Water as the Medium of Life Flashcards
Earth is called the BLUE planet because of its water abundance.
TRUE
Life is impossible without water. Why?
All life forms depend on
water in various ways such as drinking, irrigation, food preparation, hygiene,
watering plants, and many more.
The water environment on Earth is called the?
HYDROSPHERE
What are the waters on Earth that comprise the hydrosphere? (3)
(water vapor, liquid water, and ice)
What forms are part of the hydrosphere?
all bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, rivers, and marshes. Clouds, snow, glacier, and rain are also part of the hydrosphere.
97.5 saltwater + 2.5 freshwater = hydrosphere.
TRUE
What are the prevailing hypotheses on the origin of Earth? (2)
Water came from COMETS that collided with Earth
Water was already present within Earth since formation, as volatiles trapped in magma and manifested as liquid water
during DEGASSING AFTER THE CRUST HAD FORMED.
Knowing the origin of WATER on Earth is knowing the origin of life on this planet.
TRUE
What are the 3 main regions of the Earth?
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere
Atmosphere
What is saltwater?
It is composed of a certain amount of salt.
Saltwater comprises the ____ and ______
Ocean and Seas.
A lot of organisms depend on saltwater for survival such as
saltwater fishes and other marine invertebrates.
TRUE
What is freshwater?
Still has small amount of salts but in very low concentrations.
Freshwater can be present in the form of ___ and ____, and it can even be found in permanently frozen soil known as ______.
RAIN, SNOW, PERMAFROST
Freshwater is commonly stored in rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, marshes, glaciers, and polar caps.
TRUE
Only 1% of freshwater is potable. This percentage will be
constant since water is continually recycled through the atmosphere.
TRUE
What are the Properties of Water That Enable the Existence of Life? (3)
Density
Transition Temperatures
Heat Capacity
Water is densest at?
3.98 degrees celsius
Water is least dense at?
FREEZING TEMP
The density of water
changes with several factors: ____ and ____
TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY
Ice insulates the underlying liquid and prevents the liquid from further freezing.
TRUE
If ice sinks when frozen, then the surface of the liquid water will freeze and sink again until such a point that all water will be frozen, making chemical reactions impossible.
TRUE
The consistency of water in maintaining liquid form at ROOM TEMPERATURE is important as it allows the ____ and ____ of substances from the cell to its environment and vice versa.
FLOW AND TRANSFER
All life forms are composed of cells in which their cell
membrane SEPARATES them from the environment.
TRUE
Water has the ability to control temperature. It is the CONTROL CENTER
TRUE
The ANIMAL cell has a cell membrane
The PLANT cell has a cell wall
TRUE
Water is an excellent coolant since its high amount of heat energy can be absorbed without getting too hot.
TRUE
The water’s high heat capacity is important because, without this property, the atmosphere will be EXTREMELY COLD during winter and EXTREMELY HOT during summer.
TRUE
If water doesn’t have a ________, our temperature can get too high quickly which can be highly detrimental to most organisms.
HIGH HEAT CAPACITY
It is believed and discovered that water from the comet had the same _____________ as the water in the seas.
ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS
