the species within it making it hard to survive. 3.3 With the oil spill the native species that are plants and animals that naturally inhabit this area are affected because new species such as introduced species/foreign species are introduced to the region. I think that wiki is great idea because it is environmentally friendly, and it’s a better way to present your project other than on a piece of paper. We always hear Go Green but we are unable to do anything this is a great way to start going green. I think it’s far better than doing projects on poster boards and this way we can show our peers what we have learned. Bibliography Katy Bishop ‘’Gulf Oil Spill: How can wildlife survive?’’ June 5,2010 [] ‘’Marine Biome’’ June 5, 2010 [|[[http://ths.sps.lane.edu/biomes/marine3/marine3.htmlEditors|http://ths.sps.lane.edu/biomes/marine3/marine3.html]]] the rest of the bibiliography gets deleted, will hand in

Topic #4: Describe how a natural phenomena can affect climate  Once a volcano erupts in releases quantities of carbon dioxide which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Many greenhouse gases such as (carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, N20 and CFC’s ), absorb infrared radiation and reradiate back to earth; which then release fossil fuels by burning factors. This can be a factor because once the gases are absorbed it can contribute to global warming.



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 * Bibliography **

Patrick Lockerby  [|Eyjafjallajökull, Gígjökull, Jökulhlaup, Gosmökkur] April 26, 2010 []

Climate Effects Of Volcanic Eruptions April 23,2010 []

Jason Wolfe  Volcanoes and Climate Change April 23,2010 []

 A day in the life of Eyjafjallajokull April 25,2010 []