Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term - Senior Secondary School 1

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  4. Agricultural ecology

Term: 1st Term

Week: 7

Class: Senior Secondary School 1

Age: 15 years

Duration: 40 minutes of 2 periods each

Date:       

Subject:    Agriculture

Topic:-      Agricultural ecology

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to

  1. Define agricultural ecology
  2. Describe the components of farm ecosystem
  3. Discuss the interactions among the components of the agro ecosystem

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES: Identification, explanation, questions and answers, demonstration, videos from source

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: Videos, loud speaker, textbook, pictures

INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES

PERIOD 1-2

PRESENTATION

TEACHER’S ACTIVITY

STUDENT’S ACTIVITY

STEP 1

INTRODUCTION

The teacher reviews the previous lesson on agricultural reforms and laws

Students pay attention

STEP 2

EXPLANATION

She explains the meaning of agricultural ecology

She states and explains the components of the farm ecosystem

Students pay attention and participates

STEP 3

DEMONSTRATION

She discusses the interactions among the components of the agro ecosystem 

Students pay attention and participate

STEP 4

NOTE TAKING

The teacher writes a summarized note on the board

The students copy the note in their books

 

NOTE

AGRICULTURAL ECOLOGY

Agricultural ecology encompasses the relationship between agricultural production systems and ecological processes. It includes all the techniques that allow agricultural practices to be more respectful of the environment and its ecological specificities.

 

Agricultural Ecology is divided into:

  1. Autecology
  2. Synecology.

Autecology is concerned with the study of an individual organism, or a single species of organism and its environment.

Synecology is concerned with the study of the inter-relationships between groups of organisms or species of organisms living together in an area.

 

COMPONENTS OF THE FARM ECOSYSTEM

Ecosystem refers to a community of crop plants and farm animals functioning together with their non-living environment. The components of the farm system are:

  1. BIOTIC COMPONENTS: The biotic components include the living things i.e. crop plants and farm animals. The biotic components can be grouped into two classes which are; Autotrophism and Heterotrophism.

(i) Autotrophism: This is a group of organisms which makes use of sunlight or chemicals to manufacture their food from inorganic substance during the process of photosynthesis. In other words, autotrophs are organisms mainly crop plants which are capable of synthesizing their own food, hence they are called producers.

(ii) Heterotrophism: This is a group of organisms mainly farm animals which cannot manufacture their own food but depend directly or indirectly on plants for their food, hence they are called consumers. Farm animals that feed directly on green plants (producers) are called herbivores or primary consumers e.g. cattle, sheep, goat and rabbit.

 

  1. ABIOTIC COMPONENTS: The abiotic components of an ecosystem include the non-living things which are:

(i) Climatic factors like rainfall, temperature, wind, humidity and sunlight.

(ii) Inorganic materials and nutrients such as carbondioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus.

(iii) Edaphic factors like soils, rocks, topography.

(iv) Other factors like dust, storm, fire and water.

 

INTERACTIONS OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE FARM ECOSYSTEM

  1. In sole cropping;
  2. Crop plants absorb nutrients from the soil to grow.
  3. Crop plants also absorb water to grow and produce fruits.
  4. Crop plants also take in carbondioxide from the air to carry out photosynthesis.

 

  1. In mixed cropping;
  2. Crops like cowpea is capable of adding nutrients to the soil.
  3. Crops like cassava obtain nutrients from the soil to grow and produce fruits.
  4. The leaves of all crops which fall on the ground, decayed and add nutrients to the soil through decomposition by soil microorganisms

 

  1. In mixed farming;
  2. The grasses or the remains of crops serve as food for the animals.
  3. The animal dungs and droppings are used as organic manure to improve the soil fertility for the crops.
  4. Some crops like cowpea and crop residue may decay to release nutrients to the soil.

EVALUATION:   1. Explain the meaning of agricultural ecology

  1. Discuss the components of the farm ecosystem
  2. Discuss the interactions of the components of the far                              ecosystem on some forms of farming

CLASSWORK: As in evaluation

CONCLUSION: The teacher commends the students positively