Environment/nature IV

Question 1

What are animals (and what animals eat) mostly composed of:

Answer 1

• water

- carbon compounds

Question 2

What happened when oxygenic photosynthesis began?

Answer 2

Plants began pumping tons oxygen into the atmosphere.

• this led to the creation of the ozone layer.

Question 3

What happened as a result of the creation of the ozone layer?

Answer 3

• life no longer had to hide from the sun, as it generates not only visible light, but also:
• ultraviolet radiation
• after the creation of the ozone layer, the sun’s deadliest rays got blocked.

Question 4

What was the “hole” in the ozone layer?

Answer 4

This had nothing to do with global warming.

• it was about rising use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), or aerosol sprays.

Question 5

What helped eliminate CFC use in the 80s?

Answer 5

President Reagan signing the Montreal Protocol, which banned CFCs.

Question 6

During which era did the creatures die that we now mine for fossil fuels?

Answer 6

The Carboniferous (later part of the Paleozoic era)

• animals from this era sank down into swamp beds and became peat.
• they cooked in the earth for millions of years.
• as they cooked, they sank deeper underground.
• they then became rocks laden with carbon, or hydrocarbon. Fossils.

Question 7

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 7

“Individual self-interest can lead to bad outcomes for the group as a whole”.

• that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it.
• self-interest leads people to pick up dog shit in their own yard, but not in the public park.

Question 8

Carbon cycle

Answer 8

Every year:

• 80 billion tons of atmospheric carbon dissolves in seawater.
• 80 billion tons returns to the atmosphere through out gassing.
• about 120 billion tons of carbon is sucked in by plants through photosynthesis.
• about 120 billion tons returns to the atmosphere through: fire, decomposition, and respiration.

(this is crucial because animals and what they eat is mostly composed of: water and carbon compounds)

Question 9

Matter

Answer 9

The material substance that constitutes:

• the observable universe

Question 10

At the most fundamental level, what is matter composed of?

Answer 10

Elementary particles called:

• quarks

and

• leptons

Question 11

Quark

Answer 11

An elementary subatomic particle.

• interacts by means of the strong force.

Question 12

Strong force

Answer 12

(aka “nuclear force”)
fundamental interaction of nature that acts between subatomic particles of matter.

• it binds quarks together to make protons and neutrons.

Question 13

How is matter constructed?

Answer 13

Quarks or leptons combine into >

Protons and neutrons and (along with electrons) form >

Atoms of the elements of the periodic table such as >

(H) Hydrogen >

Atoms may further combine into molecules like the water molecule H2O

Question 14

Subatomic particle

Answer 14

(aka “elementary particles”)

Self-contained units of matter or energy.

• they are the fundamental components of all matter.

Question 15

Which subatomic particles are the basic atomic building blocks?

Answer 15

• electrons
• protons
• neutrons
• nuclei

Question 16

Which subatomic particles are the building blocks of protons and neutrons?

Answer 16

Quarks

Question 17

Which subatomic particle can be both negatively and positively charged?

Answer 17

Muons

• The positively charged muon is called an antiparticle.
• muons in cosmic radiation are extremely penetrating. They can travel thousands of meters below the earth’s surface.

Question 18

Name some other subatomic particles?

How many are there?

Answer 18

• neutrinos
• taus
• photons
• positrons
• gluons

There are over 200 different types.

Question 19

How long do subatomic particles exist?

Answer 19

Depends.

• some only exist for a millionth of a second.

Question 20

Where is the ozone layer?

Answer 20

About 15 miles above the surface of the planet.

Question 21

Inertia

Answer 21

The ability of an ecosystem to resist change.

Question 22

Constancy

Answer 22

The ability of a living system (like a population) to preserve its numbers.

Especially in the face of things like:

• plague
• war
• famine

Question 23

Resilience

Answer 23

An ecosystem’s ability to restore itself after suffering outside disturbance.

Example: if a grassland springs back after a fire

Question 24

Herbivore

Answer 24

A plant-eating animal.

Question 25

Food chain

Answer 25

The path that chemical energy takes through an ecosystem.

From:

Sunlight - to >

Producers - to >

Herbivores - to >

Carnivores

(individual food chains connect and branch to form food webs)

Question 26

Food web

Answer 26

The structure within an ecological community that characterizes how animals within the community acquire nutrition.

• producers turn atmospheric carbon into sustenance.
• herbivores consume producers.
• carnivores consume herbivores.

Question 27

Energy in an ecosystem flows from…..?

Answer 27

Producers to consumers

Question 28

The flow or feeding structure in an ecosystem is also called…..?

Answer 28

• Trophic structure.
• each level in the structure is called a trophic level and consists of organisms that are categorized into two groups:
• producers
• consumers

A “food chain” charts the movement of energy from one trophic level to the next.

Food chains in an ecosystem are often related and are grouped into larger structures called food webs.

Question 29

What are the foundation of all food chains in an ecosystem?

Why?

Answer 29

Producers (plants)

• because they are autotrophs (they make their own food without depending on other organisms).

Question 30

Consumers

Answer 30

(aka “heterotrophs”)

Organisms that depend on producers to obtain nutrients.

Question 31

What trophic level immediately follows the producer level?

Answer 31

Primary consumers

these are the herbivores like cows, rabbits, deer, mice

Question 32

What level follows primary consumers?

Answer 32

Secondary consumers.

these are the carnivores that consume herbivores, like:

• birds
• lions
• wolves

Question 33

What follows secondary consumers?

Answer 33

Tertiary consumers.

These guys eat secondary consumers.

Examples: cougars, snakes, alligators, owls

Question 34

What follows tertiary consumers?

Answer 34

Quaternary consumers.

These guys eat eat tertiary consumers and have no known natural predators.

Ex:

• killer whale
• hawk
• eagles
• sharks

Question 35

Detritivore

Answer 35

(di-try-ti-vore)
A consumer that obtains energy by decomposing organic waste and dead organisms. (certain insects)

They are called decomposers.
Also bacteria and fungi

Question 36

How do decomposers help the environment?

Answer 36

They help to recycle nutrients in an environment by:

• breaking down organic polymers into smaller units
• this releases nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Question 37

What happens to energy in a food chain?

Answer 37

It decreases as it rises up the trophic structure.

As animals harvest the energy stored in food through cellular respiration, most of this energy is used to fuel metabolic processes in the organism.

This means much less energy is available for animals at the higher trophic levels.

That’s why producers and herbivores are so common yet tertiary and quaternary consumers are so rare.

Question 38

Regarding “ecological efficiency”

How do scientists know that the amount of usable energy diminishes as energy travels up the trophic structure?

Answer 38

They’ve done studies with:

• food chain relationships and cellular respiration.
• the studies look at predator/prey relationships