Science Flashcards
(133 cards)
1
Q
Ecology.
A
The study of the relationships between living organisms and the environment.
2
Q
Ecologist.
A
Someone who studies this relationship, as well as the impact humans, may have.
3
Q
What are the four needs of living things?
A
- Water.
- Food.
- Oxygen.
- Shelter.
4
Q
Adaptation.
A
Characteristics that help an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.
5
Q
Can adaptations be learned?
A
No. They can only be inherited.
6
Q
Ecosystem.
A
The interaction between living and non-living things in a particular environment.
7
Q
What do you call the living feature of an environment?
A
Biotic.
8
Q
What do you call the non-living feature of an environment?
A
Abiotic.
9
Q
Symbiosis.
A
When two species live closely together.
10
Q
Mutualism.
A
Each partner in a symbiotic relationship benefits.
11
Q
Commensalism.
A
One partner benefits from a symbiotic relationship while the other is neutral.
12
Q
Parasitism.
A
A partner in a symbiotic relationship meets its needs at the expense of the host.
13
Q
Natural Resources.
A
Materials and products found in nature used to meet our basic needs.
14
Q
List the five examples of renewable natural resources.
A
- Windpower.
- Water/electric power.
- Wood.
- Geothermal energy.
- Solar energy.
15
Q
List the five examples of non-renewable natural resources.
A
- Oil.
- Natural gas.
- Coal.
- Nuclear energy.
- Rocks and minerals.
16
Q
Renewable.
A
Naturally occurring resources that can be replaced in a short period of time.
17
Q
Non-renewable.
A
Naturally occurring resources that can not be replaced in a short period of time.
18
Q
Sustainability.
A
Resources are being renewed at least as quickly as they are used.
19
Q
Ecological footprint.
A
A calculation of the total area of land and water needed to supply materials and energy as well as absorb all wastes produced.
20
Q
What are the three ways of decreasing your footprint?
A
Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
21
Q
Niche.
A
What an organism eats, where it lives, and how it interacts. (Can also be called its ecological role.)
22
Q
Producers.
A
Produce energy for themselves from the sun.
23
Q
Consumers.
A
Consume food made by producers. May hunt or forage.
24
Q
What are the three types of consumers?
A
- Herbivores.
- Carnivores.
- Omnivores.
25
Herbivore.
Eats plants.
26
Carnivore.
Eats meat.
27
Omnivore.
Eats both plants and meat.
28
Food chain.
A model that shows how energy is passed.
29
What are the four ways that energy moves?
1. Used as fuel.
2. Released as heat.
3. Stored in tissues.
4. Released as waste.
30
Food web.
A network of interconnected food chains that can get large and complex.
31
Pyramid of Numbers.
Shows how many organisms are involved in the total energy transfer.
32
What does the Pyramid of Numbers state?
Largest amount: producers.
Medium amount: herbivores.
Smallest amount: carnivores.
33
Biomass.
The total mass of all the organisms in an ecosystem.
34
Scavengers.
Organisms that feed on dead or decaying plant or animal matter.
35
Decomposers.
Do not eat; they grow on or in dead material and absorb the nutrients into their own cells.
36
List the steps of the Carbon Cycle.
1. Carbon dioxide in the air:
a) Breathing out carbon dioxide.
b) Burning releases carbon dioxide into the air.
c) Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the air.
2. Photosynthesis: plants take in carbon dioxide to make food.
3. Decomposers put carbon dioxide back into the soil.
4. Carbon dioxide is in the ground.
37
List the steps of the Water Cycle.
1. Evaporation.
2. Condensation.
3. Precipitation.
4. Transpiration.
5. Run-off/Groundwater.
38
Evaporation.
Liquid to gas.
39
Condensation.
Gas to liquid.
40
Precipitation.
Rain, sleet, snow, and/or hail.
41
Transpiration.
Water is taken in by roots; evaporates from the plant's leaves.
42
Run-off/groundwater.
Water that runs off the ground into lakes, rivers, or streams.
43
Pollution.
A substance that cannot be broken down, stored or recycled quickly.
44
Pollutants.
Substances that form pollution.
45
Acid rain.
When acid pollutants are found in precipitation.
