Answer the questions. 1) Who and when created the symbol of Ecology?

1) Who and when created the symbol of Ecology?

2) How can Ecology be defined?

3) What does an organism’s external environment include?

4) What objects does Ecology include?

5) Ecology is a multidisciplinary science, isn’t it?

6) What levels are of Ecology concern?

7) When did Ecology achieve public prominence and become distinct science?

8) Who is considered to be the Father of Ecology?

9) When did Ecology become an essential part of the world’s politics?

10) What issue highlighted the increasing danger of greenhouse gasses?

3. Ask your partner some more questions on the text.

4. Substitute the words in bold type for their synonyms:

risk, connected, image, investigation, expand, non-living, tendencies, include, interpret

1) The ecology icon gained popularity before the founding of Earth Day.

2) How do we define ecology?

3) All these questions are important if one wants to venture into living green and help the environment.

4) How about ecology trends and the problems associated with ecology?

5) An organism’s external environment includes abiotic and biotic factors.

6) Biology generally studies living organisms and is linked with the maximum levels of biological organization.

7) Aside from pure scientific inquiry, ecology is considered a highly applied science.

8) These levels comprise the population level, the community level, the ecosystem level, and the biosphere level.

9) Large maritime expeditions were organized to extend maritime commerce.

5. Finish the sentences using the text.

1) The symbol for ecology was created by …

2) The symbol was a combination of …

3) The symbol became wildly popular and found its way into …

4) Ecology is defined as …

5) An organism’s external environment includes …

6) Ecological study includes several objects, from …

7) Ecology is also interrelated to other disciplines such as …

8) Ecology studies different levels such as …

9) Ecology has been around since…

10) It was on the 2nd half of the 20th century that …

11) Alexander von Humboidt, was the one who is often considered …

12) The growth of ecological thought happened early …

13) Ecology as a modern science has been traced to …

14) The term "ecology" was first coined …

15) It was in 1971, when Ecology became …

6. What are the subjects of the following sciences?

Biology deals with the molecular transformations in chemical reactions.

Physics treats physical life of fauna and flora.

Ecology is concerned with the interactions of subatomic particles.

Chemistry considers the structure and functioning of the biosphere.

7. Translate.

1) Экология – это междисциплинарная наука, изучающая распространение и многообразие живых организмов и их взаимодействие с окружающей средой.

2) Символ экологии был создан Роном Коббом и включал в себя буквы «Е» и «О», взятые от слов «Environment» и «Organism».

3) Экологические исследования проводились с 4 века до н.э., но только во второй половине 20 века экология получила общественное признание и стала самостоятельной наукой.

4) Термин «экология» был впервые употреблён немецким биологом Эрнстом Геккелем.

5) В 1971 году ЮНЕСКО запустила исследовательскую программу, нацеленную на улучшение отношений человека и природы.

6) Экология стала важной частью мировой политики.

7) Экология – это мультидисциплинарная наука, которая представлена во многих областях.

8) Мир признал важность экологии, беря во внимание то отрицательное влияние, которое люди оказывают на окружающую среду.

8. Summarize the text “Ecology as a Science”. Use the following beginnings:

The text reports on…

The text touches upon…

A careful account is given to…

It is reported that…

Much attention is given to…

The text points out that…

The text deals with the problem of…

The text provides information on…

The text defines the phenomenon of…

The text covers such points as…

9. Work in pairs. Speak and express your opinion on the facts below. Use the following expressions:

I agree (don’t agree) that…

I don’t think so.

Not absolutely.

In my view…

It was interesting to find out that …

a) If you want to be “green” and help the environment you should know about ecology, its trends, its history and problems.

b) Ecology studies the life of animals and plants.

c) Some prominent scientists played an important part in the development of ecology.

d) Some scientists believe that Ecology is not a distinct science. It is a branch of Biology.

Reading for Understanding

1. Read the text below and answer the question:

- What are the goals of NWF?

National Wildlife Federation

So what does the NWF have to do with ecology? Put simply, the NWF is dedicated to sustaining a healthy ecology by bringing awareness to the need for conservation in the United States. The NWF, therefore, supports green living, conservation, sustainability, and any solutions that point to a gentler impact on our planet.

The National Wildlife Federation is the largest private, non-profit, conservation, advocacy organization in the United States. The National Wildlife Fund or the NWF has over 4 million members and supporters in 48 states. The NWF with its mission statement “to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future“ is a national network of like-minded state and territorial groups, seeking balanced, common sense solutions to environmental problems that work for wildlife and people”. A wide variety of individuals, groups, and organizations who share a passion for wildlife have been brought together by the NWF.

They are focused on three areas of concern. The first; is to connect people to nature. The second area of concern is to reverse global warming. And the third is to protect and restore critical wildlife habitats.

The NWF has various communications programs that they disseminate via publications, television, movies, and other forms of media. NWF is the publisher of the National Wildlife, a conservation magazine for adults and some magazines for children.

The Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program is aimed at showing people how to make wildlife friendly communities and yards. This program was started in 1973. Before a backyard can be certified as Backyard Wildlife Habitat some criteria need to be met. Food, water, and cover must be provided. Breeding and nesting areas can be made available by using native plants, nest boxes, and water gardens. Your backyard can be certified by the NWF as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat if all these elements are met.

