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38 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are the 7 characteristics of living things?
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all living things:
are composed of cells react to stimulus adapt to surroundings require energy grow and develop produce offspring have an orderly structure |
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Explain homeostasis.
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Homeostasis: regulation of an organism's internal envirnment to maintain conditions suitable for its survival. It is a characteristic of life because it is a process taht occurs in all living things. Homeostasis is the stable maintenance of internal environment.
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What are the parts of an experiment?
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After stating a hypothesis, you then continue to make observations, then eventually test the hypothesis by conducting an experiment. You then use the results of the experiment to draw a conclusion about whether or not the hypothesis is correct
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What is a hypothesis?
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A hypothesis is an expanation for a question or a problem that can be formally tested.
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What is the difference between a theory and a law?
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A theory is an explanation of a natural phenomenom that is supposrted by a large body of scientific evidence obtained by many different investigations and observations. A law is a fact that is known to be true.
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describe the scientific method.
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define the problem
gather infor about the problem form a hypothesis experiment-test the hypothesis: independant variable dependant variable experimantal group control group(no indept. variable) make observations/collect data draw conclusion based on observations ^^was your hypothesis right or wrong? publish the results |
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What is the difference between quantitive and qualitive(descriptive) research?
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Quantitive research is where controlled experiments that result in counts and measurments occur. The data in quantitative research may be used to make a graph or table.
Qualitive research is used when biologists use purely observational data. It's useful because some phenomena aren't appropriate for quantative research. |
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Explain the nitrogen cycle.
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In the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen is converted from a gas to compounds important for life, and then back to a gas.
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Explain the carbon cycle.
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The carbon cycle starts with the autotrophs. During photosynthesis, energy from the sun is used to convert carbon dioxide gas into energy-rich carbon molecules. Autotrophs and heterotrophs use these for growth and energy. When they do this, carbon dioxide is released and returned to the atmosphere.
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What is a biome? Name at least one important characteristic of each biome.
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A biome is a large group of ecosystems that share the same type of climax community. Types of biomes are: terrestrial biomes(land), and aquatic biomes(water)
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What is permafrost?
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A layer of permanently frozen ground that lies underneath the topsoil of the tundra.
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What is the difference between an abiotic and biotic factor?
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Abiotic factors are the nonliving parts of an organism's environment. Biotic factors are all the living things that ingabit an environment
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Explain the difference between autotroph, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, and scavenger.
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Autotrophs: organisms that use energy from the sun or energy stored in chemical compounds to manufacture their own nutrients.
herbivore: a consumer that eats primary producers(grass) carnivore: a consumer taht eats other consumers omnivore: an animal that eats both plants and animals scavenger: animals taht feed on already dead animals |
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What are the three types of symbiosis? Explain.
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Commensation: a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited.
Mutaualism: A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. Paasitism: A symbiotic relationship in which one organism derives benefit at the expense of the other. |
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Explain species, population, community, and ecosystem.
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species: a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring in nature.
population: a group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time. community: a collection of interacting populations. ecosystem: made up of the interactions among the populations in a community and the community's physical surroundings, or abiotic factors. |
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What is a habitat.
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A habitat is the place where an organism lives out its life.
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What is a niche?
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A niche is the role and position a species has in its envitonment-how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces.
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What happens to the amount of available energy as you go up the food chain?
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The amount of energy decreases greatly. This is why food chains can consist of three links, but must not have any more than five.
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Describe a food chain and how it works (1st 2nd and 3rd order consumers; direction of energy flow)
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The first trophic level in all food chains is made up of photosynthetic autotrophs--the producers.
First-order heterotrophs, or herbivores, compose the second trophic level of a food chain. Second-order heterotrophs, which are carnivores, make up the third trophic level. They feed on first order heterotrophs. Third-order heterotrophs, carnivores that feed on second-order heterotrophs, make up the fourth troophic level. |
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What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?
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Primary succession: The colonization of new sites like these by communities of organisms.
secondary succession: the sequence of community changes that takes place after a community is disrupted by natural disasters of human actions. |
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What is climax community?
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a stable, mature community that undergoes little or no change in species over time.
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What is carrying capacity? What is the shape of the graph once a population reaches carrying capacity? What is the shape of the graph for exponential growth?
