Chapter 8: The Sustaining God

Question 1

Biomatrix

Answer 1

A system of bacteria, algae, protozoa, and fungi required for plants and animals to live on earth (aka organo-substrate)

Question 2

Bacterium

Plural - Bacteria

Answer 2

Single-celled organisms small enough not to need organelles (aka prokaryote)

Question 3

Protozoan

Plural - Protazoa

Answer 3

Eukaryotic organism that is generally a one-celled consumer

Question 3

Producer

Answer 3

An organism that gets its energy from the physical environment (vs. consumer)

Question 4

Consumer

Answer 4

An organism that gets its energy by consuming organic molecules

(vs. producer)

Question 5

Photosynthesis

Answer 5

Cellular process that fixes carbon and stores sunlight energy in organic molecules

Question 6

Pigment

Answer 6

That which absorbs some color and reflects the rest; photosynthetic molecule that collects sunlight energy

Question 7

Organo-Substrate

Answer 7

System of bacteria, algae, protozoa, and fungi required for plants and animals to live on earth (aka biomatrix)

Question 8

Chemosynthesis

Answer 8

Cellular process that extracts energy from chemicals in the physical environment

Question 9

Fixation

Answer 9

Extraction of an element from its reservoir and ‘fixing’ it in an organic molecule

Question 10

Bioremediation

Answer 10

Transformation of a harmful substance into a less toxic form

Question 11

Mycorrhizal Fungi

Answer 11

Fungi in mutualism with plant roots that provide water and nutrients to the plants

Question 12

Biogeochemical Cycle

Answer 12

Organism driven process continuously supplying organisms with a required element by fixing the element from an inorganic reservoir,
passing it through all organisms and then returning the element to the reservoir

Question 13

Reservoir

Elemental

Answer 13

Location where an element essential to organisms is stored in sufficient quantity to provide all organisms with the element

Question 14

Amino Acids

Answer 14

Monomer for proteins

Th building blocks of proteins

Question 15

Renewable Resource

Answer 15

A substance needed by organisms that is continually made available or continually generated

(vs. nonrenewable resource)

Question 16

Non-renewable Resource

Answer 16

A substance needed by organisms that is not continually made available or continually generated

(vs. renewable resource)

Question 17

Elegance

Answer 17

Beautiful simplicity of a design that accomplishes a complex result

Question 18

Pollutant

Answer 18

Harmful chemical introduced into the enviroment

Question 19

Bioaccumulation

Answer 19

Accumulation and storage of pollutants by an organism

Question 20

Biological Magnification

Answer 20

More rapid accumulation and storage of pollutants by higher consumers

Question 21

Pollution

Answer 21

Harmful chemicals accumulated more rapidly than remediated by the biomatrix

Question 22

Acid Rain

Answer 22

Rain that is made more acidic than normal due to acid-causing pollutants in the atmosphere

Question 23

Recycle

Answer 23

Process of cleaning and reforming trash, especially nonbiodegradable trash, so as to reuse it

Question 24

Non-Biodegradable

Answer 24

Not degradable into components that organisms can use

(vs. biodegradable)

Question 25

Prokaryote

Answer 25

A microscopic single-celled organism that has neither a distinct nucleus with a membrane nor other specialized organelles

Question 26

Eukaryote

Answer 26

An organism consisting of a cell or cells in which the genetic material is DNA in the form of chromosomes contained within a distinct nucleus.