CAPT REVIEW:  BIOLOGY 

UNIT 6:  ECOLOGY

 

Home site:  http://regentsprep.org/Regents/biology/units/ecology/index.cfm

 

PART I.  BIOTIC VS. ABIOTIC

Read “Biotic vs. Abiotic” on the Introduction/Home Page and answer the following questions. 

1.       List 5 resources that similar organisms may compete for. 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Biotic vs. Abiotic” link on the left side and answer the following questions. 

2.       List 7 abiotic factors which influence living things. 

 

 

 

 

3.       What do “limiting factors” limit?  What is a limiting factor that impacts the growth of the trees in the artic?

 

 

 

 

4.       List 3 biotic factors that impact an organism in its environment.

 

 

 

5.       What 3 things is the carrying capacity of an ecosystem limited by? 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Practice” link at the bottom on the left side.   Then click on “1.  Biotic vs. Abiotic” link.  This will bring you to 2 multiple choice questions about this topic.  Answer the questions below with information you learn from attempting the multiple choice questions and then checking your answers.

6.       List 5 abiotic factors that a plant requires to survive.

 

 

 

 

7.       What does the word “biotic” mean?  Which is the only choice that involves a living factor?

 

 

 

 

 

When you are done you can click on the “Living Environment” link all the way at the top of the page to return to the biology page.  Then click on “6. Ecology.” link to get back to the Introduction/Home page. 

PART II.  ENERGY FLOW

Read “Energy Flow” on the Introduction/Home Page and answer the following questions. 

8.       What happens to most of the energy as it passes through a system?  What supplies the energy to keep the flow of energy through the ecosystem continuous?

 

 

 

Click on the “Energy Flow” link on the left side and answer the following questions. 

9.       What is the source of energy?  Name two types of photosynthetic organisms.  Where does the energy flow after it leaves the producers? 

 

 

 

 

 

10.    What is the  name of the process by which solar energy is converted into sugars?  What is the name for the organisms that do this?

 

 

 

 

11.    What do omnivores consume?  What is another name for all consumers?

 

 

 

 

12.    What do arrows in a food chain represent?  How does a food web differ from a food chain? 

 

 

 

 

13.    What does each step of the energy pyramid indicate about the energy that is passed on from one organism to another?  Which group makes up the largest step of the pyramid?   Where does most of this energy end up? 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Practice” link at the bottom on the left side.   Then click on “2.  Energy Flow” link.  This will bring you to 4 multiple choice questions about this topic.  Answer the questions below with information you learn from attempting the multiple choice questions and then checking your answers.

14.    Define a “population”.  What is a “community”? 

 

 

 

 

15.    What controls the plants living in a biome?  What controls the animals living in a biome?

 

 

 

 

16.    What are the producers in the food web?  What is the name for heterotrophs that eat herbivores?  What do primary consumers always eat?

 

 

 

 

 

17.    The answer to question 3 is 4 – orca whales – the picture is not visible for some reason.  What percent of the energy is passed on from one organism to the next?  Which are more numerous – producers or secondary consumers?

 

 

 

 

18.    What units make up starch?  What types of organisms store their energy in this form?

 

 

 

When you are done you can click on the “Living Environment” link all the way at the top of the page to return to the biology page.  Then click on the “6.  Ecology”  link to get back to the Introduction/Home page. 

 

 

PART III.  MATERIAL CYCLES

Read “Material Cycles” on the Introduction/Home Page and answer the following questions. 

19.    What two types of organisms help to recycle remains of dead organisms back into the ecosystem?

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Material Cycles” link on the left side and answer the following questions. 

20.    What two ways does water re-enter the atmosphere?   What happens to the water vapor in the atmosphere?  In what form is it returned to the earth’s surface?

 

 

 

 

 

21.    What other two processes release water into the environment?

 

 

 

 

22.    What two ways is carbon dioxide released back into the environment?  Why is oxygen important to living things? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23.    What element is used in synthesizing proteins?  How is this element returned to the environment?

