Unit 1 Study Guide

Question 1

Characteristics of Life

Answer 1

Daily functions that allows an organism to survive. These can be the originality of these functions of the human body and how they lead to life on Earth. (Reproduction, Cells, Organs, Homeostasis, Metabolism, Development, Death, etc.)

Question 2

Biotic

Answer 2

A living organism.

Question 3

Abiotic

Answer 3

A non-living organism.

Question 4

Dependent Variable

Answer 4

Something that can be measured.

Question 5

Independent Variable

Answer 5

Something that is changing at a constant rate.

Question 6

Controlled Variable/Constant

Answer 6

Something that stays the same throughout the experiment.

Question 7

10% Rule

Answer 7

When an organism consumes another and because of the Net Primary Productivity concept, the organism only gains 10% of the natural resource due to deductions.

Question 8

Greenhouse Gas

Answer 8

Gases and molecules in the atmosphere that heat can pass through but trap and stops the heat from escaping. These gases can either lead to global warming if too much is being produced or temperatures dropping if there is too little.

Question 9

Predator

Answer 9

An organism that relies on prey as its food source and is traveled or categorized into food webs/chains.

Question 10

Prey

Answer 10

An animal that is a food source to those above them in trophic levels and is categorized into food webs/chains.

Question 11

Predator-Prey Cycle

Answer 11

A cycle of life that changes specie and population growth with predators eating prey and prey being herbivores and collecting food/nutrients so that those predators can survive. This means that there will always a balance and consistent change as if the preys decrease the predators as well and if the preys increase the predators will follow the same path.

Question 12

Mechanical Defense

Answer 12

A defense mechanism where an organism uses its skill and power to defend itself from other species.

Question 13

Physical Defense

Answer 13

A defense mechanism where the organism uses its external genetic adaptions to fight off or defend itself.

Question 14

Chemical Defense

Answer 14

A defense mechanism where the organism uses a substance or body fluid to survive and prevent predators.

Question 15

Mimicry

Answer 15

A defense mechanism where an organism uses its bodily functions to adapt into the environment, perhaps to blend in with more threatening traits that help show predators not to mess with certain species.

Question 15

Behavioral Defense

Answer 15

A defense mechanism where an animal acts or plays to deceive and manipulate the predators in doing things that do not harm the prey.

Question 16

Competitive Exclusion Principle

Answer 16

A relationship between two or more species that compete for the same niche or scarce resource that results in one organism dominating from their genetic or adaptive traits.

Question 17

Symbiosis

Answer 17

A long-term relationship in which organisms physically interact in a negative, positive, or mutual manner.

Question 18

Mutualism

Answer 18

When both the organisms are unharmed and have a mutual relationship by benefitting each other.

Question 19

Commensalism

Answer 19

Where one organism is benefitted from the other, who remains neutral and unharmed from the action.

Question 20

Parasitism

Answer 20

Where one organism is a host and helps the other survive by allowing it to thrive in the human body, providing the parasite with sources that affect the host negatively.

Question 21

Biodiversity

Answer 21

A category that defines the way ecosystems and populations live and the variety/changes in the ecosystem. These can show how a community/ecosystem deals with these changes. (Species Richness, Relative Abundance, and Species Evenness.)

Question 22

Species Richness

Answer 22

The amount and variety of species in an ecosystem.

Question 23

Relative Abundance

Answer 23

The amount/percentage of species in an ecosystems that show the distribution and ration of each specie/population, which helps determine a species evenness.

Question 24

Species Evenness

Answer 24

The balance of each population of species, where you need to determine if a species is dominating or not. If a species is this can cause a decline in a food web or unbalanced ecosystem.

Question 25

Foundation Species

Answer 25

These are organisms that could rank on any food web that keeps the ecosystem together and running. The species help ecosystems maintain their balance and prevent them from declining environmentally.

Question 26

Keystone Species

Answer 26

These are species or animals that help keep the food web together and maintain a balance between the populations of animals around them.

Question 27

Environmental Disturbance

Answer 27

These are events that have occurred that have changed an ecosystem and their habitat, a lot of these causes are due to human activities ( fires, deforestation, flooding, etc. ) which forces the ecosystem out of their environment.

Question 28

Primary Succession

Answer 28

A process where at first there was just rock on the surface, which allowed the very first soil to form. Primary Succession is when substances or organisms help break down rocks and the land before it (no soil, just plain rock) to grow environments or ecosystem and form sustainable land for life.

Question 29

Pioneer Species

Answer 29

These species are organisms that help weather and decay rocks/the base of the Earth, which allows soil and land to form for living organisms. ( ex. lichens )

Question 30

Climax Community

Answer 30

The results of succession and this is the end point of when an ecosystem is recovering and rebalancing from an environment that is formed after an environmental disturbance.

Question 31

Ecosystem

Answer 31

A community of organisms which interact with each other environmentally or physically, and these cycles can help animals survive and stay at a balance in food chains/webs.

Question 32

Equilibrium

Answer 32

The way an ecosystem maintains its balance abiotically or biotically.

Question 33

Resistance

Answer 33

How much an ecosystem keeps its equilibrium from a disturbance or a change.

Question 34

Resilience

Answer 34

How fast an ecosystem recovers from the change or disturbance that has recently occurred.

Question 35

Food Chain

Answer 35

A process that shows how energy is passed through one species to another.

Question 36

Food Web

Answer 36

A process that shows the relationship and the interactions, including energy of which between species, the variety of prey and predators connect within the ecosystem. This can help show dominance or decline in populations if there are many animals requiring the same niche.

