its earth time baby Flashcards
what is the biosphere
its a place on the planet where living organisms live
what are the three parts of the biosphere?
atmosphere: air
hydrosphere: water
lithosphere: the land
what are the two major factors? to the biosphere
biotic things diseases, competition, predation
abiotic things rocks, temperature, climate
what are two major things in living organisms relating to energy
photosynthesis in plants (converting the suns energy into starches) and cellular respiration which happens in all living organism (convert starches and sugars into useful energy)
what are the three things that happen to incoming light from the sun?
30% is refected aka albedo
19% is absorbed by the atmosphere of the clouds
51% is absorbed on the earth’s surface
what are the groups of the biosphere?
producers ( autotrophs)
Consumers (heterotrophs)
decomposers ( saprophytes)
what are producers ( autotrophs)
Producers synthesize their own food from inorganic
molecules by using light or chemical energy
their name means “self-feeder”
producers use the suns energy aka photosynthetic producers
other types of producers usually under the sea use it chemically
what are consumers (heterotrophs)
their guys eat other organisms to feed them
usually eats producers but secondary and tertiary and quaternary eat other consumers
what are decomposers ( saprophytes)
decomposers obtain energy-rich molecules by eating dead or organic matter
they’re important because they make inorganic and organic material into water, air, earth
what happens to energy in the biosphere
it follows a path not cyle and has to follow the laws of thermodynamics
whats the first law of thermodynamics
“Energy cannot be created or destroyed just put into another form”
example:l Solar energy is converted to chemical energy by autotrophs.
whats the second law of thermodynamics
During any energy change, some energy is always
lost, usually as heat (No energy transfer is 100%
efficient)
example: As energy moves up food chains, most of it is lost as heat.
