B1- Energy in biomass

Question 1

What is meant by organic waste?

Answer 1

waste from living organisms containing carbon compounds ( such as carbohydrates,fats and proteins)

Question 2

Which processes return carbon dioxide into the atmosphere?

Answer 2

Respiration and combustion ( burning)

Question 3

How can energy wasted be reduced in a food chain?

Answer 3

Reduce the number of stages. Carnivores have less energy available then herbivores who only eat plants.

Question 4

Give a example of a detritus feeder?

Answer 4

Worms

Question 5

What is a Sankey diagram?

Answer 5

A type of graph with arrows shapes which shows total energy taken in and how it is transferred.

Question 6

Why does a compost heap get hot?

Answer 6

The energy from respiration heats up the surroundings

Question 7

Why do we normally eat herbivores rather than carnivores?

Answer 7

There are less stages in the food chain. Eating plants is the most efficient way of feeding the world population, but if we want meat less energy is wasted by eating herbivores

Question 8

What do we mean by a stable community in terms of recycling of nutrients?

Answer 8

The processes that remove materials from the environment are balanced by processes that return these materials. Materials such as carbon are constantly recycled.

Question 9

When a calf eats grass, only about 30% of the material is turned into new growth of the calf. What happens to the other 70%

Answer 9

There is undigested food in the faeces ( cow dung), urea is lost in urine,the calf transfers energy to move around,the calf produces methane which is lost into the atmosphere,the energy released is respiration is eventually wasted heating the surroundings

Question 10

What does the word biomass mean?

Answer 10

The mass of living material