Spheres of the Earth
What is the biosphere and give one example.
The portion of the Earth where life is found, a plant (e.g. Oak Tree)
What are abiotic factors? List one example.
- Non-living components of an environment
- Temperature, air, soil, water
What is camouflage?
-organism blends into the environment
What is the difference between a heterotroph and autotroph?
-Autotroph can produce it's own food
-Heterotrophs depend on autotrophs for food
What are the three symbiotic relationships?
-Mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism
What is the hydrosphere and give one example.
-The hydrosphere is made of all the water that is on Earth’s surface, underground, and in the air
-Rain, ocean, clouds, etc.
What are biotic factors? List one example.
-Living organisms in an environment
-frog, bacteria, etc.
- Playing dead to deter predators
______________ break down dead and decaying matter into simpler molecules that can be absorbed.
Decomposers
Energy can be transferred from one organism to another in predatory relationships. What percentage of the energy is transferred?
10%
What is the atmosphere and give one example.
-The atmosphere is made of the gases surrounding the earth.
-Air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc.
Explain the difference between a habitat and niche.
Niche - role the organism has in it's environment (predator, prey, decomposer, etc.)
Habitat - where an organism lives
What is autotomy?
-Casting off a body part when attacked
Organisms that eat animals that have already died
What is commensalism?
-One organism benefits and the other is unaffected
What is the lithosphere/geosphere and give one example.
The geosphere is made of rocks, minerals, and soil as well as the layers of the earth’s interior (mantle & core).
In regard to tolerance, explain the difference between organisms that are considered to be a specialist and organisms considered to be a generalist.
Specialists – organisms that have limited tolerance and can only withstand small changes in their environments (e.g. Koala - eat only leaves from Eucalyptus Tree)
Generalists – organisms that adapt easily to changes in their niche due to large ranges of tolerance (e.g Raccoon - can live in a wide variety of environments, omnivores)
What is Batesian mimicry?
- a nontoxic organism mimics a toxic organism
Explain the differences between herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores?
Herbivores - eat plants
Carnivores - eat meat
Omnivores -eat plants and meat
A bird cleans the teeth of a crocodile. The bird eats the parasites from the teeth while cleaning them. What kind of relationship is this?
-Mutualism
Identify the correct sphere of the Earth for the following example:
Rain (__________) falls on the soil (__________), which causes grass (__________) to grow. A cow(__________) eats the grass and breathes out carbon dioxide (__________) as it eats.
-Hydrosphere (rain)
-Lithosphere/geosphere (soil)
-Biosphere (grass)
-Biosphere (cow)
-Atmosphere (carbon dioxide
Beginning with “individual" and ending with “biosphere,” list how living things are organized.
- Individual, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere
What is Mullerian mimicry?
-Two toxic organisms mimicking each other
What is the difference between a food chain and food web?
A food web is made up of many overlapping food chains
A vine climbs up a tree. It steals nutrients from the tree and blocks the tree’s sunlight. What type of relationship is this?
-Parasitism