Photosynthesis & Energy Transformation
What are the two main raw-material reactants needed for photosynthesis?
Water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2)
Who and where does cell resp take place?
Everyone and the mitochondria
Identify the main biological process that removes CO2 from the atmosphere and one process that returns CO2 to the atmosphere
Photosynthesis removes CO2; respiration returns CO2
Define the term "trophic level.
Position an organism occupies in a food web (producer, consumer, decomposer
Name the four major classes of biomolecules found in living organisms.
Protein, Carbs, Lipids, Nucleic acids
Who does photosynthesis?
Plants
What are the inputs and outputs of CR?
Glucose + O2 = ATP + CO2 + Water
What are all the spheres and what is in them.
Hydrosphere - Water
Geosphere - Fossil Fuels
Atmosphere - air
Biosphere - living things
In a typical energy pyramid, which trophic level contains the most biomass and why?
Producers (plants, algae) contain most biomass because they capture solar energy and form base of energy pyramid.
What are the building blocks of proteins and of carbs?
Amino acids and glucose
Where does photosynthesis take place and name 1 product.
Chloroplast; products:Oxygen & Glucose
How does the circulatory system work with the digestive and respiratory systems?
C+R = bring O2 to cells
C+D = bring glucose to cells
Explain decomposition.
the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter
Explain why only about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.
~10% rule: energy used for metabolism, lost as heat, undigested material, movement; only a fraction stored as biomass.
What is the function of a carbohydrate?
Energy!!
Write the chemical equation for photosynthesis (reactants → products).
CO2 + H2O + light energy → C6H12O6 + O2
What are the two types of respiration and what is the difference between them?
Aerobic - needs O2
Anaerobic - makes lactic acid
Define carbon sink and give two examples of natural carbon sinks.
Carbon sink: reservoir that stores carbon
What is a keystone species? What would happen without it? Give an example.
an organism that holds an ecosystem together
What is the formula for glucose?
C6H12O6
What would happen if all of the plants died?
The rest of the food chain would fall apart as well as the whole ecosystem.
This is the primary molecule broken down during cellular respiration.
glucose
Describe one way human activities have altered the carbon cycle and predict two ecological consequences of increased atmospheric
burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric CO2 → enhanced greenhouse effect → warming, ocean acidification, shifts in species distributions.
Given a simple food chain (grass → rabbit → fox → hawk), identify primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers and predict how removal of rabbits would affect biomass at other levels
Primary consumer: rabbit; secondary: fox; tertiary: hawk. Removing rabbits reduces food for foxes → fox biomass declines; hawks may have less food leading to decline or dietary shift.
Describe structure–function relationships for enzymes.
Enzymes have active sites complementary to substrates