Ch 7 - Exploring the Pond

Question 1

What is a community?

Answer 1

A community is a group of plants and animals (or people) that depend on each other to live.

Question 2

What kind of community is the pond?

Answer 2

a freshwater community

Question 3

Why do plants grow easily around the pond?

Answer 3

The mud is rich in minerals.

Question 4

What plants grow in the pond and in the ocean?

Answer 4

algae

Question 5

What does it mean to make comparisons?

Answer 5

to observe similarities and differences

Question 6

What can you see if you look at pond water under a microscope?

Answer 6

tiny animals that live in pond water

Question 7

What is the name for the tiny animals that live in pond water that you can’t see without a microscope?

Answer 7

protozoans

Question 8

What is dissolved in the water that fish need to breathe?

Answer 8

oxygen

Question 9

What gas do plants need?

Answer 9

carbon dioxide

Question 10

How do the fish and the plants of the pond help each other?

Answer 10

Fish exhale carbon dioxide, which is used by the plants. Plants give off oxygen, which is used by the fish.

Question 11

What makes the tiny bubbles found in water?

Answer 11

oxygen

Question 12

What is the first stage of growth for an amphibian?

Answer 12

egg

Question 13

Where is the egg laid?

Answer 13

in the water, attached to a water plant

Question 14

What is the second stage of growth, after the egg hatches?

Answer 14

tadpole

Question 15

Where does the tadpole live?

Answer 15

in the water

Question 16

How is the tadpole able to get the oxygen it needs to live?

Answer 16

It has gills.

Question 17

When can the tadpole live on land?

Answer 17

when its lungs have formed

Question 18

What is the salamander tadpole also called?

Answer 18

larva

Question 19

When is the frog tadpole considered an adult frog?

Answer 19

when it loses its tail

Question 20

What can the salamander do if it loses its tail or leg?

Answer 20

grow a new one

Question 21

Why must the salamander live in a moist, shady place?

Answer 21

It receives the water it needs to live through its skin.

Question 22

Do all birds build their nests in trees?

Answer 22

No

Question 23

How are most snakes born?

Answer 23

They hatch from eggs.

Question 24

How are water snakes born?

Answer 24

They are born alive.

Question 25

Why is the water moccasin often called “cottonmouth”?

Answer 25

Its mouth is white like cotton.

Question 26

Will most water snakes bite?

Answer 26

Yes

Question 27

Are all water snakes dangerous?

Answer 27

No

Question 28

In what three ways are a pond and an ocean different?

Answer 28

The pond is freshwater; the ocean is salt water.

The pond is usuallys still; the ocean is always moving.

The pond grows pondweed; the ocean grows seaweed.

Question 29

All amphibians are cold-blooded. What does this mean?

Answer 29

Their bodies become the same temperature as their surroundings.

Question 30

Why is it good that turtles eat many young frogs and fish?

Answer 30

There would be too many frogs and fish if the turtles didn’t eat them. It keeps the number of animals in the right balance.

Question 31

What holds a water strider on top of the water?

Answer 31

surface film (or surface tension)

Question 32

A minnow is what class of vertebrate?

Answer 32

a fish

Question 33

A bittern is what class of vertebrate?

Answer 33

a bird

Question 34

A muskrat is what class of vertebrate?

Answer 34

a mammal

Question 35

Name two amphibians of the pond.

Answer 35

frog

salamander

Question 36

Name two reptiles of the pond.

Answer 36

turtle

water snake (eg water moccasin)

Question 37

Name some invertebrates of the pond.

Answer 37

dragonflies

mosquitoes

damselflies

water striders

water boatman