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Carrying capacity is the number of organisms of one species that an environment can cupport; populations below carrying capacity tend to increase; those above carrying capacity tend to decrease. Once a population reaches carrying capacity, it forms a _______________ shape. The shape of the exponetial growth is J-Shaped.
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What is biodiversity? What is the greatest threat to biodiversity?
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Biodiversity is the variety of life in an area. The greatest threat to biodiversity is habitat loss.
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What is conservation biology?
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a field of biology that studies methods and implements plans to oprotect biodiversity.
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Explain the difference between an endangered and threatened species.
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Endangered species: a species in which the numger of individuals falls so low that extinction is possible.
Threatened species: species that have rapidly decreasing numbers of individuals |
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What U.S. law was made to protect endangered and threatened species? What are the programs that have been developed to help endangered/threatened species?
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In 1973, Nixon signed the U.S. Endangered Species Act, which made it illegal to harm any species on the endangered or threatened species list. Other programs that help endangered/threatened species are Yellowstone National Park, and The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species(CITES)
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Explain the pH scale. What is an acid and a base?
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The pH is a measure of how acidic or basic a solution is. A scale with values ranging from 0-14 is used to measure pH. Substances with a pH BELOW 7 are ACIDIC. An acid is any substance that forms hydrogen ions in water. Substancs with a pH ABOVE 7 are basic. A base is any substance that forms hydroxide ions in water. 7 is neutral.
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What is acid rain? What are the effects of acid rain on the environment?
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acid rain is rain with low pH values. It is responsible for the deterioration of forests and lakes.When the acidic droplets of water fall from the sky as precipitation, the moisture leaches calcium, potassium, and other valuable nutrients from the soil. This loss of nutrients can lead to the death of trees.
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What are ecotic species?
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Exotic species are organisms that are not native to a particular area.
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What is the relationship between exotic species and the edge effect?
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edge effect: the different conditions along the boundaries of an ecosystem
exotic species: not native to a particular ecosystem. |
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What are habitat corridors and why are they important?
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Habitat corridors are natural strups that allow the migration of organisms from one area to another. They are important because they can help overcome some of the problems of habitat fragmentation.
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What is a polymer? Give an example.
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A polymer is a large molecule formed when many smaller molecules bond together.
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What is the difference between an isotope and an isomer?
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isotope: atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus.
isomers: compounds with the same sumple formula but different physical and chemical properties. |
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What is the difference between hydrolysis and condensation reactions?
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Hydrolysis is a method by which polymers can be broken apart. Hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions from water attach to the bonds between the subunits that make up the polymer, thus breaking the polymer.
Condensation is the chemical reation by which polymers are formed. In condensation, the small molecules that are bonded together to make a group that can be removed to form H-O-H, a water molecule. The subunits become bonded by a covalent bond. |
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What are proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids? How do you tell them apart?
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A carbohydrate is an organic compound composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a ratio of about two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom for every carbon atom.
Lipids are organic compounds that have a large proportion of C-H bonds and less oxygen than carbohydrates. A protein is a large, complex polymer composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, NITROGEN, and usually SULFER. The basic building blocks of proteins are amino acids. A Nucleic acid is a complex macromolecule that stores cellular information in the form of a code. They are made of smaller subunits called nucleotides. They consist of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and PHOSPHORUS ATOMS arranged in 3 groups-a base, a simple sgar, and a phosphate group. |
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What are the 4 principal types of organic compounds that make up living things?
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carbs, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids
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What is the difference between plant and animal cells?
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Plant cells, in general, are larger than animal cells and are characterized by a cell wall and chloroplasts. Plant cells usually have one large vacuole. In animal cells, the centriole is the only organelle. Animal cells typically have many small vacuoles. Unlike plant cells, animal cells do not have a cell wall.
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What is the difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
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Prokaryotes: Cells lacking internal membrane-bound structures. The cells of most unicellular organisms such as bacteria dont have membrane-bound structures and are called prokaryotes
Eukaryotes: cells of the basic second type, those containing membrane bound structures. Most of the multicellular plants and animals we know have cells containing membrane-bound structures and are called eukaryotes. |
