3. Living World

Question 1

Where are Rainforests located?

Answer 1

• They are located in a narrow belt along the equator
• 10 degrees north and south of the equator
• Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn

Question 2

What is the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn?

Answer 2

Tropic of Cancer 23.5 degrees north
Tropic of Capricorn 23.5 degrees south

Question 3

What is a biome?

Answer 3

A large scale ecosystem

Question 4

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 4

An ecosystem is a community of plants and animals living together in a habitat, they are closely linked together and to the climate and soil they live in

Question 5

Where are deserts located?

Answer 5

Deserts are found between 15-30 degrees north and south of the equator

Question 6

What word is used to describe living objects?

Answer 6

biotic

Question 7

What word is used to describe non living objects?

Answer 7

abiotic

Question 8

What is another term for plants?

Answer 8

flora

Question 9

What is another term for animals?

Answer 9

fauna

Question 10

Give examples of where tropical rainforests are located?

Answer 10

• Largest area of TRF is in South America, the Amazon
• They’re also found in South Asia eg. Malaysia, Indonesia
• They’re also found in Africa eg. Congo, Madagascar

Question 11

Give examples of where hot deserts are located?

Answer 11

• North Africa, eg. Sahara
• South West USA
• Australia

Question 12

What is deciduous woodland?

Answer 12

• The trees are non-coniferous
• They loose their leaves during the winter season

Question 13

What is the difference between a food web and a food chain?

Answer 13

• A food web give us abetter understanding of what acctually occurs in the world
• The wood web is more interlinked and more complex than a food chain

Question 14

What is the climate like in a tropical rainforest?

Answer 14

• They are hot and wet all year round
• There are no seasons, it is consistently hot, around 27 degrees Celsius all year round
• Very small temperature range approx 3 degrees Celsius
• It is hot because their latitude is close to the equator meaning the sun is directly overhead throughout the year

Question 15

How much rainfall is in a TRF annually?

Answer 15

2000mm it is a low pressure area

Question 16

What is a producer?

Answer 16

an organism or plant that can absorb energy from the sun through photosynthesis (making sugars)

Question 17

What is a consumer?

Answer 17

a creature that eats herbivores and/or plant matter they obtain the energy from what they eat

Question 18

What is a decomposer?

Answer 18

an organism such as bacterium or fungus that breaks down dead tissue which effectively releases their nutrients back in the environment

Question 19

What is a food chain?

Answer 19

the connections between different organisms (plants and animals) that rely upon on another as their source of food

Question 20

What is a food web?

Answer 20

a complex hierarchy of plants and animals relying on each other for food

Question 21

What is nutrient cycling?

Answer 21

a set of processes whereby organisms extract nutrients necessary for growth from soil or water before passing them on through the food chain and ultimately back to the soil and water when they die

Question 22

How is soil produced?

Answer 22

The weathering of rock

Question 23

What are the producers in a pond?

Answer 23

• detritus
• algae and microscopic plants

Question 24

what are the primary consumers in a pond?

Answer 24

• midge larva
• blackfly
• mayfly
• worms

Question 25

what are the secondary producers in pond?

Answer 25

- great diving beetle - stonefly - caddis - dragonfly

Question 26

what is the tertiary producer in a pond?

Answer 26

(predatory) fish

Question 27

what are the top consumers ina pond?

Answer 27

- heron - king fisher

Question 28

What is the layout of vegetation in a rainforest?

Answer 28

The vegetation is stratified

Question 29

What is the pond margin?

Answer 29

- There is plenty of light and oxygen here - shelter for small plants and insects - food for small animals to eat

Question 30

what is the mid water section of a pond?

Answer 30

- animals breathe through their skins/gills - fish are main predators - food is found on the surface of the pond

Question 31

what is the pond bottom section?

Answer 31

- little oxygen and light - plenty of shelter - decomposers and scavengers live here

Question 32

what is the above the pond surface section?

Answer 32

- kingfisher and dragonfly are located here - plenty of light and oxygen - food is found on the water surface or in the margins

Question 33

what is the pond surface section?

Answer 33

- plenty of oxygen and light - animals breathe through their lungs, gills or skin - eg. duck, waterlily

Question 34

name the 5 layers in a TRF?

Answer 34

- ground layer - shrub layer - under canopy - main canopy - emergents

Question 35

give some characteristics of the ground layer?

Answer 35

- very dark - very steamy due to heat - lots of moisture - only 2% pf sunlight reaches this area

Question 36

give some characteristics of the shrub layer?

Answer 36

- rotting dead vegetation - it is crucial of nutrient recycling - rapid decomposition - keeps the soil fertile - 0-10m high - orchids, alligators, jaguars, ants, tarantulas live here

Question 37

give some characteristics of the under canopy.

Answer 37

- 10-20m high - young trees competing for light, growing quickly - sloths and howler monkeys

Question 38

give some characteristics of the main canopy.

Answer 38

- very dense vegetation - Tall straight trunks - acts like an umbrella - lots of birds are found here - epiphytes and lianas

Question 39

give some characteristics of the emergent layer.

Answer 39

- 30-40m high - one or two of the highest trees - wide Bucharest roots, anchors the trees - wide leaves to absorb as much sunlight as possible