Week 2 Biosphere Flashcards
What does ecology mean?
The study of Earth
What is the biosphere?
the outer skin of the Earth that can support life
What are the 3 parts of the biosphere?
- atmosphere (air) 2. hydrosphere (water) 3. lithosphere (earth)
What is the lowest level of the biosphere?
individual (single species)
Define species.
a group of organisms so similar they can can breed and produce fertile offspring (Biological Species Concept)
What is the next level up from an “Individual” or one member of a species?
A population.
A group of one type of species living in one area.
A species can have many populations all over the world.
An individual is one of a species.
A population is a group of ONE species living in one area.
What is a Community?
A COMMUNITY is all the populations of different species that live in a certain area.
What type of “community members” would you find in this community setting?
Multiple answers correct. Some examples would be: moss, grass, trees, ferns, squirrels, chipmunks, deer…
An individual is one of a species.
A population is a group of ONE species living in one area.
A community is all the populations of different species that live in a certain area.
What makes up the next level, the ECOSYSTEM?
The biotic & abiotic factors within a certain area.
Give examples of biotic and abiotic things in a desert ecosystem.
biotic: cactus, lizard, vulture
abiotic: sand, rocks
An individual is one of a species.
A population is a group of ONE species living in one area.
A community is all the populations of different species that live in a certain area.
An ecosystem is all the biotic & abiotic things in a community.
What is the next level, and what is it made up of? (HINT: it starts with a “B”)
BIOME
is made of GROUPS of ecosystems in the same climate & communities.
But not neceesarily in the same areas.
Explain how deserts area a biome.
The lowest level of the _______ is an individual.
The next level of the _______ is a population.
The third level of the _______ is a community.
The 4th level of the _______ is an ecosystem.
The 5th level of the _______ is a biome.
And ALL the levels combined make up the _______ .
(HINT: it starts with a “B” and is the thin layer of the Earth that supports life)
BIOSPHERE! ! ! !
The main source of energy for Earth comes from where?
The SUN ! ! ! !
Name the elements involved in photosynthesis.
Name the molecules.
Elements: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen
Molecules: carbon dioxide, water, glucose, oxygen
What are the reactants and what are the products?
ROOT words:
suffix -troph
-troph
“how food is obtained”
Now what does autotroph & heterotroph & chemotroph mean?
what is photosynthesis?
( HINT: look at the root words, photo- & -synthesis )
When autotrophs use sun energy to produce food.
Living organisms can produce 4 biomolecules (think nutrients), what are they?
DO you know which ones contain nitrogen?
carbohydrates.
lipids.
proteins (nitrogen)
nucleic acids (nitrogen)
What are the reactants in this pic? (HINT: they will do the “reacting”)
What is the energy source for the reactants?
What are the products produced by the reaction?
reactants: CO2 & water
energy: sunlight
products: glucose & O2
-vore means “to eat”.
Define and give an example of:
herbivore
carnivore
omnivore
detritivore
herbivore: plant eater
carnivore: meat eater
omnivore: all (plant & meat)
detritivore: “wears away” eats dead matter
What are decomposers, and how are they different that detritivores?
decomposers secrete enzymes to break dead matter,
down into molecular nutrients, then absorb it
detritivores INGEST dead matter
Trophic levels are each step in a ladder of the food chain.
Where do autotrophs (the producers) fall?
Name a primary consumer and secondary consumer.
Autotrophs ate at the bottom of the food chain?
A primary consumer is just above the autotrophs, and eats the producers.
A secondary consumer eats a primary consumer.
Matter, it’s what matters ;)
Matter is never destroyed, but reassembled as it passes through the food web/chain.
Describe how matter (a piece of dirt) works it’s way to an apex predator.
Soil has nutrients that an autotroph/tree will use to grow fruit.
Chipmunks eat fruits, and snakes eat chipmunk, and hawks (apex predator) eats snakes.
What are the 3 states of matter for water?
What factor determines which 3 forms water takes?
Solid, liquid, gas.
Temperature determines the state of matter for water.
When plants put water into the atmosphere, it is called transpiration.
When water comes from a body of water (ex: a lake), it is called __________.
Evaporation (formed from water heating)
What is it called when water cools and comes back out of the atmosphere
(opposite of evaporation / transpiration)
Condensation.
When clouds “fill up”, and water falls back to Earth (in the form of rain, snow, or hail),
it is called precipitation.
What element is the “backbone” of life, one of the “building blocks” needed for life?
It is 1 the primary nutrient cycles. (along with water, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc. )
Carbon
And an example would be human and plant respiration.
What is the #1 gas in our atmosphere?
What is the #2 gas in our atmosphere?
1. Nitrogen
What is the important job for nitrogen fixing bacteria?
They take nitrogen from the air and turn it into ammonia [NH3] or nitrATE [NO3]
that that plants can ATE
The phosporus cycle is important for what key feature of our reproduction
DNA
