Global Systems

Question 1

Biosphere

Answer 1

The sum of all places on Earth where life exists .

Question 2

Atmosphere

Answer 2

The layer of air surrounding the Earth.

Question 3

Hydrosphere

Answer 3

All bodies of water.

Question 4

Ecosystem

Answer 4

Community of living organisms.

Question 5

Biotic

Answer 5

Living

Question 6

Abiotic

Answer 6

No living

Question 7

Population

Answer 7

A group of living things of the same species living in the same place at the same time.

Question 8

Community

Answer 8

A group of different species living in the same place at the same time.

Question 9

What is the source of energy on Earth ?

Answer 9

The sun.

Question 10

What are producers?

Answer 10

Producers are plants. They undergo photosynthesis.

Question 11

What is a consumer ?

Answer 11

Consumers are all living things that are not plants.

Question 12

What is a food chain ?

Answer 12

Food chains show various producers and consumers, as well as their dependence on each other.

Question 13

What is an autotroph?

Answer 13

Autotrophs are producers.

CO2 + H2O —> glucose + O2

Question 14

What are heterotrophs?

Answer 14

Heterotrophs are consumers.

glucose + O2 —> CO2 + H2O

Question 15

What is the connection between photosynthesis and respiration?

Answer 15

The reactantsof photosynthesised the products of respiration and vide versa.

Question 16

What are decomposers?

Answer 16

Decomposers (Fungi + Bacteria) eat the waste of plants and dead bodies (anaerobic - don’t use oxygen).

Question 17

What is photosynthesis?

Answer 17

Photosynthesis is the process that green plants go through when they use sunlight to gather nutrients from carbon dioxide and water.

Question 18

What is the carbon cycle?

Answer 18

The carbon cycle shows where CO2 comes from and where it gets recycled.

Question 19

Where does carbon get locked away?

Answer 19

Inside fossil fuels and limestone.

Question 20

What do we need nitrogen for?

Answer 20

Nitrogen is an essential component of proteins which animals and plants need to survive and grow.

If the nitrates in the soil are used by the plants the ground becomes less fertile. If the nitrates are not replaced quickly enough the plants will eventually deplete the soil of nitrogen.

Question 21

What foods have nitrogen?

Answer 21

Plant based foods - nuts, eggs and meat (have eaten plants).

Question 22

What is Rhizobium bacteria?

Answer 22

Rhizobium bacteria live in the roots of plants and directly fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and produce nitrates.

Question 23

What is nitrifying bacteria?

Answer 23

Nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates.

Question 24

How do plants get nitrogen?

Answer 24

Nitrogen is fixed from the air by bacteria that produce nitrites and then nitrates that plants take up with their roots.

Question 25

How does nitrogen enter the atmosphere?

Answer 25

Some bacteria release nitrogen gas (N2) back into the atmosphere.

Question 26

How do thunderstorms affect nitrogen?

Answer 26

During thunderstorms, lightening converts (N2) to nitrates that get washed into the soil during the rainfall.

Question 27

Evaporation?

Answer 27

Water in seas, oceans, lakes, etc evaporates and rises into the atmosphere. Water is evaporated by the sun

Question 28

How are clouds formed?

Answer 28

The water vapour collects together and eventually condense on cold air particles to form clouds.

Question 29

Precipitation?

Answer 29

When clouds become fully saturated with water droplets it rains/hails/snows.

Question 30

Percolation?

Answer 30

The water returns to the lithosphere and percolates through the ground into underground water to form rivers (etc) and then returns to the sea.

Question 31

What do atmospheric greenhouse gases do?

Answer 31

The atmosphere of the Earth allows the right amount of the suns energy to remain on the Earth and therefore regulates surface temperature.

Question 32

What are the gases called that regulate Earth temperature?

Answer 32

The gases that help regulate surface temperature are called greenhouse gases. When UV is absorbed by the earth it gets warm. This warmth is lost by infrared radiation (IR). This IR causes the atmosphere to heat up too.

Question 33

Typical naturally occurring greenhouse gases include:

Answer 33

``` Carbon dioxide (CO2) Water vapour (H2O) Methane (CH4) Nitrous oxide (N2O) ```

Question 34

What is a greenhouse?

Answer 34

A greenhouse is a place where plants grow better.

Question 35

Explain the greenhouse effect.

Answer 35

The UV rays from the sun pass through the glass and their energy absorbed by everything inside: it gets warm. This causes those warm things to redirect their energy but it is released as IR and IR cannot pass through glass. This the inside of the greenhouse is warmer than the outside. The atmosphere and it’s greenhouse gases act like glass in the greenhouse. The amount of energy trapped in this way makes the Earth the perfect place for life.

Question 36

What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?

Answer 36

The enhanced greenhouse effect refers to the contribution made to greenhouse gases by humans.

Question 37

How do industries contribute to the greenhouse effect?

Answer 37

Some industries release pollution into the atmosphere or the hydrosphere that may contribute to the greenhouse effect. The consequences may be atmosphere rise in temperature or plant life in the hydrosphere being killed off.

Question 38

What is water pollution?

Answer 38

Water pollution might include materials that act as fertiliser that causes blooms of plant life that use up all the nutrients in the water. Plants die and rot and the water becomes depleted of oxygen (hypoxia) and hence fish, etc die.

Question 39

What are algal blooms? How do they occur?

Answer 39

Algal blooms float, are alive and breed rapidly. Algal blooms occur as a result of water pollution and further reduce the suitability for life in the waterway. Phosphates, carbon dioxide and water are essential for growth.

Question 40

What is the process of oxygen removal from waterways?

Answer 40

The process of removal of oxygen from waterways in this way is called eutrophication.

Question 41

What is deforestation?

Answer 41

Deforestation refers to the removal of natural forests without replanting.

Question 42

Carbon “locked away” ?

Answer 42

The carbon will STAY where it is and will not go into the atmosphere whilst it is “locked away” as an undiscovered fuel source.