Description
The Project: Every type of organism interacts with other organisms in its ecosystem. Whether these interactions involve nonliving or living factors, they are often essential for survival based on the organism’s requirements for resources. National Geographic is creating a Species Database of short 3-minute educational films on every local species in North America. They are hiring one of their investigators – you! – to do a spotlight on a species in your area and some of its interactions in its ecosystem to include in this database of knowledge. Because you have been working for Nat Geo so long, they are letting you pick the species, whether plant or animal. They have some requirements for you, however. Your final report must include: a) an interview with a subject-matter expert – this could be someone who works in an industry involving your species or a teacher who knows about the species (but not your own teacher!); b) a key adaptation in structure or behavior that makes the species suitable for the local habitat; c) the details of at least two interactions involving the species in its ecosystem, including what the species interacts with, the interaction type, and the purpose of interaction; and d) an explanation of how local environmental conditions affect growth of the organism or population (e.g. availability of food, light, space, water, etc.).
