ESS grade 10 test 1

Question 1

What are biogeochemical cycles

Answer 1

pathways for molecules like water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to move through all of Earth’s geological and ecological compartments.

Question 2

water cycle in simple terms

Answer 2

rain precipitates water onto earth
water runs off into storage (ocean, lake, etc)
surface water evaporates into water vapor
water vapor forms clouds, condenses, then precipitates again

Question 3

how does precipitation occur

Answer 3

water vapor inside the cloud gets cold
vapor condenses into liquid rain

Question 4

types of precipitation

Answer 4

rai, hail, snow, sleet graupel

Question 5

what is the source of all of our energy

Answer 5

the sun

Question 6

how do states of matter change

Answer 6

solid to liquid (melting + energy)
liquid to gas (evaporating + energy)
gas to liquid (condensation - energy)
liquid to solid (freezing - energy)

Question 7

How do animals excrete water

Answer 7

peeing, sweating, or breathing

Question 8

how to plants excrete water

Answer 8

transpiration
- the process of water moving into the plant through roots
- then evaporating off of leaves which is called evapotranspiration

Question 9

advection

Answer 9

when a cloud moves over land

Question 10

percolation

Answer 10

when water rests (holding)

Question 11

infiltration

Answer 11

when water goes into soil

Question 12

assimilation

Answer 12

the process of plants absorbing water and incorporating vitamin rich molecules into their blood stream

Question 13

evapotranspiration

Answer 13

water is sucked up through the roots through capillary action then is evaporated off the leaves

it is the complete process of how water is transferred from the ground to the atmosphere, including transpiration

Question 14

why are oceans salty

Answer 14

as water runs off to the ocean, it erodes minerals like salt from the soil and carries it to the ocean. When water is evaporated, it leaves the salt behind.

Question 15

sublimation

Answer 15

solid to gas

Question 16

deposition

Answer 16

gas to solid

Question 17

carbon cycle simple terms

Answer 17

inorganic cycle
- fossil fuels containing stored carbon are burned
- combustion releases the carbon into the atmosphere

organic cycle
- plants use carbon dioxide(sun and water) in photosynthesis and releases water, glucose, and atp
- animals eat that plant and use cellular respiration to release carbon dioxide and water

Question 18

fossil fuels

Answer 18

once living organisms (carbon based)

Question 19

percentage of the human body carbon

Answer 19

12-15%

Question 20

carbon in the ocean

Answer 20

carbon dissolves in water
30% is absorbed from the atmosphere
some of it remains, some is used by organisms (phytoplanktin) and some evaporates right out

Question 21

shells

Answer 21

made of calcium carbonate and when they fall to the bottom of the ocean, they compress making limestone

Question 22

limestone

Answer 22

made of shells. when they break down (acidifies) it creates carbon dioxide and carbonic acid (contributing to the acidification of oceans and increase of carbon)

Question 23

excess carbon in the atmosphere

Answer 23

contributes to climate change since it is a greenhouse gas (traps heat in the atmosphere)

keeping carbon locked in the ground is better for the atmosphere

Question 24

positive feedback cycle

Answer 24

When the sun warms the ice, ice melts, causing more carbon to release into the atmosphere. This heats up the atmosphere causing more ice to melt and more co2 to release and the cycle repeats.

Question 25

nitrogen cycle in simple terms

Answer 25

- nitrogen fixing bacteria fixes nitrogen (splits it apart) - nitrogen bonds with water in the soil producing ammonium - nitrifying bacteria breaks down the ammonium into nitrites and then nitrates - nitrogen is absorbed by plants - animals take in nitrogen by eating plants - when a creature dies, nitrogen either gets absorbed by another plant (assimilation) or denitrifying bacteria breaks nitrogen away from the compound and releases it back into the atmosphere

Question 26

how to break nitrogen triple bond

Answer 26

nitrogen fixing bacteria lightning habor process

Question 27

habor process

Answer 27

man made synthetic fertilizers

Question 28

why is nitrogen important

Answer 28

nitrogen is in dna and is responsible for the process of making proteins

Question 29

what % of the atmosphere is nitrogen

Answer 29

78%

Question 30

N2 in the atmosphere

Answer 30

a diatomic triple bond

Question 31

nitrogen fixation

Answer 31

n2 is split into 2 nitrogen molecules

Question 32

nitrogen fixing bacteria

Answer 32

bacteria living in the root nodules of legumes that split n2

Question 33

legumes

Answer 33

soybeans, clover, peanuts, kudzu

Question 34

what form of nitrogen (and enzyme) is usable by plants

Answer 34

ammonium (nitrogenase enzyme makes it useful) but not all plants like ammonium so nitrites and nitrates

Question 35

nitrifying bacteria

Answer 35

take ammonium and convert it into nitrites and nitrates

Question 36

denitrifying bacteria (and enzyme)

Answer 36

converts nitrates and nitrites back into nitrogen gas, nitrate reductase enzyme is what does this.

Question 37

phosphorus cycle in simple terms

Answer 37

- phosphorus is in rocks - after weathering + erosion then deposition, it can get compacted and cememnted and stay in rock. - or after weathering, erosion, and deposition, the contact with water forms a compound phosphate - phosphate travels through ground water and gets absorbed by plants - plant uses phosporus for its own processes then the plant dies - animal eats it then it poops or dies, either way it decomposes and goes back into the ground - once in the ground it can either get reabsorbed by another plant or sink deeper and eventually become rock again in the ocean.

Question 38

inorganic phosphorus cycle vs organic cycle length

Answer 38

millions of years for inorganic hundreds of thousands of years for organic

Question 39

whats unique about phosphorus

Answer 39

only cycle that doesnt involve or pass through atmosphere

Question 40

why is phosphorus important

Answer 40

- its in dna and rna - its the p in atp - it is in the phospholipid bilayer in the animal cell membrane

Question 41

lithosphere and type of rock

Answer 41

earth's crust made of sedimentary rock

Question 42

lithotroph

Answer 42

rock eating bacteria

Question 43

how do phosphates end up in the soil and water

Answer 43

soil - leaching (absorbed into soil) water - weathering, erosion, deposition

Question 44

main ingredient in synthetic fertilizers

Answer 44

nitrogen and phosphorus

Question 45

why is too much nitrogen and phosphorus (in synthetic fertilizer) bad for the enviornment

Answer 45

- when there is too much n and p, the plants cant use it having it sink into the ground water and end up in a water source - the plants living in said water source rapidly reproduce with all the new nutrience - they then end up covering the top of the water preventing ocean and sunlight from reaching life below - this then suffocates life under the water - when all the plants die, the decomposition process uses up dissolved oxygen in the water, bad for aquatic life

Question 46

ammonification

Answer 46

the process in which nitrogen gas from decomposing plants/animals (organic material) is converted into ammonium

Question 47

how is human activity related to biogeochemical cycles

Answer 47

deforestation, industrialization, and the burning of fossil fuels throw off the balance the natural flow of elements and contribute to climate change

Question 48

Soil

Answer 48

soil hosts the largest diversity of organisms and stores carbon, water, and other nutrients it is important to support safe soil practices

Question 49

Where do plants get their nitrogen from

Answer 49

plants get nitrogen from soil

Question 50

How is carbon stored during photosynthesis

Answer 50

carbon is stored as sugar during photosynthesis

Question 51

Largest carbon resevoir

Answer 51

deep ocean