Study Guide 1A + 1B

Question 1

What is science?

Answer 1

Science is a process – a way of learning about the world around us. Science uses experimentation, evidence, and logic to continuously test ideas.

Question 2

What is a scientific theory?

Answer 2

A broad explanation for events widely accepted by the scientific communities.

Question 3

What are the 8 characteristics of all living things?

Answer 3

• Homeostasis
• Organization
• Metabolism
• Growth
• Adaptation
• Response to Stimuli
• Reproduction
• Water

Question 4

Define homeostasis

Answer 4

An organisms ability to maintain balance within itself. (ex. temperature, ph level)

Question 5

Define metabolism

Answer 5

All the chemical processes going on inside your body that allow life and normal functioning

Question 6

Define ecology

Answer 6

The study of how living things interact with each other and the environment

Question 7

Define biosphere

Answer 7

The entire planet and all of the organisms that inhabit it.

Question 8

Define ecosystem

Answer 8

All living things in a certain area, plus the nonliving components that the living things with which life interacts.

Question 9

What is the difference between the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem? Give two examples of abiotic components.

Answer 9

Biotic components are living, while abiotic components are not. Examples of biotic components are animals and plants. Examples of abiotic components are rocks and sunlight.

Question 10

Define community in terms of biology

Answer 10

All of the living organisms in a particular area.

Question 11

Define population in terms of biology

Answer 11

all of the members of one
species, or type of organism, that are living in one particular place

Question 12

What do we mean by trophic levels?

Answer 12

Trophic levels mean the level of energy of a specific organism on the food chain or ecological pyramid.

Question 13

Place these trophic levels in the proper order (from the bottom up): primary consumer;
producer; secondary consumer; tertiary consumer

Answer 13

Top
Tertiary Consumer
Secondary Consumer
Primary Consumer
Producer
Bottom

Question 14

Explain the difference between the four “-vores”: carnivore, detrivore, herbivore, omnivore.

Answer 14

Carnivore - meat eater, eat other animals
Detrivores - consume the remains of dead organisms from all levels of the trophic pyramid and waste materials produced by other organisms.
Herbivores - Plant eater, only eats producers and not animals
Omnivore - Eats both meat and plants

Question 15

What is the difference between autotrophs and heterotrophs?

Answer 15

Autotrophs canc create their own energy without consuming anything. They can do this using chemical reactions, most commonly photosynthesis. Heterotrophs can’t make their own energy and need to eat to get it.

Question 16

Where do most autotrophs get
their energy from?

Answer 16

Most autotrophs are photoautotrophs that get their energy from the sun.

Question 17

Why is a food web a better representation of the relationships in an ecosystem than a food
chain?

Answer 17

A food web is a better representation of the relationships in an ecosystem than a food chain because most of the time there are a lot of organisms in an ecosystem, and the transfer of energy usually isn’t linear.

Question 18

Once energy is stored in a producer, there are four “destinations” for that energy. What are those four destinations?

Answer 18

1. Used by the producer themselves ( For their growth and reproduction)
2. Transferred to consumers
3. Transferred to detrivores
4. Given off as heat.

Question 19

What is the 10 percent rule, in an ecosystem?

Answer 19

The 10 percent rule in an ecosystem means that only about 10% of energy is passed along from one trophic level to the next when going up the food chain (plants only get 1 percent of the suns energy that hits the planet.

Question 20

What is the basic formula for photosynthesis? (What goes in, and what comes out?)

Answer 20

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Water (H2O)
Energy (Sunlight)
|
|
V
Oxygen (O2)
Glucose (C6H12O6)

Question 21

Why is photosynthesis so important for all of life on Earth? (two reasons)

Answer 21

1. Glucose is extremely important: all of life
   transforms it into usable energy and the
   building blocks of life
2. Oxygen is extremely important: most living
   things need it so (as we will see) they can
   transform glucose into usable energy

Question 22

What is the basic formula for cellular respiration? (What goes in, and what comes out?)

Answer 22

Oxygen (O2)
Glucose (C6H12O6)
|
|
V
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Water (H2O)
Energy (Adenosine Triphosphate [ATP])

Question 23

What is the difference between aerobic cellular respiration and anaerobic cellular respiration? Which one is much more efficient?

Answer 23

Aerobic cellular respiration uses oxygen while anaerobic cellular respiration doesn’t. Aerobic respiration is more efficient.

