9.1.1 - 9.1.4: Climate and the Biosphere
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is the temporary conditions in the atmosphere lasting only a few days, while climate is the long-term, average weather conditions that prevail in a region.
What do ocean currents moderate?
Ocean currents moderate the climate and biome types that would otherwise be more extreme at different latitudes.
What's the difference between a terrestrial biome and an aquatic biome?
Terrestrial Biome - land biome
Aquatic Biome - water biome
What do forests remove and produce? What are the three types of forests?
1. Forests remove carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen through photosynthesis.
2. The three types of forests: temperate, tropical rainforests, and taiga/boreal/coniferous (cone bearing trees).
Fill in the blank: Many changes happen in an ecosystem both _______ and ______.
slowly and quickly
Why are biomes closer to the poles colder than biomes closer to the equator?
Biomes closer to the poles are colder because they receive less solar radiation from the sun. Biomes closer to the equator are warmer because they receive more direct solar radiation from the sun.
Where will warmer water move? Where will colder water at each of the poles move?
Warmer water will move north or south off of the equator and colder water at each of the poles will sink toward the equator.
How are biomes classified?
By the most common types of plants that grow in a region.
How much rainfall do deserts receive each year (put your answer in centimeters and inches)? Where are deserts mostly found (put the latitude)?
1. 20 cm (about 12 inches)
2. Subtropical areas (30 degrees north/south latitude)
What do quick changes occur from?
Answers will vary: fire, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, etc.
How do the seasons occur? (only state summer and winter)
When the northern hemisphere is faced towards the sun, it is summer. When the southern hemisphere is facing away from the sun, it is winter. When the northern hemisphere is facing away from the sun, it is winter. When the southern hemisphere is faced towards the sun, it is summer.
What do ocean currents distribute and what do they contribute?
Ocean currents distribute heat or cold around the Earth and contribute to global weather patterns.
Fill in the blank: Organisms that _______ in a particular biome display characteristic adaptions to the specific climate of the region. What is an example of this?
1. thrive
2. Answers will vary: Some desert plants grow shallow roots that spread out over a wide area to absorb as much rainwater as possible.
What is a tundra?
A tundra is cold and dry regions - arctic and high elevations (mountainous) regions.
Define ecological succession, climax community, primary succession, and secondary succession.
Ecological succession - the series of stages an ecosystem goes through to mature into a complex/climax community
Climax community - a stable community of plants and animals
Primary succession - the process through which a community begins to form in an area without soil
Secondary succession - the process through which a community forms after a natural disaster has occurred in an area leaving the soil still intact. It does not take as long for the climax community to develop if there is soil present
How is climate affected?
By altitude (height of an area above sea level)
What's a gyres? What do they do?
Gyres - loops of major currents
They flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere.
What is found at every particular place?
A specific range of temperature, type of soil, and amount of sunlight and water.
What are the three types of aquatic biomes?
freshwater, marine biomes (salt water), and estuaries (where freshwater rivers meet the ocean)
What are the steps of primary succession?
Steps of primary succession: pioneer species (lichens) breaks down rocks into soil, simple plants grow, they die and fertilize soil, more complex plants grow, they die and fertilize soil more, more complex plants grow...eventually this attracts a wide variety of animals
What can a body of water impact?
The climate of an area. The air above the water can move in over land and cause the land next to the water to have a tighter temperature range than air further inland.
What are grasslands?
Grasslands are regions filled with trees and a few scattered shrubs.
Name the five major biomes.
aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra
What are five human disturbances to an ecosystem?
Answers will vary
Human disturbances to an ecosystem: Harvesting timber, building, farming, industrial activities, disposing of waste, etc.