What do the terms “ecology” and “environment” mean to biologists?
• Think about what the words “ecology” and “environment” mean to you. How have these terms been used in news articles you have read or on television shows you have watched? Write down on your own paper what these two terms mean to you. • Read the article “Natural environment” found at the Wikipedia web site. • Compare what you wrote in Activity 1a above with the definitions of “ecology” and “environment” found in the Key Terms definitions at the beginning of this lesson. Compare the values that are implicit in the everyday uses of these terms with a scientific understanding of these terms. Write your answer in the box above. Then, press the answer button to check your answer. • What do biologists mean by “population?” You probably already have learned a definition for the word population. The first definition for population at the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is “the whole number of people or inhabitants in a country or region.” In ordinary speech, we use the term for people, and
