Chapters 1 + 2
Define the word ecology.
Ecology is the study of relationships between living things and their environment.
Name the three basic categories of living things within ecosystems.
producers, consumers and decomposers
Name one of nature's most powerful forces that can erode soil.
Water
What is an oil rig?
a platform built above the ocean to support drilling for oil underwater
Who was the first American to declare Yosemite a natural treasure?
John Muir
What does it mean for a toad to depend on the insects it eats?
The toad relies on or NEEDS the insect to survive.
Photosynthesis
Even though it looks very dry, name THREE animal species that survive in the Petrified Forest National Park.
lizards, toads, snakes, birds and jackrabbits
coyotes
Name two effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.
men injured or killed
oil spill - uncontrollable
oil washing up on shore
wetland damage
plant/animals threatened
Define the word naturalist.
A person who studies living things in nature?
How does pollen travel from one place to another?
What is the most important decomposer and why?
bacteria; it breaks down dead organisms and provides nutrients for new living things
Name two examples of ways in which humans have used technology and changed the environment.
created tools, farming, cities, dams
What was one major solution that engineers and scientists used to prevent the continued spread of oil in ocean water?
Who are two people who were naturalists?
Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Look at the following food chain:
grass, grasshopper, mouse, owl
Which element is the APEX predator?
OWL
Using Chapter 4, find one relationship between two organisms where they depend on one another.
giraffes and acacia trees
Define the word hydroelectric.
using the power of water to make electricity
Define the word natural resource.
A useful or valuable thing in nature
What made John Muir and president Teddy Roosevelt conservationists?
Name an example of an organism that is microscopic.
Bacteria
True or False?
Removing ALL of one type of species will have an effect on the balance of an ecosystem.TRUE
Name two positive effects of the Hoover Dam construction for humans and two negative effects of the Hoover Dam construction for the environment.
water and power for humans
changed natural flow of river, endangered several species of fish, changed the landscape
What sources, other than coal and oil, can be used to provide energy?
sun, wind and water
What animal is an important American symbol that has had to be specially protected over the years due to overhunting, habitat loss and pesticides?
The bald eagle