Ecosystem Processes Flashcards
What is a food chain?
A diagram that shows the transfer of energy between organisms
What is a food web?
A diagram showing a set of linked food chains
What are consumers?
An organism that eats other organisms to survive
What is a producer?
An organism that makes its own food
What is photosynthesis?
The process plants use to make their own food, glucose.
What is the word equation for photosynthesis?
Carbon dioxide + water -> glucose + oxygen
What is chlorophyll?
The pigment that makes leaves green
What cells do water diffuse into?
Root hair cells
What tubes is water transported around plants in?
Xylem tubes
How do gases get in and out of plants?
On the underside of the leaf there are tiny holes. Carbon dioxide diffuses in, oxygen diffuses out
Why are leaves green?
They contain chlorophyll, which absorbs sunlight
Why are leaves thin?
This lets gases diffuse in and out easily
Why do leaves have a large surface area?
To absorb as much light as possible
Why do leaves have veins?
They contain xylem tubes, which transport water and phloem tubes, which transport glucose
What is the top layer of a leaf?
Waxy layer
What do stomata do?
They allow gases to diffuse in and out of leaves
What is the structure of a leaf?
Waxy layer at the top, palisade layer underneath, spongey layer underneath, guard cells and stomata at the bottom
What happens in the palisade layer?
Most of the photosynthesis because there are lots of chloroplasts
What is the spongy layer?
It lets carbon dioxide to diffuse in the leaf, and oxygen to diffuse out. It has air spaces
What are nitrates used for in plants?
Healthy growth
What are phosphates for in plants?
For healthy roots
What is potassium used for in plants?
For healthy leaves and flowers
What is magnesium used for in plants?
For making chlorophyll
Where do plants get minerals from?
The soil. They are absorbed into the root hair cells