Question 37

Trophic Level

Answer 37

A level or status of where an animal stands, these can be displayed in food pyramids, chains, or webs. These vary in categories such as, Producers, Primary Consumers, Secondary Consumers, Tertiary Consumers, and at top Quaternary Consumers.

Question 38

Producer

Answer 38

Plants or Photosynthetic species that can make their own food/energy.

Question 39

Primary Consumer

Answer 39

Mostly herbivores that feed on the producer trophic level.

Question 40

Secondary Consumer

Answer 40

Majority of these populations are carnivores that feed on the primary consumer trophic level.

Question 41

Tertiary Consumer

Answer 41

Carnivores that are in a high trophic level and feed on secondary consumers but not at the top necessarily.

Question 42

Quaternary Consumer

Answer 42

Carnivores or Apex carnivores that are at the top and are the biggest threat, which feed on tertiary consumers, with hardly any predators/threats because the consumer is at the highest trophic level.

Question 43

Autotroph

Answer 43

Producers/plants that can make its own energy using photosynthesis or organic molecules. ( also helps start an ecosystem, without it = no life on Earth )

Question 44

Gross Primary Productivity

Answer 44

Energy that is gained or consumed before deductions.

Question 45

Net Primary Productivity

Answer 45

Energy that is consumed or gained after deductions, related to the 10% rule.

Question 46

Biomagnification

Answer 46

When a substance or infection is spread by consumption through an ecosystem by the food chain and web.

Question 47

Biogeochemical Cycle

Answer 47

A cycle of organic molecules and how they form geographically, which helps show how these gases are being produced at a consistent rate.

Question 48

CHNOPS

Answer 48

Common Elements in living organic molecules in which using the acronym, C = Carbon, H = Hydrogen, N = Nitrogen, O = Oxygen, P = Phosphorus, S = Sulfur.

Question 49

Hydrosphere

Answer 49

The amount of water on a planet under or over the surface.

Question 50

Water Cycle

Answer 50

A process of making water and how it travels on the Earth. These can include using natural resources to make water, in which there are many steps such as Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Run-off, etc.

Question 51

Evaporation

Answer 51

A process in which the sun turnsn some bodies of water into water vapor that travels into Condensation.

Question 52

Condensation

Answer 52

A process that receives water vapor and condenses these gas molecules into liquid like materials like clouds that creates and helps precipitation.

Question 53

Precipitation

Answer 53

After the process of condensation, the liquids of these materials (clouds from condensation) are released into forms of water such as, snow, sleet, rain, and hail.

Question 54

Run-off

Answer 54

A process after precipitation where the water is able to travel down due to the gravitational pull and can end up in rivers, streams, oceans, etc. These are rare occasions and only occur when there is heavy rainfall or saturated soil.

Question 55

Carbon Cycle

Answer 55

A process in which can occur almost everyday between interactions animals/humans and plants where they plants exchange CO2 as a waste product and humans release O as a waste product. There are other ways to exchange carbon plant and animals dying with these store carbon and then released from human activities. (fires, burning fossil fuels, agricultural activities, etc.) These molecules are then either in the atmosphere or absorbed by plants from photosynthesis, therefore continuing this process.

Question 56

Carbon Sink

Answer 56

An area underneath the surface of the Earth where it holds more carbon under the Earth than the amount of carbon that they are releasing.

Question 57

Carbon Store

Answer 57

Instead of absorbing carbon, this is a method of collecting/removing carbon dioxide from human/natural activities and storing them in reservoirs.

Question 58

Carbon Source

Answer 58

Anything that produces more carbon in the atmosphere than it collects and stores.

Question 59

Nitrogen Cycle

Answer 59

A process in which either animals or living organisms consume nitrogen and pass it down their food web. The initial process of this is when nitrogen is capable of being used by plants through their roots that are connected to the soil, once these compounds are accessed it creates protein and essential nutrients for the plant cell. Because animals need a natural resource of food, they eat the plants and continue this process from passing down the energy/molecules down the food web. Once the animals are at their last stage, they die and decomposers/fungi dissolve those organic materials back in the soil for use again, in some case however, the nitrogen may be released back into the atmosphere.

Question 60

Eutrophication

Answer 60

A process where algae or other plants grow at extreme rates and die, which are then broken down by decomposers. After this decaying process, many of the decomposers rely on oxygen, which as a result removes most of the oxygen in the body of water. These create what is called a dead zone, this makes plants and animals unsustainable to live there and with this process excess nitrogen and phosphorus are released into bodies of water.

Question 61

Phosphorus Cycle

Answer 61

A constant process where Phosphorus is exchanged/travelled because of surface runoff, and originates from mineral dust/volcanic ash/aerosols. These particles are then exchanged into the ocean because of the runoff and this allows organisms that are sea based to consume this. Because these molecules enter/dissolve from decomposers/animals into this environment, the oxygen is used up which then supports the main cause of Eutrophication and creates dead zones.

Question 62

Sulfur Cycle

Answer 62

A process where sulfur dioxide is formed by decomposition of molecules, volcanic activity/geothermal vents, or burning fossil fuels by human activity. This is when the sulfer dioxide can be transported by precipitation, fallout, rock weathering, or geothermal vents. Afterward, the rocks begin to weather/decay from the source of uplifting ocean sediments, which allow sulfur to be released into the soil. Because the sulfur is in the soil, plants are able to use these compounds as a food/energy source and allow the sulfur to be travelled across food webs. Eventually, the plants will die and start to decompose, where then the molecules are released back into the atmosphere as a compound called hydrogen sulfide.