Living Earth (H) Midterm Study Guide

Steps of the CER Process

Steps of the CER Process

A claim that answers the question. Evidence from students' data. Reasoning that involves a rule or scientific principle that describes why the evidence supports the claim.

Claim

A statement that answers your question

Evidence

Information that supports  your claim

Examples:

• Observations

• Facts from a scientific text

• Data -- pictures, graphs, tables (quadratic or qualitative)

Reasoning

An explanation or description of how your evidence supports your claim

The reasoning is based on:

Scientific theories, laws, or principles

What is the claim in this scenario?

I have evidence that proves that I am the quickest on the team.

claim, evidence, reasoning (CER)

Claim- statement or conclusion that answers the original question or problem

Evidence- scientific data that supports the claim

Reasoning- explanation of how the evidence supports the claim

Biometric Factors

Often categorized as physiological characteristics, which are related to the shape of the body.

Examples: Fingerprint, palm veins, face recognition, DNA, palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina, and odor/scent.

Abiotic Factors

Nonliving components of environment.

Earths Spheres

atmosphere, hydrosphere/ cryosphere, lithosphere, biosphere,

Biosphere

part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere (Abiotic)

Lithosphere

A rigid layer is made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and the crust. (Abiotic)

Hydrosphere/Cryosphere

Frozen water on earth (Abiotic)

Tolerance Range

The range between the minimum and maximum limits to which organisms can tolerate certain changes in their environment to survive.

Ecological Niche

the sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment

Types:

• Habitat or Spatial Niche

• Trophic Niche

• Hypervolume Niche

Fundamental Niche

The entire set of conditions under which an animal (population, species) can survive and reproduce itself.

Realized Niche

the range of abiotic and biotic conditions under which a species actually lives

Population Density

A measurement of the number of people per given unit of land

Population Distribution

Description of locations on Earth's surface where populations live:

Clumped Random Uniform

Population Growth

increase in the number of people who inhabit a territory or state

Growth Factors

Births, Deaths, Immigration, Emigration

Population growth models

exponential growth and logistic growth

Exponential Growth

Growth pattern in which the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate

Logistic Growth

Growth pattern in which a population's growth rate slows or stops following a period of exponential growth

Carrying capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

Limiting factors

Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence, numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms.

Independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; is the variable whose effect is being studied.

x - axis

Dependent variable

The outcome factor; is the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

y - axis

Equilibrium

A state of balance

Carrying capacity on a graph:

locate the point on the graph where the population line is horizontal.

Social Behavior Benefits

A set of interactions among individuals of the same species. A wide range of sociality occurs among animals.

Contributes a fitness benefit to genes they carry

Group behaviors likely evolved because populations of social organisms share a large portion of their DNA.

Types of Consumers:

omnivores, carnivores, herbivores and decomposers

Omnivores

An animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin.

Herbivores

Living things that only eat plants to get the food and energy they need

Carnivores

Living things that only eat meat.

Decomposer

An organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material.

Primary consumers

Mostly herbivores

Secondary and tertiary consumers

Omnivores and carnivores

Apex predators

Animals who have no predators other than humans.

Food Chain

A hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.

Food Web

A system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.

Trophic Levels

Each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.

First Trophic Level

Autotrophs

Second Trophic Level: Primary Consumers

Herbivores are placed in this trophic level of the food chain. They depend upon autotrophs to meet their food requirements.

Examples:

• Insects

• cows

• pigs.

Third Trophic Level: Secondary Consumers

Commonly known as carnivores, secondary consumers consume other animals.

Examples

• Rats

• spiders

• fish

Fourth Trophic Level: Tertiary Consumers

Tertiary consumers eat primary and secondary consumers to fulfill their nutrient needs. They obtain their energies from meat

Examples:

• hyenas

• dolphins

• sharks.

Fifth Trophic Level: Quaternary Consumers

Commonly known as apex predators, quaternary consumers stand at the top of the food web.

Examples

• humans

• wolves

• lions

• orca

Energy Transfer

Ecological Efficiency

Describes the efficiency with which energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.

10% Rule

When organisms are consumed, approximately 10% of the energy in the food is fixed into their flesh and is available for the next trophic level (carnivores or omnivores).

You need to know how to calculate this.

Law of Conservation of Energy

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed - only converted from one form of energy to another.

K_{1}+U_{1} =K_{2}+U_{2}

K_{1}= initial kinetic energy U_{1}= initial potential energy K_{2}= final kinetic energy U_{2}= final potential energy

No Violation of the Law of Conservation

Food chains use a unidirectional transfer of energy. Plants absorb energy from the sun, then the energy goes on to next tropic level and so on.

Carbon Cycle

Cycling of carbon in the environment

Biological

Fast cycle processes

Geological

Slow cycle processes

Law of Conservation of Matter

The same amount of matter exists before and after the change—none is created or destroyed.

Photosynthesis Balanced Chemical Equation

6CO2+6H2O→C6H12O6+6O2.

Photosynthesis balanced equation and the law of conservation of energy

The law of conservation of mass states that in a chemical reaction, mass is neither created nor destroyed. Energy can be converted from one form to another. In the case of photosynthesis, energy is converted from sunlight into glucose. Glucose is a carbohydrate which is a molecule that the body can break down for energy.

Chloroplast

A plastid that contains chlorophyll and in which photosynthesis takes place.

Chlorophyll

Job in a plant is to absorb light.

The energy absorbed from light is transferred to two kinds of energy-storing molecules.

Through photosynthesis, the plant uses the stored energy to convert carbon dioxide (absorbed from the air) and water into glucose, a type of sugar.

Carrying Capacity

You need to locate the point on the graph where the population line is horizontal. Alternatively, the carrying capacity may be explicitly marked with a dotted horizontal line or a horizontal line of a different color.

y-axis: population

x-axis: measurement of time (months, years