Producers & Photosynthesis
100 — What is the process plants use to convert sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into food molecules and oxygen?
100 — Photosynthesis.
100 — What do we call an organism that gets energy and matter by eating other organisms?
100 — Consumer.
100 — Energy that enters a tree from the sun is stored in food molecules as what type of energy?
100 — Chemical energy (stored in food molecules).
100 — What is bioremediation? Give a short definition.
100 — Using microorganisms to break down pollutants and clean contaminated soil or water.
200 — List the reactants and the products in the photosynthesis equation written in symbolic form. (Write the full equation.)
200 — 6CO2+6H2O→C6H12O6+6O26CO2+6H2O→C6H12O6+6O2 (reactants: carbon dioxide and water; products: sugar and oxygen)
200 — Give two examples of decomposers and explain the role decomposers play in returning matter to the nonliving environment.
200 — Examples: fungi (mushrooms), bacteria, earthworms; they break down dead organisms and wastes, returning nutrients to soil/air.
200 — Complete and explain: Energy is not created or destroyed; it is ________ and ________ as it flows through systems.
200 — transformed; transferred (or converted; phrasing: "changes form" and "is transferred").
200 — Name two constraints scientists must consider when designing a bioremediation solution (choose from the list in the student text).
200 — A and B and D from the text: maximum number of oil‑digesting bacteria available, temperature range for growth, and regulations about adding nonnative organisms (also consider cause of contamination for strategy).
300 — Explain in one sentence why producers are called producers.
300 — Because they make (produce) their own food molecules using energy and matter from the environment (sunlight, CO2, water, nutrients).
300 — A rabbit eats plants; a hawk eats the rabbit. Identify the rabbit and hawk as consumer types (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore) and explain your choice
300 — Rabbit = herbivore (eats plants); Hawk = carnivore (eats other animals).
300 — Describe two ways energy leaves a tree after being captured by photosynthesis.
300 — Stored as chemical energy in molecules; released as heat during respiration/chemical reactions. Also used for growth/biomass.
300 — Explain how using bioremediation to clean contaminated soil is similar to natural decomposition.
300 — Both use microbes to break complex organic substances into simpler substances and return atoms to the environment; bioremediation is directed at human pollutants and may be controlled by scientists.
400 — Describe where the matter that makes up a tree's trunk and leaves originally comes from (name the sources of atoms).
400 — From carbon dioxide in the air, water from soil, and nutrients/minerals from soil; the atoms come from those sources.
400 — Explain what would likely happen to nutrient cycling if decomposers were removed from an ecosystem.
400 — Nutrients would accumulate in dead bodies and wastes, reducing nutrient availability for living producers; ecosystem productivity would decline.
400 — Using the life of a tree, write a brief explanation (3 sentences minimum) of how matter and energy were not created or destroyed over the tree’s life. Mention what happens to atoms and energy forms.
400 — Example answer: The tree gets atoms (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nutrients) from CO2, water, and soil; sunlight energy is converted to chemical energy and stored in food molecules; when the tree dies and decomposes, atoms return to the soil/air and energy is released as heat — nothing is created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed. (Teacher: ensure students include atoms returning to environment and energy transformation to heat.)
400 — A contaminated site needs cleanup. Describe how scientists might use microorganisms to break down a pollutant and one reason they must consider regulations about adding nonnative organisms.
400 — Introduce or encourage growth of pollutant‑eating microbes, monitor breakdown products and water/soil chemistry; regulations exist to prevent harm from nonnative organisms that could disrupt ecosystems.
500 — Explain how photosynthesis links the cycling of matter and the flow of energy in an ecosystem. Include the forms of energy involved and what happens to atoms.
500 — Photosynthesis captures solar (light) energy and converts it to chemical energy stored in glucose; atoms from CO2 and H2O are rearranged into sugar and O2, so matter cycles while energy flows into and through the system.
500 — Describe how decomposers and bioremediation are similar and how they differ in purpose and scale.
500 — Similar: both use organisms to break down complex pollutants/organic matter into simpler substances and return atoms to the environment. Different: bioremediation is engineered and targeted to remove pollutants (often at human-created sites), while decomposition is a natural ecosystem process.
500 — The text gives an example: light → chemical energy → heat. For a chain of organisms (plant → herbivore → carnivore → decomposer), explain how energy changes form at each step and why less usable energy is available at higher trophic levels. Use the idea of energy transfer efficiency.
500 — At plant step: light → chemical (photosynthesis). Herbivore eats plant: chemical energy in plant molecules becomes chemical energy in herbivore's body; some lost as heat. Carnivore eats herbivore: same transfer, with further losses as heat. Decomposer: breaks remains into simpler molecules; energy released as heat. Each transfer loses usable energy as heat, so less energy available at higher levels.
500 — Propose a short plan (3–4 steps) for testing whether a native bacteria strain could be used to clean up an oil spill in a pond. Include how you would assess effectiveness and environmental safety.
500 — Example plan: (1) Isolate native bacteria from local soils and test oil-degrading ability in lab microcosms; (2) Determine optimal temperature and growth conditions; (3) Run small-scale field trials with monitoring of pollutant levels and byproducts; (4) Assess ecological effects and obtain regulatory approval before wider use. Measure effectiveness by pollutant concentration decrease and absence of harmful byproducts.