46
What is an example of acid rain? What is the PH level? What is the problem with this occurring?
"Dead lakes" have a PH level below 5.6. The water is too acidic for plants and animals to survive.
47
Bioaccumulation.
When pollutants move from level to level in a food web.
48
Succession.
The gradual process by which some species replace other species in an ecosystem.
49
What are the two steps of succession?
1. Organisms alter the environment.
| 2. This allows other species to move in.
50
Primary succession.
Growth in an area that was completely empty to start.
51
What are the two steps of primary succession?
1. Linches, mosses, and ferns first appear on bare rock.
| 2. Now new plants and animals can move in.
52
Secondary succession.
Growth in an area that had other organisms before.
53
What is an example of secondary succession?
Regeneration of a burned forest.
54
What are the two types of succession?
Primary succession and secondary succession.
55
What are the two types of pesticides?
Pest control and biological control.
56
Pest control.
Uses chemical pesticides.
57
What are the positives and negatives of using pest control?
Positives: Eliminates pests.
Negatives: May eliminate beneficial organisms.
58
Biological control.
Controls pests by using a natural enemy.
59
What are the positives and negatives of using biological control?
Positives: Doesn't use chemicals, still eliminates pests.
Negatives: Introduced species may occur.
60
Introduced species.
May survive and reproduce more easily than naturally occurring species.
61
What are two examples of introduced species?
1. Zebra mussels.
| 2. Purple loosestrife.
62
Extinct.
An animal species no longer lives on the Earth (they all died).
63
Endangered.
Animals species of which very few still exist on the Earth; going extinct.
64
Ecosystem monitoring.
When an ecologist checks the habitats periodically and looks for changes.
65
Indicator species.
These help ecologists monitor the health of a habitat.
66
Baseline data.
The starting point in a habitat (year 1).
67
Permanent plot.
A study area/space.
68
Environmental impact assessment.
A report that outlines how changes might affect the habitat.
69
What are the three key facts of environmental monitoring?
1. Pesticides, acid rain, loss of habitat, and introduced species can all affect amphibians.
2. Mount St. Helen's was the site for Secondary Succession monitoring. Spiders came in by the wind.
3. Indigenous peoples rely on the land for natural resources. It should be monitored closely.
70
What are the six ways people use plants?
1. Medicine.
2. Oxygen.
3. Fibre.
4. Food.
5. Transportation/construction.
6. Fuel.
71
What are the three roles plants play in the environment?
1. Remove carbon dioxide to create oxygen.
2. Serve as the beginning of many food webs (producers).
3. Help to filter water and regulate water flow.
72
What are the seven major crops?
1. Wheat.
2. Corn.
3. Barley.
4. Potatoes.
5. Rice.
6. Cassava.
7. Sorghum.
73
What percent of the world's food supply is based on the seven major crops?
75%.
74
Fibre.
The tissues found in plants. Specifically in the stem, leaves, seeds, or roots.
75
What are the positives to cotton?
Absorbs moisture that can evaporate easily. Strong and flexible. Makes a good thread.
76
What are the positives to hemp?
Lasts longer, does not require pesticides (kills weeds naturally), and grows quickly.
77
What are the positives to flax?
Growth occurs in Northern regions. Three times stronger than cotton. The fibres are smooth and straight. It can make clothes, paper, and oil.
78
What are plant "blueprints"?
Plants often give "blueprints" for medicine that scientists can copy in the lab.
79
What are examples of plants for medicine?
1. White willow eases pain. This was recreated in the lab by scientists to form aspirin.
2. Opium poppies were recreated in the lab by scientists to form codeine (cough medicine).
80
What is an example of plants for transportation and construction?
Brazilian rubber tree. Creates car and airplane parts. Scientists make synthetic rubber from coal and oil products.
81
What are the five details of the Brazilian Rubber Boom?
1. Made shoes and erasers.
2. It was an industrial revolution.
3. Took place in Columbia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru.
4. The payment was poor. There was killing and slavery.
5. 90% of Indigenous Peoples were wiped out during this.
82
What are 90% of houses made of?
Softwood trees.
83
What did Indigenous Peoples use to make canoes?
