Topic 3- Problems of, and Solutions to, a Changing Environment

Question 1

What are drugs?

Answer 1

Drugs are chemical substances that affect the central nervous system, causing changes in psychological behaviour and possibly addiction.

Question 2

What are opiates?

Answer 2

Opiates are drugs that come from poppy plants.

Question 3

What are the 4 types of drugs?

Answer 3

• stimulants
• depressants
• painkillers
• hallucinogens

Question 4

How do the 4 types of drugs affect neurotransmission?

Answer 4

• stimulants speed up the transmission of a message across a synapse.
• depressants slow down the transmission of a message across a synapse.
• painkillers precent the transmission of a message across a synapse.
• hallucinogens block pathways to the sensory pathways to the brain.

Question 5

What are illegal and legal examples of the 4 types of drugs?

Answer 5

stimulants: legal- caffeine, nicotine. illegal- cocaine, speed
depressants: legal- alcohol. illegal- barbiturates, solvents
painkillers: legal- paracetamol. illegal- heroin
hallucinogens- legal- (legal highs?) illegal- LSD

Question 6

What are solvents?

Answer 6

Solvents are depressants that give off different kinds of vapours.

Question 7

What is alcohol?

Answer 7

Alcohol is a depressant that contains the chemical ethanol.

Question 8

What is tobacco?

Answer 8

Tobacco is the substance in cigarettes that contains tar and nicotine, and produces carbon monoxide when smoked.

Question 9

What are the physical and mental effects of a solvent when inhaled?

Answer 9

Physical effect - can cause permanent damage to the lungs, liver, brain and kidneys
Mental effect - causes hallucinations, alter behaviour and personality

Question 10

What are the physical and mental effects of alcohol?

Answer 10

Physical effect - can cause brain and liver damage (cirrhosis) and blurred vision
Mental effect - can cause depression, and can lead to loss of inhibitions and self-control

Question 11

What are the physical and mental effects of tobacco?

Answer 11

Physical effect - carbon monoxide absorbed by the haemoglobin in red blood cells more easily than oxygen.
Can lead to: emphysema (alveoli walls break down), build up of mucus, bronchitis, cancer caused by tar, increased heart rate and blood pressure.
Mental effect - nicotine is addictive

Question 12

What is a carcinogen?

Answer 12

A carcinogen is a chemical that causes cancer.

Question 13

What is the carcinogen in cigarettes?

Answer 13

Tar is the carcinogen in cigarettes.

Question 14

What is a transplant?

Answer 14

A transplant is when an organ or tissue is moved from one patient to another or from one part of a patient to another.

Question 15

What are examples of some organs that can be transplanted?

Answer 15

Hearts, kidneys, livers, lungs, intestines, pancreases

Question 16

What are examples of some tissues that can be transplanted?

Answer 16

Skin, bones, tendons, corneas, heart valves and veins.

Question 17

What are 3 ethical issues of organ transplants?

Answer 17

• Voluntary or mandatory donation (should people have to give organs when they die or should they make the conscious decision when they are alive)
• Should people who may have had some control over their condition be allowed to have transplants (eg. liver transplants for alcoholics)
• Theft of, and then illegal trade of, organs (trafficking/black market)

Question 18

What are pathogens?

Answer 18

Microorganisms that cause disease.

Question 19

What are the 4 types of pathogens?

Answer 19

Bacteria, Fungi, Viruses, Protozoan

Question 20

What are 2 examples of diseases that each of the 4 types of pathogens cause?

Answer 20

Bacteria - salmonella, tuberculosis
Fungi - ringworm, athlete’s foot
Viruses - Influenza, HIV
Protozoan - malaria, ?

Question 21

What is the most common method of transmission of pathogens?

Answer 21

Indirect contact

Question 22

What disease is caused by drinking dirty water?

Answer 22

Cholera

Question 23

What disease is caused by eating uncooked meat?

Answer 23

Salmonella (food poisoning)

Question 24

What disease is airborne?

Answer 24

Influenza

Question 25

What disease is caused by a vector?

Answer 25

Malaria (mosquito), dysentery (housefly).

Question 26

What disease is caused by direct contact?

Answer 26

Athlete's foot fungus

Question 27

What disease is caused by the exchange of body fluids?

Answer 27

HIV

Question 28

How do some plants protect themselves from being attacked from pathogens?

Answer 28

They make protective chemicals.

Question 29

Where is aspirin found naturally and what is it used for?

Answer 29

Aspirin is found in the bark and leaves of willow plants and is used as pain relief

Question 30

Where is taxol found naturally and what is it used for?

