Name ______

Biology/Scholars/Honors Biology

Data Interpretation Exercises

1. Living things occupy certain regions of the world called ecosystems. The plants and animals in one
ecosystem live together and depend on each other for food and shelter. If certain factors change, such as
weather or the introduction of predators, the ecosystem will not support the same number of organisms.
In this exercise, the number of sunfish in a pond ecosystem are charted for a 12 year period. Graph the
number of sunfish on the vertical axis and the year on the horizontal axis. ( Use graph paper) Label both
axes and give your graph a name. Then, answer the questions below using the graph.

1. During which year did the most rapid growth of sunfish take place?

2. During which years did the population decrease?

3. What kinds of actors could have caused the decreases?

4. The number of organisms an ecosystem can support is its carrying capacity. Use the graph to
determine the carrying capacity of this pond for sunfish.

5. In order for algae to grow in water ecosystems, the element phosphorus is needed. Even though sunfish
do not eat algae, why would the sunfish population decrease in a year when phosphorus was limited?

6. During years 2 and 3, the number of minnows double in the pond. Using the graph, this means that minnows
are: _____ a. competitors of sunfish _____ c. predators of sunfish
_____ b. parasites of sunfish _____ d. prey of sunfish

2. The Earth’s Land Resources

1. The largest portion of Earth's land is ______

2. The smallest portion is______, which probably has ______on the surface.

3. Which type of land could be used with irrigation? ______

4. As population continues to grow, why must cities plan their expansion carefully?

5. If 50% of the polar areas melted and all of the land was usable, what would be the total percent of

usable land?

6. All Earth’s land not covered by oceans equals 32 billion acres. How many acres are suitable

for farming?

3. You’ve probably heard someone say, “Wow, it’s hot outside, must be 100 degrees”.

In the U.S. we use the Fahrenheit scale to describe temperatures. But the rest of the world uses the Celsius

Scale of temperature measurement. The Celsius scale is quite easy to work with. The chart below shows

Temperatures which are equal to each other. Plot the points on the graph and connect them to form a line

Graph. The Y axis should contain Fahrenheit, and the X axis should contain Celsius. Label the axes and

give your graph a title. (Use graph paper) Then, answer the questions below.

TEMPERATURE
F / C
-58 / -50
-40 / -40
-22 / -30
-4 / -20
14 / -10
23 / -5
32 / 0
41 / 5
50 / 5
50 / 10
68 / 20
86 / 30
104 / 40
122 / 50

Questions:

1. zero degrees Fahrneheit is equal to ______degrees Celsius.

2. At what temperature are both F. and C. readings the same?

3. If the temperature rose from 25 degrees C to 45 degrees C, how many degrees F would that be?

4. What would the F temperature be at 60 degrees C?

5. What is the C temperature when a F thermometer reads 98.6 degrees?

6. What is it when the thermometer reads 75 degrees F?