Unit 1 Test Corrections: Form B
1. Explain energy efficiency and eating at a lower trophic level.
2. Using energy pyramids, explain why more people could be fed if they ate at a lower trophic
level.
3. What is “loam”??? Why is considered a good type of soil for crops???
4. Define leaching. Explain what leaching has to do with tropical rainforest soil.
5. Contrast: abiotic vs. biotic, give two examples of each.
6. Nitrogen cycle: what microscopic organism plays a vital role in the Nitrogen cycle?
7. Phosphorus cycle: Why is phosphorus a limiting factor in ecosystems? EXPLAIN
8. Phosphorus cycle: Why is phosphorus a limiting factor in ecosystems? EXPLAIN
9. Using the Environmental Impact Model, explain why the developing world’s variable that makes
a bigger impact is population while the developed world’s variable that makes a bigger impact is
affluence.
10. Nitrogen cycle: decaying organisms releasing nitrogen into soil. DIAGRAM this process. NAME
this process.
11. Diagram: photosynthesis and aerobic respiration in the Carbon cycle.
12. Make THREE graphs that indicate what is happening to each process with increased urban
development: 1) transpiration 2)run-off
3) groundwater recharge
13. Water cycle – human effects: Graph the amount of run-off over the course of time as humans
pave over (parking lots etc.) natural vegetation. Graph the rate of transpiration over the course
of time as tropical rainforests are cut/burned down. Write a brief explanation for each.
14. Nitrogen cycle: Nitrogen travels from air to soil, becomes ammonia. DIAGRAM this process.
NAME this process.
15. Contrast: population vs. community vs. ecosystem
16. Explain why shrimp farming in Mangrove swamps is considered “Tragedy of the Commons”.
Choose another free-access resource and explain how it is undergoing Tragedy of the Commons.
17. Contrast: matter cycles vs. energy flow
18. Carbon cycle – human effects: describe sources and graph the level of atmospheric CO2 level
over the course of time. Write a brief explanation for your graph.
19. Soil texture and particle size. Diagram and put in order of either increasing or decreasing size.
20. Ecological efficiency – energy pyramids: The ecological efficiency of a particular ecosystem is
25%. If the green plants capture 2000 units of energy, about ____ units will be available for
SECONDARY consumers and about ____ total units of energy will be “lost”.
21. Sulfur cycle – human effects: graph the amount of SO2 in the atmosphere over the course of
time. Briefly explain your graph!
22. List all of the anaerobic cellular respiration products. What is anaerobic respiration also known
as?
23. Diagram and label: how does water cycle through an ecosystem?
24. Phosphorus cycle: How does P cycle through an ecosystem?
25. Diagram and label: a soil profile.
26. Use the second law of thermodynamics to explain energy flow through a food chain.
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Explain what color has to do with topsoil in terms of a physical, qualitative test.
Write the equation for the process that is responsible for providing Oxygen to the atmosphere.
Contrast clay’s permeability vs. porosity.
What is the major sink for Nitrogen?
Tropical rainforest soil vs. grassland soil. Contrast these in terms of nutrients and pH. EXPLAIN
why they are so different.
Contrast: GPP vs. NPP, AND calculate the NPP of a field if the GPP is 0.007 g/cm2/day and the
plants use 25% of the GPP for their own respiration.
Explain why polluting the atmosphere is considered “Tragedy of the Commons”. Choose another
free-access resource and explain how it is undergoing Tragedy of the Commons.
Biodiversity: explain what biodiversity has to do with the overall health of an ecosystem.
Make a chart that compares the gases that are released by the following processes: combustion,
decomposition, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration (aerobic).
Nitrogen cycle: diagram/label the process of creating nitrates – plant food!
Carbon cycle and photosynthesis: describe or diagram/label how abiotic carbon enters the biotic
world.
38 – 40. Draw an energy pyramid with four trophic levels. Include the “source of all energy for life on
earth”. Label each trophic level with the appropriate vocabulary. Give an example of a real organism
that would occupy each trophic level.