Ecosystems, Energy and Magnetism

  1. Ecosystems
  2. Levels of organization in ecology are Population<Community<Ecosystem<Biosphere
  3. The more diverse the living things are in the world the healthier the environment is. It is also a direct benefit to humans when it comes to developing new drugs to fight diseases. Most drugs are discovered naturally in plants or animals, with more diverse plants and animals the more potential lifesaving drugs there are.
  4. Threats to biodiversity
  5. Invasive species- These are species that are not naturally found in an area and usually have no predators or other limiting factors acting on them. This allows them to out compete and kill native species. Examples of invasive species in KY: Kudzu, zebra mussel, Japanese Honeysuckle, etc.
  6. Biomes are large geographic regions that are determined by amounts of precipitation and average temperatures.
  7. Major biomes: Tundra, Temperate forest, Taiga, Wetlands, Grasslands, Savannah, Tropical Rainforest, Desert, Marine and Fresh Water.
  8. Kentucky is mainly a Temperate Forest Biome with a few Wetland areas as well.
  9. Roles of organisms
  10. The role that an organism has in its environment is called its niche.
  11. The place where an organism lives in an environment is called it habitat.
  12. The roles organisms can play are producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, decomposer, herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore.
  13. Decomposers job is to break down and remove waste products and dead organisms. They recycle nutrients from the waste and dead things back into the food web.
  14. Limiting Factors and Carrying Capacity
  15. Carrying Capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a species an area can support.
  16. If the carrying capacity is exceeded the population will reduce drastically due to disease, competition for resources, and Malnourishment.
  17. Limiting Factors are things that work to reduce a population and keep it healthy by keeping the population below the carrying capacity.
  18. Predators are a very important limiting factor for prey populations. Predators help to keep the prey population as a whole at healthy numbers. It may seem counterintuitive but predators are actually a good thing for prey.
  19. Disease is another important limiting factor that thins a population out and helps to keep it below the carrying capacity.
  20. Resources such as water and food. Competition over these resources is another limiting factor.
  21. Energy in Ecosystems
  22. Food Webs show all possible relationships in an ecosystem. The arrows show how and where the energy is flowing.
  23. All energy in an ecosystem originally came from the sun.
  24. Draw an example of a food web you would find in Bath County.
  25. Energy pyramids are a visual that shows how energy decreases as you go up the food chain or increase trophic levels.
  26. 10% Rule says that each step in the food chain only 10% net energy is gained.
  27. Water and Gas movement in ecosystems
  28. Water movement is very important for healthy plants. When plants have adequate water moving through their stem, leaves, and branches they are firm and healthy. When plants do not have enough water moving through they wilt and slump over. The water pressure helps plants stand against gravity. If a plant is wilted that means it does not have enough water.
  29. Water cycle: Draw and label the water cycle with evaporation, condensation, precipitation and runoff.
  30. Photosynthesis and Respiration
  31. Photosynthesis is where plants and other producers transform the suns light energy into chemical energy in the form of sugars. CO2 + H2O  C6H12O6 + O2
  32. Respiration is where all organisms, even plants, use oxygen and sugars to produce chemical energy to use for various processes. C6H12O6 + O2 CO2 + H2O
  33. Nitrogen and Carbon Cycles
  34. Nitrogen cycle is how nitrogen that gets excreted in waste products gets recycled back into the food web.
  35. Carbon cycle is the photosynthesis and respiration cycle that was discussed above. Sometimes you will see it as carbon cycle. Sometimes it may include the breaking down of dead organisms and releasing all of that carbon back to the food web as well.
  36. Energy
  37. 7 types of energy:
  38. Chemical Energy: Energy stored in the bonds between atoms in molecules. For example, a leaf uses sunlight to bind carbon dioxide and water molecules into a sugar molecule. It stores the solar energy in the chemical bonds of that sugar molecule.
  39. Electrical Energy: Energy produced when electrons flow through materials or jump from one place to another. A lamp’s heat and light come from electrical energy. So does a bolt of lightning in the sky.
  40. Heat Energy: Scientists define heat energy as the average kinetic energy of all the particles in a substance. A glass of warm water has more heat energy than an equal sized glass of cold water. Why? Because the molecules of the warm water are, on average, moving faster than the molecules of the cold water.
  41. Mechanical Energy: This type of energy is made up of two types of energy. One type is kinetic energy, or energy of motion. The other type is gravitational potential energy, or the energy that an object gets by being raised above the Earth’s surface.
  42. Nuclear Energy: Energy associated with the nucleus of an atom. Nuclear energy is released when the nucleus of an atom splits or when the nuclei of two atoms fuse.
  43. Sound Energy: Sound energy is a vibration that moves through solids, liquids, and gases. Sound travels most quickly through a solid and most slowly through a gas. Unlike solar energy, sound energy needs a medium (some kind of matter through which to travel).
  44. Solar Energy: Solar energy comes from the sun. It includes visible light and infrared energy. Solar energy is an electromagnetic wave, so it can travel through a vacuum. Absolutely no matter is in a vacuum.
  45. Law of conservation of energy says that energy cannot be created or destroyed. If you start with 300J of energy you end with 300J of energy.
  46. Energy can be transformed from one type to another type of energy and this happens all the time. Every time energy gets transformed it loses some of its overall energy as heat and sometimes sound.
  47. Electricity, Magnetism, Sound & Light
  48. Electricity is the energy of moving electrons.
  49. Electricity travels differently through different materials. Objects that easily let electricity flow through them are called conductors. Objects that resist the flow of electricity are called insulators.
  50. Circuits are complete loops through which electricity can flow.
  51. When circuits are open that means there is a break in the loop and electricity cannot complete the loop. This is when your electrical devices are off. Page 172.
  52. When circuits are closed that means there is a complete loop for electricity to flow and your electrical device is on. Page 172.
  53. Series circuit is when the electricity only has a single path in which to flow to complete the loop. Page 172.
  54. Parallel circuit is a type of circuit where electricity can travel in more than one path to complete the circuit. If one path is broken electricity can still travel in the other path. Page 172.
  55. Magnetism: Read the parts on magnetism from pages 173 to 175 and write a summary.
  56. Sound energy is a vibration that has to have a medium (some type of matter) to travel through. It can travel through solids, liquids and gases.
  57. Pitch (high or low sounds) are made based on the frequency of the sound waves. Higher frequency (more waves per unit of time) means a higher pitch, lower frequency (less waves per unit of time) means a lower pitch.
  58. Sound travels faster through warm air than cold air and faster through a valley than on top of a mountain. Explain why this is and have Mr. Bowen check your answer.
  59. Light energy is another type of energy that travels by waves.
  60. Visible light when passed through a prism (refracted) separates into the colors of the rainbow, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet.
  61. Read pages 164-165 about light and write a summary.