Topic 9- Ecosystems and Material Cycles

Question 1

Which term describes organisms, such as plants or algae, that make their own food?
Why can plants and algae make their own food?

Answer 1

producers

Question 2

Which term describes organisms that get their food by eating other organisms?

Answer 2

cells contain chlorophyll/carry out photosynthesis

Question 3

Which term describes animals that eat plants or algae?

Answer 3

herbivores/primary consumers

Question 4

Which term describes animals that kill and eat other animals?

Answer 4

predators/carnivores/secondary consumers

Question 5

Name a type of diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms.

Answer 5

food chain/food web

Question 6

Which scientific term means all the organisms and the environment they interact with?

Answer 6

ecosystem

Question 7

Which scientific term means all individuals of the same species living in a particular area?

Answer 7

population

Question 8

Which piece of equipment could be used to investigate the number of plants in an area?

Answer 8

quadrat

Question 9

Which term describes all the animals, plants, other organisms, rain, soil and other factors in a rainforest?

Answer 9

ecosystem

Question 10

Which term describes all the organisms living in a lake?

Answer 10

community

Question 11

Groups of the same species living in different areas are different … ?

Answer 11

populations

Question 12

In a food web, which term describes organisms that feed on plants?

Answer 12

herbivores/primary consumers

Question 13

What term describes how one species needs other species in the same habitat for its survival?

Answer 13

interdependence

Question 14

In a study of abundance of small plants in a field, samples would be taken using which piece of equipment?

Answer 14

quadrat

Question 15

What is the scientific term for the feeding levels in a food chain?

Answer 15

trophic levels

Question 16

Which type of diagram displays the biomass in all the different levels of a food chain?

Answer 16

pyramid of biomass

Question 17

Which term measures the dry mass of all living tissue in an organism?

Answer 17

biomass

Question 18

Name the source of energy that is transferred to plants.

Answer 18

light/Sun

Question 19

Which term describes any living part of an ecosystem?

Answer 19

biotic

Question 20

Which trophic level forms the bottom level of a pyramid of biomass?

Answer 20

producers

Question 21

Which energy transfer is least useful for organisms?

Answer 21

to environment by heating

Question 22

How do you calculate the efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels?

Answer 22

energy transferred to biomass divided by total energy supplied to organism

Question 23

Name two resources that plants need from their environment.

Answer 23

any two from: light, water/rainfall, space, nutrients, warmth/temperature, carbon dioxide, oxygen/air

Question 24

Which term describes something that has been added to the environment, causing harm to the organisms?

Answer 24

pollution/pollutant

Question 25

Which method can be used to study the distribution of organisms (how they are spread) in a straight line through an ecosystem?

Answer 25

belt transect

Question 26

Give two examples of abiotic factors that affect organisms.

Answer 26

any two from: light, water/rainfall, space, nutrients, warmth/temperature, carbon dioxide/oxygen concentration

Question 27

Is predation an abiotic or biotic factor in ecosystems?

Answer 27

biotic

Question 28

Which term describes the struggle between organisms for a limited resource?

Answer 28

competition

Question 29

Give one example of a limited resource that animals might struggle with each other for.

Answer 29

any suitable example, such as: mates, nesting space, food, water

Question 30

Give one example of a limited resource that plants might struggle with each other for.

Answer 30

any suitable example, such as: light, water, nutrients

Question 31

Which term means the number of different species living in an area?

Answer 31

biodiversity

Question 32

Which cycle describes the relationship in population size of a secondary consumer and the animal species that it eats?

Answer 32

predator–prey cycle

Question 33

You might expect the number of predators to drop in an area if their preferred prey species declines in number. Suggest why this drop may not occur.

Answer 33

the predators start to eat a different prey

Question 34

The malaria protist causes harm when it infects a human. Which term describes this relationship between the malaria protist and human?

Answer 34

parasitism

Question 35

How does the malaria protist benefit from being inside a human?

Answer 35

anything suitable, such as: gets nutrients, multiplies in number

Question 36

Which term describes a close relationship between two species that benefits both species?

Answer 36

mutualism

Question 37

Name one material, other than water, that cycles through ecosystems.

Answer 37

any one suitable, e.g. carbon, nitrogen

Question 38

Which process changes water on the Earth’s surface into water vapour in the air?

Answer 38

evaporation

Question 39

Which process describes how plants absorb water from the soil and release it into the air?

Answer 39

transpiration

Question 40

Which process causes the formation of clouds of water droplets from water vapour in the air?

Answer 40

condensation

Question 41

What is potable water?

Answer 41

suitable for drinking

Question 42

Which process produces potable water from salty water?

Answer 42

desalination/distillation

Question 43

Name one group of organisms that includes decomposers.

Answer 43

any suitable, e.g. bacteria, fungi, microorganisms

Question 44

In what form is carbon in the atmosphere?

Answer 44

carbon dioxide

Question 45

Name one carbon compound found in living organisms.

Answer 45

any suitable carbon-containing compound, e.g. sugars, fats, proteins, DNA

Question 46

Which process of living organisms removes carbon from the atmosphere?

Answer 46

photosynthesis

Question 47

Which term describes an organism that breaks down dead plants or animals?

Answer 47

decomposer

Question 48

Which term describes the breaking down of dead plant or animal tissue?

Answer 48

decay/decomposition

Question 49

Which process in living organisms adds carbon to the atmosphere?

Answer 49

respiration

Question 50

Which process causes carbon to be added to the atmosphere from fossil fuels?

Answer 50

combustion

Question 51

Which biotic process removes carbon from the atmosphere?

Answer 51

photosynthesis

Question 52

Name two groups of organisms that carry out the biotic process that removes carbon from the atmosphere.

Answer 52

any two groups that are producers, e.g. plants, algae

Question 53

Why do fertilisers added to fields affect plant growth?

Answer 53

contain nutrients

Question 54

Name one problem caused to the environment by spreading too much fertiliser on fields.

Answer 54

any suitable, e.g. eutrophication of water, death of fish in rivers

Question 55

Which name is given to bacteria that convert nitrogen from the air into nitrogen compounds?

Answer 55

nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Question 56

Name one alternative to using powdered fertiliser that a farmer could use to improve crop growth.

Answer 56

any suitable, e.g. spread manure/animal waste, crop rotation