Western red cedar and birch.
84
What are examples of plants used for fuel? List four.
1. Wood.
2. Coal.
3. Ethanol.
4. Methanol.
85
Coal.
Ancient plants undergoing heat and pressure to become coal.
86
Ethanol.
Sugar liquid fuel.
87
Methanol.
Wood liquid fuel.
88
What are the positives and negatives of using plants for fuel?
Positives: Economical; an alternative to oil.
Negatives: Not very efficient.
89
Why do we have to learn the structure of plants?
1. So we can understand what conditions they adapt well to. As in heat, moisture, and soil types.
2. So we can alter growing conditions to improve yield.
90
Roots.
Absorb nutrients and water. Anchor the plant. Store food in times of scarcity.
91
Taproot.
Single dominant root with some smaller roots/root hairs (increase the ability to absorb).
92
Fibrous roots.
Shallow system of similar-sized roots.
93
Diffusion.
When nutrients move from an area of high concentration to low concentration.
94
What are two examples of diffusion?
Popcorn and farts.
95
Osmosis.
The process in which water is diffused or moves from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration. It is partially in charge of soil absorption through roots. It also aids the elevation of the liquid to the leaves of the plant.
96
Through what must osmosis occur?
A barrier; the root.
97
Differentially permeable.
Allow some materials to pass but not all.
98
Stems.
Transport nutrients/water from roots to leaves. They ensure the plant gets enough sun and is responsible for food storage.
99
Outer bark.
Stops a tree from drying out and protects it.
100
Inner bark.
Contains transport cells such as xylem and phloem.
101
Xylem.
Water.
102
Phloem.
Sugars.
103
Cambium.
Grows cells that turn into inner bark.
104
Wood/heartwood.
Dead cells that provide strength.
105
Leaves.
Contain pigments called chlorophyll that make the plant green. This is where photosynthesis occurs.
106
What are the three things a plant needs?
1. Sunlight.
2. Carbon Dioxide.
3. Water.
107
What are the two things plants create?
1. Oxygen.
| 2. Sugars.
108
Respiration.
Letting in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
109
Stomata.
When the guard cells gain water through osmosis, they swell and it opens during the day.
110
How does water move through a plant?
1. Water leaves leaf through stomata by transpiration.
2. Xylem takes water to be used in leaves for photosynthesis.
3. Water travels through xylem tubes.
4. Roots absorb water by osmosis.
111
Breeding.
When attaching branches from certain trees to one main root system for that tree to produce a variety of fruits or other things.
112
Sexual reproduction.
Takes information from two different plants to make a new plant.
113
What is an example of breeding?
A tree that grows apples and oranges.
114
What is an example of sexual reproduction?
Zumpkins.
115
Asexual reproduction.
The ability of plants to reproduce without another plant through seeds that are already contained by growth.
116
What is an example of asexual reproduction?
Strawberries.
117
Vegetative reproduction.
To cut a plant into pieces and make more; to duplicate.
118
What is an example of vegetative reproduction?
Potatoes.
119
Ovule.
Sacs containing female reproductive cells.
120
Pollination.
The process by which pollen, containing sperm, travels to the female cone.
121
Stamen.
Male part of a flower.
Mnemonic device: StaMEN.
122
Pistil.
Female part of a flower.
123
Petal.
Brightly coloured parts of a flower that help to attract bees to its nectar.
124
Sepal.
Enclose tightly bound petals of a bud and protect the flower before it opens.
125
Stigma.
The sticky tip of a pistil.
Mnemonic device: StigMA.
126
Style.
Tube connecting the stigma and ovary.
127
Ovary.
A tiny chamber containing the plant's ovules.
128
Filament.
The stalk of a stamen.
129
Anther.
The tip of a stamen.
Mnemonic device: Think "Antler".
130
Germination.
The development of a seed into a new plant.
131
Genetic modification.
Scientists go inside an individual cell. They do this by first removing the genes. When a new combination of genetic material is put back into the plant cell it changes the plant characteristics and the plant comes partly from one kind of plant and partly from another.
132
Genes.
The parts of a cell that controls characteristics.
133
Give two examples of genetic modification.
Grains and fruits.
