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.