Mid-Term Study Guide
1. What is the biosphere? Area that can support life
2. Each organism in the biosphere interacts with
other organisms and the environment.
3. What is an adaptation? Give an example of an
adaptation we talked about in the chapter. Helps an
organism to survive- For EX- A cactus stores water in
its stem
4. How do scientists classify organisms? According to
similarities in structure, how they feed, and how
they reproduce
5. List the order of how organisms are divided into
smaller groups. Kingdom, phylum, class, family,
order, genus, species
6. How do the cells of bacteria differ from those of
other organism? Bacteria have no nucleus
7. Which group represents the largest percentage of
animals on Earth? Vertebrates or invertebrates?
invertebrates
8. Have scientists discovered all organisms that live
on Earth? How do you know? NO, new species are
discovered daily
9. What are three ways that the same species can be
different? size, color, shape
10. List all of the kingdoms.
11. What is a species? A group of organisms that can
mate and reproduce.
12. What is the grouping of things according to their
similarities called? Why do scientists do
this? classification so it is easier to study
13. What is the study of how living things interact
with one another and their environment? ecology
14. What is a population? a group of individuals of
the same species living in the same area
15. What is a community? A group of populations
that interact with one another in a particular area.
16. Give an example of at least three abiotic factors.
What are abiotic factors? Abiotic factors are NOT
living. Air, soil, water
17. What is the biosphere? Area that can support life
18. Where would you find a layer of permanently
frozen soil just below the surface? Tundra
19. Some environments have very harsh abiotic
factors like very low temperatures and long, dark
days. How can organisms live in such an
environment? They develop adaptations.
20. What is a biome? Give an example of at least
three biomes. Each biome consists of different parts
of the world with similar climates. Tundra, taiga,
desert, rain forest
21. What do deciduous trees do each year? Shed
their leaves and grow new ones
22. Which biome contains the greatest number of
species? rain forest
23. Why is the soil of the deciduous forest nutrient
rich? because of decayed leaves
24. The thick fur of caribou, elk, moose, and deer is
an adaptation in which biome? taiga
25. Why do grasslands have so few trees? does not
receive enough rainfall
26. Give an example of at least three biotic factors.
What are biotic factors? Living factors of an
ecosystem, trees, humans, animals, plants
27. Why do the fennec, arctic, and gray foxes have
different appearances? they have adapted to
different environments.
28. What are adaptations? Adaptations occur when
survival characteristics are passed from one
generation to another.
29. What happens to a species that cannot adapt to
changing conditions in its environment? Species will
die
30. Which type of organisms get energy by breaking
down the remains of dead organisms? decomposer
31. How is a food chain related to a food web? Food
chains make up food webs
32. Why does the amount of available energy
decrease at higher levels of the energy pyramid?
Some energy is used by organisms at each level for
their own life processes.
33. When different species with similar needs live in
an ecosystem with limited resources, what will
happen? competition
34. Barnacles live on the side of a whale. The
barnacles benefit but do not help or harm the whale.
What kind of relationship is this? commensalism
35. Make a list of two useful adaptations for prey?
ability to look like a stick, ability to look like a rock
36. As bees collect nectar from flowers, they spread
pollen from one flower to another. Both species
benefit. Which type of relationship is this?
mutualism
37. In the nitrogen cycle, where to animals get their
nitrogen? plants
38. Which best describes why competition occurs
among animals in an ecosystem if resources are
scarce? Animals in an area have similar needs.