Biosphere: Part of Earth That Supports Life

Biosphere: Part of Earth That Supports Life

Biosphere: part of earth that supports life.

Parts of the biosphere: Crust, earth’s waters, atmosphere.

Ecosystem: all of the organisms and non-living parts of an environment.

Community: all populations of all species in an area combined. *All of the neighborhoods that make-up our school district make up our school community.

Population: number of organisms of the same species.

Habitat: where an organism lives.

Competition: organisms after the same resources.

Limiting factor: restricts number of individuals/organisms in a population.

Carrying Capacity: the maximum amount of individuals/organisms an ecosystem can hold.

Symbiosis: Relationship between two organisms.

Mutualism: both organisms benefit.

Parasitism: one organism is harmed and the other organism benefits.

Commensalism: One organism benefits the other and the other organism is not affected.

Niche: an organism’s job- how it fins shelter, food and stays out of danger.

*Predators and their effects on an ecosystem: predators can help an ecosystem by removing prey which reduces competition allowing more resources to be available for other species.

Biotic: living or once living organisms

Abiotic: non-living parts of an ecosystem (air, water, climate, temperature).

Photosynthesis: making energy with carbon dioxide (CO2), water and sunlight.

Respiration: using oxygen to breakdown sugar. NEEDED IN ALL OF LIFE PROCESSES!

Food chain: simple version of how matter and energy pass from one organism to another.

Food web: many different food chains.

Food Web Food Chain 

Energy Pyramid: amount of energy available at each level…. 10% is lost at each level.

The producer is at the bottom- herbivores are the primary consumers- carnivores are secondary and tertiary consumers.

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Succession- gradual changes in a species in an area.

Pioneer species: first species in an area

Secondary succession: the area already had soil and was home to living things previously.

Climax community: community of PLANTS- mostly stable, end stage succession (Temperate Deciduous Forest). It can take hundreds to thousands of years to get to this point.

Biomes: Large areas with similar climates and ecosystems.

Tundra- permafrost (layer that never melts under the surface), dry, cold

Taiga- largest land biome.

Temperate deciduous forest- where we live, 4 seasons

Grasslands- mostly dry, some rain to allow for grass growth not enough precipitation to allow for trees to grow. Found in Africa, Australia, etc.

Tropical Rainforest: wet, warm, lots of vegetation and animal species.

Marine: takes up most of the earth’s surface.Largest biome on earth. 95% of Earth’s water is salt. Oceans, seas, inlets.

Freshwater ecosystem: rivers, lakes, ponds. Rivers contain a lot of oxygen due to the movement of the water.

Wetlands: between areas of water- swamps. Water logged soil.

Carbon cycle: producers remove CO2 through photosynthesis and release oxygen, humans release CO2 by breathing and using fossil fuels and the producers then work again to remove the carbon dioxide.

https eo ucar edu kids green images carboncycle sm jpg

Nitrogen cycle: most of the atmosphere is nitrogen, most organisms cannot use nitrogen straight from the air. Plants need nitrogen and get their nitrogen through nitrogen fixation which is done through bacteria. Animals eat the plants, the animals die and nitrogen returns to the soil or atmosphere. Precipitation can bring nitrogen out of the atmosphere.

Nitrogen Fixation- Plants- Animals- return to soil/atmosphere- in the soil nitrogen fixation starts over.

Cells:

Haploid: cells without pairs of chromosomes- Sex cells (eggs and sperm).

Diploid: cells with similar pairs of chromosomes- we have 23 pairs of diploid cells.

Joining of egg and sperm is fertilization. Fertilization results in a zygote. After the zygote is formed, MITOSIS and cell division begin.

*Focus on the steps and the result of each type of cell division.

Meiosis: TWO divisions of the NUCLEUS occur- MEIOSIS I and MEIOSIS II.

Prophase- Metaphase- Anaphase- Telophase REPEAT for Meiosis II

Meiosis I: Two cells form…. Meiosis II four sex cells form with 23 chromosomes each.

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Mitosis: Nucleus divides to form two IDENTICAL cells… Mytwin

Interphase------(chromosomes are duplicated) --- Prophase- metaphase- anaphase- telophase

*Chromosomes contain hereditary material

Prophase: Chromatids (tightly coiled chromosomes that have been duplicated) can be seen.

Metaphase: Chromatids line up across the cell

Anaphase: Chromatids separate and become chromosomes

Telophase: Cytoplasm begins separating, new nucleus is formed and there are two separate nuclei.

*Completion of telophase results in two separate cells.

MITOSIS:

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MITOSIS VS. MEIOSIS:

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Gregor Mendel: Austrian monk used pea plants to study traits. He crossed Tall and Dwarf Pea Plants. Some were purebred and some were hybrids.

Purebred (Homozygous when looking at genotype): first generation, pea plants that fertilized within their own pod.

Hybrids (Heterozygous when looking at genotypes): organisms that receive genetic information or alleles from each parent. Crossbreeding.

Dominant trait: covers up one trait. (Capital letter when looking at the genotype)

Recessive trait: the trait that seems is not obvious. (Lower case letter when looking at the genotype).

Genotype: genetic make-up… letters represented in the Punnett square.

Phenotype: physical features or behaviors of an organism. The result of a genotype.

Homozygous (Purebreds are homozygous genotypes): two alleles that are the same. Ex. TT, tt

Heterozygous (Hybrid genotypes): two different alleles: Tt---- Only capital and lower case letters will count.

Incomplete dominance: the dominant trait does not show up alone. A parent with curly hair and a parent with straight hair could have offspring with wavy hair.