Global Systems
Weather and Climate
Land Biomes
Marine Ecosystems
Freshwater Ecosystems
100
What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors? Name 3 biotic factors of the Capulin volcano ecosystem and 3 abiotic factors
What is (biotic factors) any living part of an environment. What is (abiotic factor) any non-living part of an environment.
What are animals such as mule deer, coyotes, mountain lions chokecherry trees, pinons, junipers, shrub grasses, and lichens are a few. What are sunlight, lava rocks, semi-arid climate, strong winds and soil are all abiotic.
100
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather consists of short term changes in the temperature, winds, precipitation, etc. from day to day. Climate is patterns and averages of these things over many years.
100
What are biomes and how many are there?
What are: Scientists recognize roughly 10 natural classes of biological communities called biomes. Biomes are described in terms of common abiotic and biotic factors.
100
What is the difference between the photic and aphotic ocean zones? Where do plankton live?
What is: The photic zone is the topmost layer of the ocean that receives sunlight. Aphotic zone: The aphotic zone is the layer of the ocean that receives little or no sunlight.
Plankton need sunlight and can only live in the photic zone.
100
What are some examples of freshwater ecosystems?
Ponds, lakes, and rivers and wetlands are some examples of freshwater ecosystems.
200
Name and define the 4 Earth Systems
What is the Atmosphere which includes all the gases that surround the Earth
What is the Biosphere includes all living organisms and the environments in which they live
What is the Hydrosphere includes all the Earth’s freshwater and saltwater
What is the Geosphere includes all the rocks, continents and Ocean’s floor as well as the matter inside the Earth.
200
How does latitude affect climate?
At the Equator, the Sun’s rays are most direct. This is where temperatures are highest.
What is: At higher latitudes, the Sun’s rays are less direct. The farther an area is from the Equator, the lower its temperature.
At the poles, the Sun’s rays are least direct. Much of the area is covered with ice and snow, which reflect a lot of sunlight. Temperatures are lowest here.
200
Discuss the driest and wettest biomes in terms of abiotic and biotic factors.
What are: The desert is the driest biome. It has almost very little rain and very little seasonal differences in rainfall. Temperatures can can varies from day to night and seasonally. Many plants and animals store water or need little water. Many animals are only active at night to avoid the heat.
The wettest biome is the tropical rainforest. It is warm and wet year round but does have a rainy season and a drier season - but the drier season is still wet compared to other biomes. Plants have large leaves to capture sunlight. Animals are active all year and adapted to climb and hide in trees. The rainforest has more biodiversity than all other biomes combined.
200
What is an intertidal zone? Why do organisms need to be well adapted to live there?
What is: The intertidal zone is an ecosystem found on marine (ocean) shorelines, where a multitude of organisms living on the shore survive changes between high and low tides. Organisms are submerged in saltwater at high tide and exposed to air and sunlight at low tide. Organisms are often battered by waves and currents.
200
What are ponds and lakes? What are the organisms found in these places like?
What are: Ponds and lakes are both bodies of still freshwater. Ponds are usually shallow enough for sunlight to reach the floor in the center, which allow plants to grow there. In large ponds and lakes, algae that floats at the top are the main producers. As for the animals, dragonflies, turtles, snails, and frogs are found on the shore. In the open water, sunfish feed on insects and algae. Near the bottom, scavengers like catfish.
300
Explain the purpose of this model on and it what shows about Earth’s System
What is: This model shows how global events and processes interconnect with each other. Global systems and cycles operate across all systems. A change in one will affect all the others resulting in global change.
300
How do global winds affect climate?
What is: Winds shape regional climate and influence daily weather by transporting heat and water. Wind pushing on the surface of the water is one of the primary drivers of global patterns of ocean circulation.
300
What anthrome do we live in. Describe it in terms of climate, plant and animal life.
We live in the rangelands (remote to be exact). We have a semi-arid climate with cold, snowy winters and warm summers with low annual rainfall and intense UV exposure. We have juniper trees, rabbitbrush, and mixed prairie grass. Animals in the remote rangeland include mule deer, jackrabbits, coyotes, cows, bobcats, hawks, and more.
300
What are the main abiotic factors that affect marine ecosystems?
Temperature, salinity, sunlight, and water depth.
300
What do rivers begin as and what do they have more of initially? As they merge with other streams and become larger what do they pick up more of?
What is: Rivers often start as mountain streams with plenty of dissolved oxygen but little plants. Downstream, sediments build up and plants establish themselves.
400
Name and give examples of the 3 approaches ecologists use to study ecology
What are:
Observation - What species live here? How many of each species are there? What happens if a particular species is removed?
Experimentation - How do plants and animals react to changes in temperature, lighting, air quality, etc.
Modeling - using computers and mathematical formulas to make predictions about the populations of species
400
What are:
The 3 main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor.
1. Radiation from the sun is what warms the earth.
2. When the sun's energy hits the earth, some is absorbed by the Earth and some is reflected back into space.
3. Heat from the earth's surface rises and some is returned to space.
4. Greenhouse gases trap heat from escaping into the atmosphere and reradiate it back to the Earth's surface.
400
What is the difference between a tundra and a boreal forest (taiga)?
What are: Taigas are cold biomes where few plants grow due to the nutrient-poor soil, coniferous trees are able to survive and cover most of the biome. Tundra biomes are much colder than the taiga and have no trees (they have ground hugging mosses and other low growing plants).
400
What the the difference between the coastal ocean and the open ocean?
What is: The coastal ocean goes from the low tide mark to the outer edge of the continental shelf. It is relatively shallow water that is brightly lit and nutrient rich. The open ocean begins at the continental shelf. Most of the ocean is open ocean. The open ocean is divided into the photic zone and the aphotic zone.
400
What is an estuary? What are they known for?
What is: An area where salt water from oceans flow into freshwater. They serve as spawning and nursery grounds for many important fish.
500
Name and explain the 5 levels of organization that ecologists use to study organism and their environment.
What are: Species are the individual animal. Populations are a group of the same species. Communities are different populations that live together (all the different plants and animals) in a defined area. An ecosystem includes all the organisms and the abiotic factors in a given environment. A biome is a group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms. The biosphere is all the living things on the planet.
500
What would happen if greenhouses gases decreased? What would happen if they increased?
What is: If greenhouse gases decreased, more heat from the Earth's surface would return to space and the Earth would be too cool. If greenhouse gases increased, more heat would be trapped and could not return to space. Earth's temperature would increase.
500
What does the term anthrome mean? Where can we find them?
What are: Anthromes are human altered biomes. The only biomes that have not been altered by humans are on the steepest mountains, coldest polar regions and driest deserts.
500
Is there life in the open ocean aphotic zones? If so, how does it survive without the sunlight needed to make food?
What is: Yes. In the abyssal zone, Deep-sea vents, where super-heated water boils out of cracks on the ocean floor, support entire ecosystems based on chemical energy. Bacteria down there produce their food by chemosynthesis. The food that the bacteria make support other organisms as well like tubeworms.
500
What is a freshwater wetland. Why is it important?
What are: Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season.
Wetlands provide habitat for thousands of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals. Wetlands are valuable for flood protection, filtering pollutants, water quality improvement, shoreline erosion control, natural products, recreation, and aesthetics.