The Biosphere
A vast area of the planet that has similar climate, terrain, and plant/animal populations
What is a biome?
The number of layers used to construct a health terrarium soil base
What is 4?
The stage of the water cycle when water falls from the sky
What is precipitation?
The process of purifying seawater into clean, drinkable water on a large scale
What is desalination?
A type of biome typically found within 10º of the equator and is known for high levels of precipitation and warm, consistent climate year-round
What is a tropical rainforest?
A closed terrarium acts as a good model for this environmental process that occurs in every biome
What is the water cycle?
The stage of the water cycle when heated water vapor rises from a body of water into the atmosphere
What is evaporation?
What is a solar still?
A type of biome that receives high levels of precipitation and also experiences all 4 seasons annually
What is a temperate rainforest?
A tool used to test the water content of terrarium soil
What is a soil meter?
The stage of the water cycle where water vapor in the atmosphere cools enough to stick together to form clouds
What is condensation?
The salty, non-drinkable byproduct of desaliation that is 2x saltier than typical ocean water
Small organisms, such as bacteria, found in soil that break down dead/decaying material to cycle nutrients back into the soil for plant use
What are microorganisms?
The function of the charcoal layer in a terrarium system
What is water filtration?
The stage of the water cycle that describes what happens when winter snowpack melts off of a mountain
What is surface runoff?
The percentage of water on the planet that is naturally occurring, clean, drinkable water
What is 2.5%?
The scientific terms used to describe the living and nonliving components of an environment
Biotic and abiotic factors
A key difference between the terrariums constructed in class and a real-world biome
What is a lack of animals?
also acceptable: What is a lack of extreme weather patterns?
A stage of the water cycle where the water a plant uses enters the atmosphere as a vapor
What is transpiration?
The estimated percentage range for the amount of freshwater that Israel depends on desalination for
What is 80-85%?