Concept 1
Give an example of an organism responding to a stimulus. Include the organism, response, and stimulus in the answer.
Answers will vary
Example:
stimulus = heat
organism = dog
response = pant
Within the carbon cycle, there is a smaller, simpler cycle happening. This cycle converts CO2 into Macromolecules and back again. Identify the two processes in this small cycle.
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration
Population A has 200 blue jays in 2 square acres. Population B has 2000 blue jays in 50 square acres. Which population is more at risk of predation and why?
Pop A = 200/2 = 100 blue jays per square acre
Pop B = 2000/50 = 40 blue jays per square acre
Therefore population A because it has a higher population density and predation is a density-dependent limiting factor so it will have a greater impact there.
A diagram that shows the relatedness of organisms.
cladogram
List the 6 levels of ecological organization – starting with the term used for an individual living thing, and ending with the term that represents what the Earth is.
organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere
Name an organism that can perform the process of photosynthesis AND cellular respiration.
plants
Briefly describe the difference between exponential and logistic growth curves.
Logistic is limited by resources and thus has a carrying capacity.
Exponential is a population that increases indefinitely without limit.
An underground layer of permeable rock that can hold water
aquifer
List the correct sequence of the ways to classify organisms, from most specific to most general.
Species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom
Name the process of returning nitrogen to the atmosphere.
denitrification
List two limiting factors in an environment. One should be density-dependent and one should be density-independent.
Answers may vary
Density-dependent examples: disease, predation, competition, etc
Density-independent examples: natural disasters, pollutants in the environment, climate extremes, etc
When a body of water becomes overly enriched with nutrients, causing excessive algae growth.
eutrophication
What do biologists use dichotomous keys for?
In what two ways can animals contribute nitrogen back into the soil?
death (decomposition)
waste (ammoniafication)
Why can disease be spread more easily in a larger, more dense population? What type of limiting factor does this make disease?
Because disease is density-dependent and therefore a larger population triggers a greater impact.
The theoretical maximum population that a given ecosystem can support
carrying capacity
Scientists believe they may have discovered a new plant species at the bottom of the ocean. Before they can go any further in their studies, they need to determine if it is alive or not. What characteristics must the proposed organism have in order to be considered a living thing?
You must have them all to get the points!
made of cells
responds to stimuli
grows and reproduces
uses energy/has a metabolism
has DNA or RNA
evolves (as a population)
How would plants be affected if bacteria were not present?
There wouldn't be a way to convert nitrogen into a form that plants can absorb in their roots and actually use, so nitrogen in the soil would never make it to plants, and thus to us in the food we eat
Which type of survivorship curve do humans show? Explain what it tells you about the mortality of the offspring.
Humans show Type I, meaning they have fewer offspring so they can invest more into them to ensure they survive and don't die until later in life