<p>Name______Section______</p><p>Biosphere, Ecosystems, and Communities Project </p><p>Directions: 1. View the on-line PowerPoint Presentation. 2. Read Chapters 3 and 4 in the textbook. 3. Write the definitions all vocabulary words on pages 82 and 114 in the textbook. 4. Complete the following short answer questions. 5. Study for a comprehensive test.</p><p>Question Bank</p><p>1. List the six different levels of organization that ecologists study, in order from smallest to largest.</p><p>2. Describe the three basic methods of ecological research.</p><p>3. Identify two ways in which you interact with each of the three parts of the biosphere-land, water, and air-every day.</p><p>4. Suppose you wanted to know if the water in a certain stream is safe to drink. Which ecological method(s) would you choose and why?</p><p>5. What are the two main forms of energy that power living systems? 6. Briefly describe the flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.</p><p>7. What proportion of energy is transferred from one tropic level to the next in an ecosystem?</p><p>8. Show the following as a food chain: omnivore, autotroph, herbivore. </p><p>9. Draw an energy pyramid for a five-step food chain. If 100 percent of the energy is available at the first trophic level, what percentage of the total energy is available at the highest tropic level.</p><p>10. How does the way that matter flows through an ecosystem differ from the way that energy flows?</p><p>11. Why do living organisms need nutrients?</p><p>12. Describe the path of nitrogen through its biogeochemical cycle.</p><p>13. Explain how a nutrient can be a limiting factor in an ecosystem. 14. Based on your knowledge of the carbon cycle, what do you think might happen if vast areas of forest are cleared?</p><p>15. What is the greenhouse effect?</p><p>16. Describe Earth’s three main climate zones.</p><p>17. What are the main factors that determine Earth’s climate?</p><p>18. Describe two ways in which heat is transported in the biosphere.</p><p>19. What might conditions on Earth be like without the greenhouse effect?</p><p>20. What is the difference between a biotic factor and an abiotic factor?</p><p>21. Name three types of community interactions that can affect an ecosystem. 22. What is the difference between primary succession and secondary succession?</p><p>23. How is an organism’s niche determined?</p><p>24. How are the three types of symbiotic relationships different? How are they similar?</p><p>25. List the major land biomes and give three characteristic features of each.</p><p>26. How are biomes classified?</p><p>27. What are the two types of tropical forests? How do they differ?</p><p>28. How might the presence of a mountain range affect the types of plants and animals found in an area?</p><p>29. What characteristic would you expect tundra animals to have?</p><p>30. List three characteristics that determine the structure of aquatic ecosystems. 31. How are standing-water ecosystems similar to flowing-water ecosystems? How are they different?</p><p>32. List six distinct ecological zones that can be found in the ocean. Give two abiotic factors for each zone.</p><p>33. Define a wetland and an estuary.</p><p>34. What are coral reefs? Explain.</p><p>35. How might the damming of a river affect an estuary at the river’s mouth?</p>