Earth Systems
What are the four major interconnected systems of Earth?
The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.
What is an organized group of related parts that interact to form a whole?
A system
What is a biotic factor?
A living or once-living component of an ecosystem.
What is the basic unit of life?
The cell
What planet is known as the Red Planet?
Mars
Which Earth system includes all of the living things on Earth?
The biosphere
What is one major difference between a simple system and a complex system?
A complex system has more interacting parts and relationships than a simple system.
What is an abiotic factor?
A nonliving component of an ecosystem.
What process allows plants to use sunlight to make chemical energy from carbon dioxide and water?
Photosynthesis
What gas do humans need to breathe in order to carry out cellular respiration?
Oxygen
Which Earth system includes Earth's rocks, soil, landforms, and other nonliving solid materials?
The geosphere
A bulldozer moves debris at a construction site. Why can the bulldozer be considered a system?
It has different parts that interact to perform a function.
Which list contains ONLY abiotic factors: rocks, insects, trees OR minerals, water, air?
Minerals, water, and air.
What force pulls objects toward Earth?
Gravity
What is the largest organ in the human body?
The skin
Give an example of a connection between two Earth systems.
Deer drinking water from a stream—the biosphere interacts with the hydrosphere.
Why might engineers build a model of a ship before building the actual ship?
A model allows engineers to test ideas, study how the design works, and identify problems before building the actual ship.
Put these levels of biological organization in order from smallest to largest: ecosystem, organism, population, community.
Organism → population → community → ecosystem.
What happens to the particles of a substance when its temperature increases?
The particles generally move faster
What would happen to Earth if the Sun suddenly disappeared?
Earth would eventually become extremely cold and lose its primary source of light and energy.
A volcano releases ash and gases into the air. Which two Earth systems are interacting?
The geosphere and atmosphere
A computer controls a driverless car while a human driver controls a traditional car. What is one important difference between these two systems?
The computer uses electrical energy to process information and make decisions, while a human uses chemical energy.
A forest contains trees, deer, fungi, water, sunlight, soil, and air. Identify two biotic and two abiotic factors.
Biotic: trees, deer, fungi
Abiotic: water, sunlight, soil, air
A student pushes a box across the floor. What two things must be considered when describing the box's motion?
The direction and speed of its motion
Scientists discover an organism that takes in energy, responds to its environment, maintains stable internal conditions, and is made of cells. What does this evidence suggest?
The organism demonstrates characteristics of living things.