Name:
Date:
Hour:
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE STUDY GUIDE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
What is herbivory?
Animal feeding on plants
What is mutualism?
Both benefit
How does parasitism differ from commensalisms?
One harmed in parasitism, none harmed in commensilism
What do predators do?
Hunt, kill, and feed on prey
What are examples of decomposers in an ecosystem?
Bacteria and fungi
What are abiotic components of an ecosystem? Give examples.
Nonliving – soil, rainfall, sunlight, temperature
What happens during photosynthesis?
Sugars and oxygen produced, light energy converted to chemical
energy
Define ecology.
Interrelationships and interactions occurring btw organism and
organisms and abiotic factors
Who carries out nitrogen fixation? Where are they located?
Bacteria in root nodules, on legumes
Cattle egrets walk behind cows and eat insects stirred up from the
grass. What type of symbiotic relationship is this?
commensilism
Define food web.
all the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecsosystem
What is the term for each “feeding” step in the transfer of energy and
matter within a food web?
Trophic level
Contrast ecocentric and anthropocentric.
e- whole biosphere is impt, a – only humans are impt
Corn planted in a field that has been previously planted with legumes
and then plowed under is likely to be
A. more productive because bacteria living on the roots of
legumes fix nitrogen in the soil.
B. less productive because legumes remove phosphorus from the soil.
C. more productive because nitrogen-fixing bacteria help to keep pests
away.
D. less productive because the legumes have already taken all the
nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus from the soil
Define scavenger.
Animals that get energy by eating the carcasses of other animals
that have been killed or died of natural causes
Name:
16.
Date:
Hour:
What happens to prairie biodiversity if intermediate disturbances are
allowed to happen?
increases
17.
All of the following have something to do with monarch butterflies
EXCEPT
A. Forests in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico
B. Milkweed plants
C. Using the moon and stars to migrate during the night
D. Long-distance migration using thermal
18.
Aphids feed on plants, and ladybugs feed on aphids. What role does
each organism fill in an ecosystem? Aphids are prey, ladybugs are
predators
19.
What three things are associated with evolution?
Charles Darwin, natural selection, adaptive radiation
What is the name for the part of the Earth made up of water?
hydrosphere
What nutrient cycle does not have a gas phase?
phosphorus
Animals that feed on plants are called?
Herbivores, primary consumers
What layer of the Earth helps deflect harmful ionizing solar radiation
around the Earth’s poles by generating a magnetic field?
Molten iron core
In a food web, which trophic level has the least amount of biomass
(living tissue)
Top trophic level/carnivore
Most spiders have what type of feeding role?
predators
What three things were involved with the formation of the elements?
Stars, supenovae, Big Bang
What is the name for organisms that make their own food?
autotrophs
What type of organism breaks down leaves that fall to the forest floor,
to make new soil?
Detritus feeders
Why do species on islands usually lose their defensive and aggressive
behaviors? (three things)
No predators, no competition, no mammals
How does the atmosphere positively affect life? (thee ways)
Ozone layer blocks UV radiation, helps cycle nutrients, oxygen is
essential for survival of many organisms
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
Name:
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
Date:
Hour:
Where does energy for most ecosystems come from?
Sun and photosysthensis
What is biomagnification?
Increase of toxic substance in the tissue of living things as you
move up the food chain
If dragonfly larvae feed on mosquito larvae, and mosquito larvae feed
on algae, what feeding role do they fill?
Dragonfly – secondary consumer, mosquito – primary consumer
Which type of organism is most abundant in an ecosystem?
producer
What happened 13.7 billion years ago?
Formation of the universe
What is th e most abundant gas in the universe?
hydrogen
What is the smallest unit of matter?
atom
What elements make up living things?
Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur
Which of the following is NOT true regarding the Earth and Moon?
A. The moon is slowly moving away from the Earth every year.
B. The Earth and Moon formed approximately 3 billion years ago.
C. Moon rocks and Earth surface rocks are made up of the same
elements.
D. A massive collision between the Earth and a large planetesimal
resulted in the Moon’s formation and the Earth’s axis being tilted (with
respect to the Sun), causing Earth’s seasonal changes.
Which statement is NOT true regarding toxic substances in the food web?
A. Synthetic organic compounds containing the element chlorine are
readily biodegraded, or broken down easily, by living organisms.
B. Rachel Carson was a biologist who warned of toxic threats from
chemicals in her important book, Silent Spring, which was first published
in 1962.
C. Toxic synthetic organic compounds are found in highest concentrations
in organisms residing at the top of the food web (or in the highest trophic
levels).
D. Toxic synthetic organic compounds build up in fatty tissues of animals;
therefore, eating more of a plant-based diet is best for avoiding toxic
substances.
40.
41.
What chemical substances are harmful to life on Earth?
PCBs, CFCs, DDT
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is important to life on
Earth, because it is responsible for the Greenhouse Effect that keeps
the planet warm for life to flourish.
Name:
Date:
Hour:
B. Water is the universal solvent that dissolves many substances,
because it is a polar molecule with areas of partial negative and
positive charges.
C. Ozone deflects many harmful ultraviolet rays back into space, which
protects life from its damaging effects on cells.
D. Most scientists believe there is little evidence for global
warming (or climate change); and, continuing to burn coal and oil
at current rates poses no threat to life on Earth
42.
What percent of the energy in producers (1st trophic level) finds its way
to secondary consumers (3rd trophic level) during normal trophic (or
feeding) interactions? 1%
43.
Corn is fed to a cow, which is then killed. The cow's meat is enough to
satisfy the energy needs of 10 humans. How many humans could have
had their energy needs met if the humans had just eaten the corn fed
to the cow, instead of only the cow? 100
44.
What invasive species are threats to birds that have evolved on
islands? Humans, rats, snakes
45.
47.
Bats, frogs, and honeybees are sensitive to changes in their
environment. What type of species are these?
indicator
What threats to biodiversity have caused extinctions?
Habitat loss, pollution, invasive species
Control
48.
Variable
49.
Theory
50.
hypothesis
46.
purple loosestrife is an invasive species
wolves, prairie dogs, yellow-bellied sapsuckers and beavers are keystone
species