Ecosystems Test Review
1) Look at the picture. Name as
many abiotic and biotic parts of the
ecosystem as you can find.
Abiotic
Biotic
water
air
clouds
soil
trees
fish
bird
plants
person
2) Finish the following sentences:
a) A maple tree is a producer because it makes its own food.
b) A squirrel is a consumer because it needs to eat other living things for food.
c) A lion is a carnivore because it only eats other animals.
d) A person is an omnivore because it eats both plants and animals.
e) A mouse is a herbivore because it eats only plants.
f) A mushroom is a decomposer because it breaks down dead things and returns
them to the soil.
3) a) What is photosynthesis?
The process used by plants to make their own food (glucose).
b) What do plants need to do photosynthesis?
Plants need sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to do photosynthesis.
c) Why is it important?
Photosynthesis is important because it is the only way to turn the sun’s energy
into energy that can be used by living things. It also makes oxygen for us.
Without photosynthesis, nothing would be able to live!
4) a) What is cellular respiration?
The process used by all living things to break down food (glucose) and get the
energy from it to live.
b) Circle the things that do cellular respiration
mouse
bacteria
rock
person
maple tree
wolf
c) What is needed to do cellular respiration?
Living things need oxygen and glucose to do cellular respiration.
d) Why is it important?
Cellular respiration is the way all living things turn glucose into useful energy.
Without cellular respiration, we wouldn’t be able to get any energy, so we would
all die.
5) a) Use the following living things to draw a food web.
wolf
person
snake
deer
rabbit
cow
mouse
plant
b) Where would you add bacteria to your web?
Bacteria would break down ALL of the living things in this web!
6) When a mouse eats a plant, only 10% of the plant’s energy goes to the mouse. What
happens to the rest of the energy?
The plant uses the rest of the energy to grow, to make chemicals, to produce
heat…to live!!
7) Why can food chains only have about 5 trophic levels?
As you go up the food chain, only 10% of the energy moves to the next level.
Therefore, there is not enough energy to have more levels.
8) In the carbon cycle, carbon is always moving between abiotic and biotic parts of an
ecosystem. How does burning wood, coal, and oil change the carbon cycle? How does
this change effect our planet?
Burning wood, coal, and oil changes the carbon cycle by putting more carbon
dioxide in the air. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas – it traps heat from the
sun near the earth’s surface. This causes global warming.
9) Name five examples of factors that would limit a population of deer.
- disease
- food
- water
- predators
- shelter
10) Look at the picture of the airplane.
Name at least 5 different interactions
between the four spheres based on this picture.
- Plane is made from metal (from the lithosphere)
- Plane (litho) flies through air (atmo)
- Plane (litho) flown by people (bio)
- Plane (litho) releases carbon dioxide (atmo)
- Carbon dioxide (atmo) increases global warming (atmo)
- Global warming (atmo) can cause floods (hydro)
- People (bio) drink water (hydro)
- People (bio) breathe in oxygen (atmo)
- People (bio) breathe out carbon dioxide (atmo)
- People (bio) eat food (bio)
- I’m sure there are more!!!!
11) During the “bird buffet” activity:
a) Which birds were native species?
Magnet, hook and spoon beaks
b) Which birds were introduced species?
Hand beaks
c) How did the introduced species effect the native species?
Introduced species increased the amount of competition. It caused the native
species populations to go down. One of the species died off.
d) Would the introduced species be able to keep growing in number forever?
Explain.
No, they would not be able to keep growing in number forever. Limiting factors
such as food, water, and disease would eventually stop the population from
growing.
12) a) What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the amount of difference in living things in an ecosystem.
b) Why is it important?
The more variety in an ecosystem, the better it is able to deal with changes such
as disease. (Think about the two forests…one with all the same tree, and one
with many types of trees. Which one did better?)
13)
-
The moose population on an island was around 1000 animals in 1974.
There were no natural predators of the moose on the island.
Scientists worried that the moose population would grow too large and become
sick.
To help control the moose population, the scientists brought in 10 wolves in
1975.
The graph below shows the moose and wolf population from 1975-1984. Use the graph
to answer the questions that follow.
1600
70
1400
60
1200
50
1000
40
800
30
600
20
400
Moose Population
Wolf Population
10
200
19
83
19
81
19
79
0
19
77
0
19
75
Number of Wolves
Number of Moose
Moose and Wolf Population
Year
a) Why did the moose population go down after 1979?
The number of wolves was increasing, so they were killing more moose.
b) Assume hunters were allowed to kill half the wolf population in 1980.
There would only be 15 wolves left. What might happen to the moose
population?
The moose population might go up because there would be less
predators.
c) Name three other abiotic or biotic factors that could limit the moose
population.
abiotic – amount of food, amount of water
biotic – diseases
14) Read about the following experiment and answer the questions.
-
A scientist wants to know what kind of light is best for plants.
She grows three plants under green light, three plants under red light, three
plants under blue light, and three plants under normal sunlight.
She gives all the plants the same amount of water.
They are planted in the same kind of pot with the same kind of soil.
Each day, she measures the height of the plants.
a) What is the independent variable(s)? The type of light
b) What is the dependent variable(s)? The height of the plants
c) Name one controlled variable. The amount of water, the type of pot, the type of
soil.
d) Which plants are the control? The plants grown under normal sunlight.
e) Is this experiment fair? Yes. There is only one thing being changed – the type of
light.
15) State one similarity and one difference for each pair of words: NOTE – these are
not the only possible similarities and differences! There may be others!
a) producer and consumer
similarity – both are living things, both do cellular respiration
difference – producers make own food, consumers eat food
b) photosynthesis and cellular respiration
similarity – both involve carbon dioxide, oxygen, glucose and water
difference – only plants do photosynthesis, while all living things do cellular
respiration
c) atmosphere and hydrosphere
similarity – both are abiotic, both contain water, both are important for
ecosystems
difference – atmosphere is the air around the Earth, while hydrosphere is the
water on the Earth
d) carnivore and omnivore
similarity –both are consumers, both do cellular respiration, both eat meat
difference – carnivores don’t eat plants, while omnivores do eat plants
e) native species and introduced species
similarity – both are living things, both have habitats and niches
difference – native species have been in a place for a long time, while introduced
species are new to an area
How do these connect?
Try to find as many connections between the words on this page.
car
eagle
plant
mouse
pesticide
fox
global warming
YOU!
farmer
water
factory
oxygen
Sun
carbon dioxide
cow
drought (not
enough water)
disease