Notes:

dedicate посвящать like-minded одинаково мыслящие

awareness осознание concern интерес, участие

gentle добрый, нежный seek искать

inspire вдохновлять nesting areas места гнездовий

disseminate распространять backyard задний двор

2. Find in the text the equivalents to the following word combinations:

проще говоря; поддержание здоровой экологии; более бережное воздействие на нашу планету; некоммерческая защитная организация; национальная сеть; здравые решения; большое число людей; разделять обеспокоенность за состояние дикой природы; журнал для взрослых; места для гнёзд

3. Select the statement that best expresses the main idea of the text.

a) The NWF has various communications programs.

b) The NWF is dedicated to sustaining a healthy ecology by bringing awareness to the need for conservation in the United States.

c) A wide variety of individuals, groups, and organizations who share a passion for wildlife have been brought together by the NWF.

d) The National Wildlife Fund has over 4 million members and supporters in 48 states.

4. Is it true or false? Correct the wrong statements.

1) The NWF is dedicated to sustaining a healthy economy.

2) The NWF supports green living, conservation, and sustainability of our planet.

3) The National Wildlife Federation is the largest private, profit, conservation, advocacy organization in Great Britain.

4) The National Wildlife Fund has over 4 million members and supporters in 20 states.

5) NWF’s mission statement is “to inspire Americans to protect pets for our children’s future”.

6) A wide variety of individuals, groups, and organizations which share a passion for wildlife have been brought together by the NWF.

7) They are focused on two areas of concern.

8) The NWF has various communications programs.

9) The National Wildlife is a conservation magazine for children.

5. Retell the text.

6. Ecology consists of many branches. Find the information about it on the Internet and retell it.

Reading for Translating

Ecology

Ecology is a broad biological science and can be divided into many sub-disciplines using various criteria. Many of these fields overlap, complement and inform each other. Indeed, few of these disciplines exist in isolation.

When discussing the study of a single species, a distinction is usually made between its biology and its ecology. For example, "polar bear biology" might include the study of the polar bear's physiology, morphology, pathology and ontogeny, whereas "polar bear ecology" would include a study of its prey species, its population, distribution, dependence on environmental conditions, etc. In that sense, there can be as many sub-disciplines of ecology as there are species to study.

Ecology can also be classified on the basis of:

-the primary kinds of organism under study, e.g. animal ecology, plant ecology, insect ecology;

-the biomes principally studied, e.g. forest ecology, grassland ecology, desert ecology, marine ecology, urban ecology;

-the geographic or climatic area, e.g. arctic ecology, tropical ecology

List of subdisciplines

Specialized branches of ecology include, among others:

-applied ecology, the practice of employing ecological principles and understanding to solve real world problems (includes agro-ecology and conservation biology);

-biogeochemistry, effect of biota on global chemistry, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space.

-biogeography, the study of the geographic distributions of species;

-chemical ecology, which deals with the ecological role of biological chemicals used in a wide range of areas including defense against predators and attraction of mates;

-conservation ecology, which studies how to reduce the risk of species extinction;

-eco-toxicology, which looks at the ecological role of toxic chemicals (often pollutants, but also naturally occurring compounds);

-fire ecology, which looks at the role of fire in the environment of plants and animals and its effect on ecological communities;

-functional ecology, the study of the roles, or functions, that certain species play in an ecosystem;

-landscape ecology, which studies the interactions between discrete elements of a landscape;

-marine ecology, and aquatic ecology, where the dominant environmental milieu is water;

-microbial ecology, the ecology of micro-organisms;

-theoretical ecology, the development of ecological theory, usually with mathematical, statistical and/or computer modeling tools;

-urban ecology, the study of ecosystems in urban areas.

Ecology also plays important roles in many inter-disciplinary fields:

-ecological design and ecological engineering;

-ecological economics;

-human ecology and ecological anthropology;

-social ecology, ecological health and environmental psychology.

Ecology has also inspired (and lent its name to) other non-biological disciplines such as

industrial ecology;

media ecology;

software ecology and information ecology.

Speaking

Read the conversation and act it out.

(Ecologist Elsa Cleland is talking with students about her day-to-day work)

Student: What is specific about the work of ecologist?

Miss Cleland: One of the great things about being an ecologist is that every day is a little bit different. Some days I spend the whole day outside, for instance, if I'm setting up an experiment or taking measurements.

Other days I spend the whole day in front of a computer, looking at the data I've collected, doing statistical analyses to help me understand the results, and writing papers to describe those results to other people.

I also spend a lot of time learning about the experiments that other ecologists are doing. Being an ecologist you get to spend your whole life learning, even after you've finished with all the schooling.

Student: How can you become an ecologist?

Miss Cleland: It takes a lot of dedication to become an ecologist. Someone who wants to become an ecologist should have a strong science background and enjoy life sciences, such as, botany, zoology, and biology. It is also important to have good computer and math skills.

Because a large part of ecology is communicating with other researchers and consultants, it is also important to develop writing and speaking skills, as well as to work well in teams and groups. For some ecologists it is also important to know about economics, social sciences and engineering.

Student: What do ecologists do?

Miss Cleland: Ecologists study the relationships between living things and their environment. Ecologists often have to study and explain how human actions affect other living things and their environment. Ecologists can be teachers or research scientists. They can work for environmental organizations like the Nature Conservancy or for the government. They may work at museums, zoos and aquariums. One cool thing about being an ecologist is that you get to spend time working outside!

Student: How much does an ecologist get paid?

Miss Cleland: If you want to make tons of money, ecology may not be the career for you. But, if you love nature and the outdoors, it is a fantastic job. The salary for ecologists has a broad range, based on the type of job, the level of education needed, and how much experience the person has in working as an ecologist. The average ecologist makes $30,000 - $60,000 per year. Few ecologists make up to $100,000 each year.

Student: Thanks a lot, Miss Cleland.

Unit 2