Transcript Document

Biotic and Abiotic
Factors

 All things on Earth fall into one of two categories:
 Biotic: alive
 Abiotic: not, and never has been, alive
Thought Question 1

 Identify five biotic and five abiotic factors in Edgard.
Carbon

 Carbon can make long molecular chains and rings
 It circulates through the biosphere
Carbon Dioxide

 All CO2 is circulated throughout all Earth spheres
constantly
Thought Question 2

 About how much of the Earth’s atmosphere is CO2?
The Carbon Cycle

 Enters the
atmosphere
through:
 Cellular
respiration
 Decomposition of
plants
 Eruption of
volcanoes
 Human actions,
like burning fossil
fuels (coal, gas, oil)
Carbon Cycle continued

 Carbon is removed from the atmosphere by:
 Plants and bacteria “fix” it into sugar molecules
Thought Question Picture

 Draw a picture of diagram of the carbon cycle on
your own paper. Be sure to label each part of your
picture.
Thought Question 3

 Why are scientists concerned about rising levels of
atmospheric carbon dioxide?
Solar energy and the
water cycle

 Also referred to as the hydrologic cycle
 It’s driven by the sun’s energy and temperature
differences on Earth
The Nitrogen Cycle

 Essential
component of
DNA, RNA and
proteins
 78% of our
atmosphere is
gaseous nitrogen,
but most
organisms cannot
use it in this form
Fixing nitrogen step 1

 Lightning (5-8%)
Thought Question 5

 Imagine the beginning of life on Earth. How
important would lightning’s fixation of nitrogen
have been at that time as compared with today?
Fixing nitrogen step 2

 The rest of the usable nitrogen is produced by
nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
 Most live in the roots of plants called legumes, like
soybeans, clover, alfalfa.

Fixing nitrogen step 3

 Organisms cycle nitrogen through their bodies.
 Animals expel it with urine, where is comprises part
of ammonia and some proteins.
 Fungi and bacteria degrade it so it stays in the soil
and plants can use it, called denitrification.
Nitrogen fixation step 4

 Humans can also fix it directly from the atmosphere
using manure.
Thought Question 6

 The nitrogen cycle includes nitrogen-fixing bacteria,
plants and animals that use nitrogen compounds;
human industrial processes; and bacteria and fungi
that convert nitrogenous compounds back into
ammonia. Which of these could be eliminated
without totally disrupting the nitrogen cycle?
Explain your answer.
Where does energy come from?

 Photosynthesis and cellular respiration
Recall Question

 In which organelle does most cellular respiration
take place?
 Which kingdoms are able to do this (and what word
do we use to describe it)?

Trophic levels

 Who’s eating who
Thought Question 7

 Explain why the Sun is the ultimate source of an
opossum’s energy?
Producers

 The basis of any
ecosystem
 They make their own
food through
photosynthesis
Primary consumers

 Just eat the producers
Secondary consumers

 Animals that eat
primary consumers
Tertiary consumers

 Animals that eat both
primary and secondary
consumers
Thought Question 8

 Think of a grassland ecosystem. Name one example
of a producer, a primary consumer, and a secondary
consumer in that ecosystem.
The movement of energy

 Matter moves in
cycles, but energy
moves up the trophic
pyramid in one
direction.
 It also drains as it
moves from life form
to life form.
The 10% rule

 Only about 10%
of the energy
that enters a
trophic level is
available to the
trophic level
immediately
above it.
 Depicted in a
trophic
pyramid.
Thought Question 9

 Suppose that a field of blackberries absorbs
400,000,000 kJ of sunlight. According to the ten
percent rule, how much of the original energy is
available to…
 …mice that eat the berries?
 …snakes that eat the mice?
 … owls that eat the snakes?
Thought Question 10

 Explain why a grassland can sustain many more
mice than snakes.
Food webs

 A food web is a
model that shows
energy flow in an
ecosystem.
 Keys:
 Arrows points from
an organism to
what eats it
 It shows that energy
is moving from one
thing to whatever
it’s pointing at
Thought Question 11

 Suppose that the
worms in this
ecosystem were to
disappear.
Describe at least 2
effects that the
worm’s
disappearance
would have on
other populations.
Exit Ticket

 Watch the video and complete the trophic levels
pyramid with the animals you see.