 

 

 

 

 

24.    What is meant by the term “carrying capacity”?  Name two groups of decomposers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Practice” link at the bottom on the left side.   Then click on “3.  Material Cycles” link.  This will bring you to 4 multiple choice questions about this topic.  Answer the questions below with information you learn from attempting the multiple choice questions and then checking your answers.

25.    What is the name of the food that autotrophs make? 

 

 

 

 

26.    List four metabolic waste products. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27.    What cycle is the diagram depicting?  Give an example of a decomposer that can convert nitrogen into usable forms.

 

 

 

 

 

28.    What has to occur for an ecosystem to be self-sustaining?

 

 

 

 

 

When you are done you can click on the “Living Environment” link all the way at the top of the page to return to the biology page.  Then click on the “6.  Ecology”  link to get back to the Introduction/Home page. 

 

 

PART IV.  ORGANISM RELATIONSHIPS

Read “Organism Relationships” on the Introduction/Home Page and answer the following questions. 

29.    List three different ways that organisms interact with each other.

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Organism Relationships” link on the left side and answer the following questions. 

30.    What is a predator?  What is the name for a predator’s target food?  What do scavengers feed on?  Give an example of a scavenger.

 

 

 

 

31.    Why is it not beneficial for a parasite to kill its host?  Give an example of a parasitic relationship.

 

 

 

 

 

32.    Fill in the name for the symbiotic relationships described below:

 

a.  _________________________________                              both organisms benefit at the same time

 

b.  _________________________________                              one organism benefits while the other is harmed

 

c.  _________________________________                              one organism benefits while the other is unharmed

 

 

33.    What is the role of a decomposer? 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Practice” link at the bottom on the left side.   Then click on “4.  Organism Relationships” link.  This will bring you to 6 multiple choice questions about this topic.  Answer the questions below with information you learn from attempting the multiple choice questions and then checking your answers.

34.    Which group was better adapted at surviving in the field?

 

 

 

 

 

35.    Why is the scorpion a predator?  Why is it a carnivore?  Why is it a consumer? 

 

 

 

 

 

36.    Why are scavengers important in the ecosystem? 

 

 

 

 

37.    How do humans benefit from the bacteria in their large intestine?  How do the bacteria benefit?  What type of symbiotic relationship is this?

 

 

 

 

38.    What would happen to an ecosystem if there wasn’t any decomposers?

 

 

 

 

39.    What group of organisms always consume producers?

 

 

 

 

 

When you are done you can click on the “Living Environment” link all the way at the top of the page to return to the biology page.  Then click on the “6.  Ecology”  link to get back to the Introduction/Home page. 

 

 

PART V.  BIODIVERSITY

Read “Biodiversity” on the Introduction/Home Page and answer the following questions. 

40.    What process caused the enormous number of organisms that are on this planet?  What does an increase in biodiversity cause in the environment?

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Biodiversity” link on the left side and answer the following questions. 

41.    What is the reason that stability of an ecosystem is increased? 

 

 

 

 

42.    What are three ways that humans are destroying other species?  What are three ways that humans are destroying habitats? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Practice” link at the bottom on the left side.   Then click on “5.  Biodiversity” link.  This will bring you to 2  multiple choice questions about this topic.  Answer the questions below with information you learn from attempting the multiple choice questions and then checking your answers.

 

 

43.    How does a community differ from a population?

 

 

 

 

 

44.    What is another term for all of the living factors in an ecosystem?

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART VI.  ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

Read “Ecological Succession” on the Introduction/Home Page and answer the following questions. 

45.    What is meant by the term “ecological succession”?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Ecological Succession” link on the left side and answer the following questions. 

46.    What are pioneer organisms?  What do these organisms ultimately do to the environment?

 

 

 

 

 

47.    What is a climax community?  How long can a climax community last for?

 

 

 

 

 

48.    What are the typical pioneer organisms in New York State?  What makes up the typical Northern New York climax community?  What makes up the typical Southern New York climax community?

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the “Practice” link at the bottom on the left side.   Then click on “5.  Biodiversity” link.  This will bring you to 2  multiple choice questions about this topic.  Answer the questions below with information you learn from attempting the multiple choice questions and then checking your answers.

49.     Where do lichens tend to build up?  What do lichens build up?  What does this allow to grow?