Semester I Review
Why do things live where they live?
 How do these things build conditions for biome development?
o Global wind patterns (be able to label globe) think Hadley cells
o Ocean currents (be able to label globe)
o Latitude
o Elevation
o Which side of the mountains you are on (leeward or windward)
o Distance from a significant ocean, sea, or large lake
 Below, draw a biome map (including the water cycle) using these specific
guidelines:
o Fill in the table regarding biomes that would occur at Latitude 40o
N, next to Atlantic Ocean, on the Western side of the continent:
(Think
Wind
0-100km
Portugal and direction/Ocean biomes
Spain)
current type
windward
direction
current
1 reason for
each biome
100400km
biomes
leeward
desert
temperate
grassland
400500km
biomes
windward
500 and
more
biomes
leeward
KNOW THESE:
Primary characteristic life forms or
environmental/geophysical features of the major biomes
Latitude
<23.5o
1. Tropical
rainforest
2. Deciduous forest 30o – 65o
3. Tropical
grassland
4. Temperate
grassland
5. Temperate
rainforest
<23.5o
6. Boreal forest
50o – 65o
7. Taiga forest
30o – 65o
8. Tundra
> 60o
9. Desert
anywhere
10. Dry
forest/shrub
land
11. Alpine
< 60 o
>23.5o –
60o
40o – 65o
Precipitation Living
>300 cm rain Huge
diversity
30-250 cm
Trees lose
leaves
Other
Thin soil
Low
diversity in
winter
25 cm-75 cm Few trees
Pack
predators
25 cm-75 cm Tall grasses Huge
herds
>250 cm
Largest trees Huge soil
on earth
production
low
diversity
>50 cm
Short
Acid soils
Evergreen
trees
>50 cm
Evergreen
Acid soils
trees
10 cmNo trees
Permafrost
100cm
Short
growing
season
<25 cm
Little life
Many
heat and
nocturnal
water
animals
adaptations
50 cm-100
Fire resistant
cm
plants
Mountains >25 cm
anywhere
on earth
Short plants
adapted to
weather and
reproduction
Extremely
short
growing
season
What makes something alive?
 Cells
 The ability to reproduce without host
 Energy consumed to grow, repair, and reproduce
Which cycle does not involve the Rock cycle (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and
Carbon)?
Which cycle does not go into the atmosphere?
In the first column below, decide whether each item is subject to Carbon,
Carbon and Nitrogen, Carbon and Phosphorous, or all three cycles . For
example, burial decomposition is subject to all three.
Burial decomposition
Combustion
Consuming
Excretion
Respiration
Volcanoes
Acid rain
Forming sedimentary rock
Photosynthesis
Coal and Fossil fuels
Erosion runoff
Nitrogen cycle or Nitrogen
and Phosphorus cycle
Ammonification
Nitrification
Legume/mycorrhizae
Atmospheric
Lightening
Gas fertilizer production
Decomposing bacteria
Phosphorus cycle only
Mining
Aquatic plants’ cell
membrane
Mineral fertilizer production
What was the Miller Urey experiment, and why was it important?
What atmospheric element was missing in the primordial earth?
What are abiogenesis and biogenesis?
What are the basics of these three evolution theories?
 Radiation
 Punctuated equilibrium
 Darwinian