Water Basics
This is the term for how salty water is.
What is salinity?
How is the water distributed on our planet?
Most water is saltwater in the oceans, while only a small amount is freshwater.
What is the definition of Ecology?
The study of interactions between organisms and their environment.
What are the three different types of symbiotic relationships?
Mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.
Where are herbivores found on the trophic level pyramid?
The primary consumer level.
This property of water explains why water molecules stick together because of opposite charges.
What is polarity?
What are some examples of renewable resources?
Solar energy, wind energy, water, trees, and geothermal energy.
What 2 things make a biome unique?
Climate and the organisms that live there.
What type of relationship do we see with a tick or flea?
What is parasitism?
What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?
Primary succession begins without soil, while secondary succession begins where soil already exists.
What is the difference between adhesion and cohesion?
Cohesion is water sticking to itself, while adhesion is water sticking to other substances.
What are some examples of non-renewable resources?
Coal, oil, natural gas, and fossil fuels.
What do we call an organism that feeds upon dead material or organisms?
What is a decomposer?
What kind of organism only feeds on heterotrophs?
What is a carnivore?
What’s an invasive species?
An organism that is not native to a specific ecosystem and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause harm to the environment.
What causes tides on Earth?
What is the gravitational pull of the Moon (and Sun)?
What are the major parts of the water cycle and what happens in each stage?
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection/runoff, and transpiration.
What is the difference between producers and consumers?
Producers make their own food while consumers must eat other organisms.
What is carrying capacity?
The maximum number of organisms an environment can support.
What do limiting factors do for an ecosystem?
They control population growth and determine carrying capacity.
Why doesn’t water mix with oil?
Water is polar and oil is nonpolar.
Can water be created on Earth?
No, water is recycled through the water cycle.
What is the difference between autotrophs and heterotrophs?
Autotrophs make their own food while heterotrophs must consume other organisms.
What happens if a population reaches its carrying capacity for the given environment?
Population growth slows, levels off, or decreases due to limited resources.
Why do we have a lot of coal in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania once had large swampy forests that formed coal over millions of years.