Daily Question9/26/12

The more energy moves through a system, the more _____ it becomes.

Ecology Notes

Ecology is the study of the complex relationships between living things and

their nonliving environment.

A community of organisms and the abiotic environment that the organisms inhabit is

called an ecosystem.

An ecosystem may be as large as an ocean or as small as a drop of water.

The largest ecosystem is the entire biosphere.

Most of Earth’s ecosystems contain a variety of plants and animals.

Plants are important parts of ecosystems because they use energy from the sun to

produce their own food.

What is this

process known as?

Organisms that make their own food are called producers.

Producers include most plants and some bacteria.

Consumers are organisms that get their energy by eating other organisms.

Consumers may eat producers or other consumers.

However, some consumers get their energy by breaking down dead organisms, these consumers are known as decomposers.

In order for an ecosystem to remain healthy and stable it must have a balance of

producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Ecosystems have a limited amount of energy in them.

Think of your refrigerator at home.

If you have enough food to last your family

for an entire week, but

someone eats all of it the first day. What’s going to

happen?

The largest population that an environment can support at any given time is called the

carrying capacity.

The carrying capacity depends on the available resources for that environment.

If every student in this room gets one hamburger.

Do I have enough?

What does that tell you about the carrying capacity

of this room?

A given ecosystem can support only the number of organisms that allows matter and energy to be transferred efficiently

through the ecosystem.

One change in any part of an ecosystem may affect the entire system.

What affects may a forest fire have on an ecosystem? Other than burning “stuff.”

After certain disasters, organisms will naturally migrate back into an area in

predictable patterns.

As energy moves through an ecosystem it is lost the more it travels.

The further up you move,

the less energy there is available.

The sequence in which organisms consume other organisms can be represented by a

food chain.

A food web, is used to represent the relationship between multiple food chains.

Human beings have a tendency to alter most ecosystems to better fit their needs

or wants.

When humans convert large natural areas into inhabitable environments for them,

most of those ecosystems are destroyed.

Removal of topsoil & runoff pollution.

Bonus Questions

Raise your hand if you think you know the answer.

Review Questions

Bonus Points

An organized group of related objects or components that interact to create a

whole is a _____.

system

_____ is anything that has mass & takes up space.

Matter

Energy is the ability to do work or _____.

Cause change

The operation of Earth’s system is a result of interaction between the 2 most basic components of the universe: _____.

Matter and energy

Energy can be transformed in a variety of forms, list all 4.

Heat EnergyLight

Electromagnetic Waves

When energy is transferred, there is usually a change in the _____ or _____

properties of the matter.

Chemical or Physical

A system in which energy, but not matter, is exchanged with the surroundings is a

_____ system.

Closed

An _____ is a system in which both energy and matter are exchanged with the

surroundings.

Open

What are Earth’s 4 spheres?

BiosphereAtmosphereHydrosphereGeosphere

The blanket of gases that surrounds Earth’s surface is called the _____.

Atmosphere

Earth’s atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen and _____% oxygen

21

_____% of Earth’s water is saturated with salt.

97

The _____ includes all the rock and soil on the surface of the continents and the

ocean floor.

Geosphere

Once organic matter _____ it becomes a part of the other 3 spheres.

Decomposes

1st Law of Thermodynamics Energy is transferred between systems, but cannot be _____ or _____.

Created or destroyed

2nd Law of Thermodynamics When energy transfer takes place; matter becomes less

_____ with time.

Organized

The heat in Earth’s interior cause’s material to rise toward the surface, as the material

cools; it becomes denser and begins to sink back into the interior. This is known as a

_____ current.

Convection

Solar _____ causes air masses to move, which generate winds & ocean currents.

Radiation

Plants use energy from the sun to perform _____.

Photosynthesis

The _____ reactions that break rock down into soil require solar energy.

Chemical

The pull of the sun and the moon on the oceans, combined with Earth’s rotation,

generates _____.

Tides

_____ is used by organisms to build protein, which is used to build cells.

Nitrogen

Most organisms cannot use _____ nitrogen; the nitrogen must be fixed,

before it can be used.

Atmospheric

Nitrogen is removed from the air by _____ that live in the soil.

Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria

Carbon moves through all 4 spheres in a process called the _____.

Carbon Cycle

Phosphorus enters soil & water when rock _____ & when phosphorus dissolves in

water.

Breaks down

Carbon is stored in the geosphere in buried plant or animal remains and in a type of

rock called _____.

Carbonate

Plants convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into _____.

Carbohydrates

List the 3 main stages of the water cycle.

CondensationPrecipitationEvaporation

What are the 2 types of carbon cycle known as?

Short and Long Term

Describe the size and shape of Earth.

Earth is an oblate, or slightly flattened spheroid.

Describe 2 characteristics that make Earth unique in our solar system.

Earth is covered in mostly water.Earth has a thick atmosphere containing high

amounts of oxygen.Earth has known living organisms.

How do scientists learn about Earth’s interior?

Scientists observe how seismic waves travel through Earth’s interior to determine the physical states of

Earth’s deeper regions.

What is a possible source of Earth’s magnetic energy?

The motion of the liquid iron of Earth’s outer core may produce electric currents, which generate Earth’s

magnetic field.

How does the asthenosphere differ from the mesosphere?

The asthenosphere is solid rock that is able to flow because of its plasticity.

The mesosphere is solid rock that remains rigid and doesn’t flow.

Explain how the Earth can be considered a system.

Because it consists of many interacting components.

Compare an open system and a closed system.

In an open system, matter and energy are added and removed.

In a closed system, only energy enters or leaves.

How do scientists learn about Earth’s interior?

Scientists observe how seismic waves travel through Earth’s interior to determine the physical states of

Earth’s deeper regions.

Name the two main sources of Earth’s energy.

The sun and Earth’s interior.

What affect, if any, would you expect a massive forest fire to have on the amount of carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere? Explain.

It would add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, because when organisms such as trees burn, CO2, is

released.

Earth has been hit by meteorites in the past. Is Earth an open or closed system,

explain.

Open, because matter and energy are being exchanged.

Define ecosystem.

A community of organisms and the environment that the organisms inhabit.

Identify 3 factors that control the balance of an ecosystem.

How matter and energy cycle through the ecosystemHow ecosystems respond to change

How organisms in the ecosystem interact

Describe one way that ecosystems respond to environmental change.

Ecosystems generally respond to change in a way that restores balance within the ecosystem.

Compare a food chain with a food web.

A food chain is a sequence in which an organism is consumed by another organism.

In a food web, several organisms feed upon one type of organism, which are consumed by still other

organisms that compete with each other.