Question 24

What is bioaccumulation?

Answer 24

The increase in concentration of toxic substances as they move up a food chain
(For this to occur, the toxic substances must be
fat soluble otherwise they are excreted).

Question 25

Why is bioaccumulation a problem?

Answer 25

Bioaccumulation can be a problem because it can cause sickness further up in the food chain, which can throw the whole ecosystem off.

Question 26

What are the four “reservoirs” of carbon on our planet?

Answer 26

1. Atmosphere
   - As CO2 Gas
2. Oceans
   - dissolved CO2
   - decomposer sediments on ocean floor
3. Ground
   - Fossil fuels (ex. coal, oil, natural gas, rocks)
4. In Living Organisms

Question 27

Which of these carbon reserviors involve slow pathways (slow change), and which are fast?

Answer 27

Atmosphere and Living organisms are fast pathways (100 years or less)

Oceans and Ground are slow pathways (thousands and millions of years)

Question 28

How have humans changed the way carbon cycles on Earth in the past 200 years? (two ways)

Answer 28

– Through agriculture: clear-cutting of forests
(decreased photosynthesis)
– Through industrialization and transportation
(burning fossil fuels)

Question 29

Give three examples of fossil fuels.

Answer 29

Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas

Question 30

How has the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere changed in the past 200 years?

Answer 30

It has risen rapidly

Question 31

And what effect does an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere have on global temperatures?

Answer 31

The more CO2 that is in the atmosphere means higher temperatures.

Question 32

Why is it important that our atmosphere has some greenhouse gases?

Answer 32

Some greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is vital to keep the planet warm enough for life.

Question 33

Why is it bad for the
atmosphere to have too much greenhouse gases?

Answer 33

Having too many greenhouse gases is bad because they trap in too much heat, and disrupt the biosphere.

Question 34

List three major effects of an increase in average temperature of the Earth.

Answer 34

• Melting of the Arctic ice cap and glaciers
• Rising sea levels
• More rainfall in some areas, severe drought in many other areas
• Animals and plants have to try to find cooler habitats
• Changes in where insects live, and more insect-carried diseases

Question 35

Thinking about the two ways that humans have changed carbon cycling in the past 200 years,
what are two basic ways for humans to reduce the effects of global warming?

Answer 35

– Replant forests
– Switch to energy sources other than fossil fuels

Question 36

List three examples of alternative energy sources (alternatives to fossil fuels).

Answer 36

• Solar energy
• Wind energy
• Hydroelectric power (dams)
• Nuclear power

Question 37

What is meant by renewable and nonrenewable resources? Give two examples of each

Answer 37

• Renewable resources: replaced fairly quickly by natural means
  Wind/Solar Power
• Nonrenewable resources: are not replaced, or only very slowly
  Coal/Natural Gas

Question 38

What is meant by ecological footprint?

Answer 38

the amount of land and water area needed to produce all of the resources that we consume, and to absorb all of the wastes that we generate

Question 39

What are the two type of growth curves? (What shape are they in? What kind of population growth is occurring in each?)

Answer 39

J-Curve: Representing Exponential growth
S-Curve: Representing Logistic Growth

Question 40

What is carrying capacity?

Answer 40

The maximum population that can be supported in an ecosystem (for any species)

Question 41

Which type of growth curve usually occurs in nature? Why?

Answer 41

An S-curve, representing logistic growth occurs because usually species are limited by the carrying capacity

Question 42

What four factors have allowed humans to have an exponential (j-shaped) population growth curve?

Answer 42

1. Expand into new habitats
   – Humans can live almost anywhere on Earth
2. Increase the agricultural productivity of land
3. We learn (technology), and can pass this learning on to our children
4. Solve the problems usually associated with high density living
   – Such as waste disposal and infectious disease

Question 43

What is total fertility rate?

Answer 43

the average number of children per woman (in a particular area or country)

Question 44

At about what total fertility rate does the population stop growing?

Answer 44

For zero population growth, TFR = 2.1

Question 45

What do population pyramids show us?

Answer 45

These are graphs that show the percentage of population in a country, by age brackets.

Question 46

What is the shape of a population pyramid for a countries whose population is constantly growing?

Answer 46

The younger stages of the pyramid will be wider than the older stages.

Question 47

What is the shape of a population period of a counties population that isn’t growing at all?

Answer 47

The pyramid will be pretty stable throughout and then be thin at the oldest levels.