Answer 30

Taxol is found in the bark of the Pacific yew tree and is used as treatment of some forms of cancer

Question 31

What are the 3 physical barriers that animals use to defend themselves?

Answer 31

- skin - cilia - mucus

Question 32

What are the 2 chemical barriers that animals use to defend themselves?

Answer 32

- lysozymes | - hydrochloric acid

Question 33

What are antiseptics?

Answer 33

Antiseptics are substances that are applied to surfaces, and commonly, broken skin, to prevent infection by microorganisms.

Question 34

What are examples of frequently used antiseptics?

Answer 34

Alcohol, iodine and salt

Question 35

What are antibiotics?

Answer 35

Antibiotics are medicines that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria or fungi.

Question 36

What was the first antibiotic to be discovered?

Answer 36

Penicillin

Question 37

What is a superbug?

Answer 37

A superbug is a bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotic medicines.

Question 38

What is MRSA?

Answer 38

A superbug, MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphyloccucus aureus.

Question 39

Why is MRSA a particular problem in hospitals?

Answer 39

Because people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk.

Question 40

Why is it important to take a full course of antibiotics in order to kill a bacterial infection?

Answer 40

Because if you do not take a full course, then the bacteria will have time to evolve and become resistant to the antibiotics.

Question 41

What is interdependence?

Answer 41

Interdependence refers to a relationship between organisms whereby organisms depend on each other for some resource or for survival.

Question 42

What is a food chain?

Answer 42

A food chain is a chain that shows the feeding relationship between organisms in an ecosystem.

Question 43

What a trophic level?

Answer 43

Each stage in a food chain or food pyramid

Question 44

What is parasitism?

Answer 44

A relationship between two organisms where an infecting parasite benefits directly from its host.

Question 45

What is mutualism?

Answer 45

A relationship between two organisms where both organisms benefit from the relationship.

Question 46

What are examples of parasites?

Answer 46

Mistletoe, fleas, ticks, headlice, tapeworms

Question 47

What are examples of mutualistic relationships?

Answer 47

Oxpecker birds and large mammals, cleaner fish and larger fish, chemosynthetic bacteria in tube worms, and nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the root nodules of legumes

Question 48

What are problems caused by the overpopulation of the world?

Answer 48

Global warming, extinction of animals and plants, and pollution

Question 49

What may air pollution consist of?

Answer 49

Hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide

Question 50

What is pollution?

Answer 50

Pollution is the contamination of the environment by waste substances, produced as a result of human activity

Question 51

What may water pollution consist of?

Answer 51

Sewage (human waste), Nitrates, Phosphates

Question 52

What is an indicator species?

Answer 52

An indicator species is a species whose presence is an indicator to scientists of how polluted an area is.

Question 53

What are examples of indicator species that indicate low levels of air pollution?

Answer 53

blackspot fungus on roses, lichens

Question 54

What are examples of indicator species that indicate high levels of water pollution?

Answer 54

sludgeworms, bloodworms, rat-tailed maggots

Question 55

What are examples of indicator species that indicate low levels of water pollution?

Answer 55

mayfly larvae, freshwater shrimp, stonefly

Question 56

What are the main processes in the carbon cycle?

Answer 56

- photosynthesis - consumption - respiration - decay - combustion

Question 57

What are the main processes in the nitrogen cycle?

Answer 57

- nitrogen fixation - nitrification - denitrification - decomposition - death - excretion

Question 58

Where are nitrogen-fixing bacteria found?

Answer 58

Some are found in the soil, some are found in the root nodules of legumes

Question 59

What is the role of nitrifying bacteria in the nitrogen cycle?

Answer 59

They convert ammonia to nitrates in the soil

Question 60

What is the role of nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil and in the roots of legumes?

Answer 60

They convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia in the soil.

Question 61

What is the role of denitrifying bacteria in the nitrogen cycle?

Answer 61

They convert nitrates into atmospheric nitrogen.

Question 62

What is nitrogen fixation?

Answer 62

The process of converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia

Question 63

What is denitrification?

Answer 63

The process of converting nitrates into atmospheric nitrogen

Question 64

What is nitrification?

Answer 64

The process of converting ammonia into nitrates

Question 65

What is the name for microorganisms that break down the dead animals and plants in the nitrogen cycle?

Answer 65

Decomposers

Question 66

What is eutrophication?

Answer 66

The process whereby fertilisers leak into nearby streams or rivers, causing death of underwater plants and animals.

Question 67

What is another way that atmospheric nitrogen can be converted into nitrates other than nitrogen fixation and nitrification?

Answer 67

Lightening strikes can convert nitrogen gas into nitrates that are put into the soil.