Y3S1 STEM Biology Biodiversity and Humans Lecture 1 PDF

D3.1.1; Biodiversity and Humans Lecture (1) Ice Breaker What are your expectations from this course? Course Description: Humans depend on the living world for resources and other benefits. However, human activity is also having an adverse impact on biodiversity through overpopulati...

D3.1.1; Biodiversity and Humans Lecture (1) Ice Breaker What are your expectations from this course? Course Description: Humans depend on the living world for resources and other benefits. However, human activity is also having an adverse impact on biodiversity through overpopulation, overexploitation, habitat destruction, pollution, introduction to invasive species, and climate change. This course will include the study of current and future biodiversity dynamics including the study of predicted impact on humans and ecosystems. Course Rationale / Core Issue As human populations grow and areas become more urban, global crises in human health, food, and species extinction are eminent. When these crises happen, the effects are often irreversible. You can be part of the solution! In this hands-on course, you will apply ecological principles to mitigate human impact on living populations.  Big Ideas Ecosystem Services: Humans are embedded within ecosystems and benefit from them in many, if not countless ways, directly and indirectly, actively and passively, and many of these benefits are not a part of traditional markets. These benefits enhance the living conditions of humans and are necessary for the sustainable provision of resources. The Scale of Ecosystems: Ecosystems from which humans benefit have interactions at local, regional, and global scales that embed human populations in ecosystems close-by as well as far-away. Ecosystem Functioning: Ecosystem functioning depends upon the flows of matter and energy through the system and this functioning is important for the provision of some ES, such as resource provisioning and waste-processing services. Limits in Ecosystems: Ecosystems from which humans benefit can only process wastes and provision resources at limited rates. If humans extract resources or dump wastes at a rate that exceeds an ecosystem’s capacity, that ecosystem will become over- exploited or polluted. Change in Ecosystems: Ecosystems can change rapidly and unexpectedly but resilient systems are less likely to experience a dramatic change in ecosystem function. Human Decisions: Humans make everyday decisions as individuals and as groups that alter ecosystem structure and functioning at multiple scales.  Core Concepts (Disciplinary) 1- Biodiversity definition. 2- Ecosystem concept and components of ecosystem. 3- Food webs and transfers of matter/energy flow. 4- Change and adaptive transformation in ecosystems. 5- Role of individual/type of organism in ecosystem process-specifically on bioremediation and restoration/enhancement. 6- Factors that affect stability vs collapse/equilibrium. 7- Natural disasters and their impacts on ecosystems. 8- Types and impacts of pollution on individuals. 9- Extinction. 10- Geographic factors: islands, migration, …etc.  Lecture Activities * Problem Groups: Congestion, Clean Water, Garbage, Invasive Species, Overexploitation, Climate change, desertification, etc. General frame for initial course flow. Students select a group based upon the topic that interests them most. These topics are directly related to Egyptian grand challenges (congestion, clean water, garbage). The groups are given simplistic solutions as starting points. They will, over the period of time in this course, ‘problematize’ the using biological ideas related to Biodiversity and Humans. These ideas include the following: Impacts of pollutants, toxins, changes in environment on individuals. Metabolic capacity of individuals. Variations in individuals. Classification. Food webs. Cycles. Competition, Predation, mutualism. Ecological Resilience. Invasion. Biogeography - islands - migration localized extinction. Change and adaptive transformation (for example: Climate change influences). * Driving conceptual questions: 1. Are humans the only species that ‘destroys’?, Can humans fix the environment?, Do ecosystems always recover?  Discriminate among these biological terms; Biodiversity, Classification and Evolution Activity (1): (20 minutes)  Discriminate Among these biological terms; Biosphere, Lithosphere , Hydrosphere and Atmosphere Activity (2): (15 minutes)  A single living entity, that possesses a unique genome and exhibits various traits and behaviors influenced by genetic and environmental factors. A group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a given area. An interacting group of various species in a common location. Ecological A community or society of living Organization organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, interacting as a system. Areas or regions of the Earth in which living organisms are found.  Ecosystem Components Food Chains, Food Webs, Food Pyramids Thank you for careful listening Dr. Ahmed Ali