Study Guide for Biology 20 Biosphere and Cycles Quiz

* Covers all material from beginning of unit up to the end of the Carbon Cycle (Chapter 3.2). *

Students should be prepared to demonstrate the following on their quiz:

- define the biosphere and its major components.
- explain relationships between ecosystems, populations and communities.
- differentiate between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
- understand the basic types of organism (producer, consumer, decomposer) and their roles in the environment, including the different types of consumers.
- describe ways in which human interference can lead to extinction of a species.
- describe the laws of thermodynamics and how they explain energy flow within the biosphere.
- draw a food chain or web and a basic pyramid of energy, numbers or biomass, including the types of organisms found at each trophic level.
- provide the word equations for photosynthesis and cellular respiration, and describe their role in energy balance in the biosphere.
- compare and contrast photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.
- give reasons why chemosynthesis evolved as a mechanism to produce energy,
- explain why water is so important for organisms.
- describe the major events of the hydrological cycle.
- explain how acid rain is formed and how it affects living organisms.
- describe the major events of the carbon cycle.
- explain how humans have sped up the greenhouse effect and its potential effects on life on Earth.
- define the term albedo and describe the albedo of Earth maintains global temperatures.