<p> NAME: DATE: PER. #: DR. LAMIA There’s a Hair in My Dirt: Questions</p><p>1. Describe an Earthworm’s Niche.</p><p>2. When the young earthworm says: “I hate being a worm! We’re the bottom of the food chain! Bird food! Fish bait! Is he completely correct? Explain.</p><p>3. How is the ‘lowly’ earthworm essential to the ecosystem?</p><p>4. Site an example of parasitism from the story. Include parasite and host names.</p><p>5. Why should Harriet be thanking the trees?</p><p>6. What human actions could be harming the trees (describe three)?</p><p>7. The narrator (father worm) says: “Heck, even the dead need [oxygen] or they’d hang around a lot longer and get on everyone’s nerves.”</p><p>A. Describe the relationship between the dead and oxygen.</p><p>B. What cycle is father worm referring to in his comment?</p><p>8. Describe an instance of a problem that may have been the result of biological control gone awry.</p><p>9. From the text site examples of competition among plants.</p><p>10. What do plants compete for?</p><p>11. How might a farmer’s use of insecticide ultimately end up hurting his crop?</p><p>12. Describe the symbiotic relationship illustrated between ants and aphids.</p><p>13. Are the actions of lumberjack Bob most likely contributing to global warming or ozone depletion? Explain.</p><p>14. The son interrupts his father and asks for another story: “Mr. Dung Beetle finds his Field of Dreams”.</p><p>* What does the young worm have in common with the beetle?</p><p>15. How is deer ‘play’ a product of evolution?</p><p>16. How does the father worm describe the turtle as a community?</p><p>17. How is the frog in the story adapted for survival? 18. Mother worm says she went to her prom with a slug and that she was wishing [she] had brought a salt shaker.</p><p>*Which life process is this reference to? Explain.</p><p>19. What role do enzymes play in firefly mating?</p><p>20. Describe five examples of traits (illustrated in the text) that are the result of natural selection.</p><p>21. How is a dead tree not a tragedy?</p><p>22. While it may seem unfortunate, how is the little bird plummeting from the nest, important to the species?</p><p>23. Is primary or secondary succession illustrated in the text? Explain.</p><p>24. Give examples of at least five different nutritional relationships found in the text.</p><p>25. Give an example of each of the three symbiotic relationships found in the text.</p><p>26. How is the statement: “It seemed like a good idea at the time”, a proper summary of human impact on the environment?</p><p>27. From the story, describe five examples of the it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time theory.</p><p>28. What is the point of the story?</p>