PAP Bio: CYCLING OF MATTER & ENERGY

Students designed an experiment to model the carbon cycle. The students combined water & carbon dioxide-producing disks in a sealed flask. The flask represented earth's atmosphere, and the lamp represented the sun.

Which component can be added to the flask to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the model atmosphere created by the discs?

• Bacteria to use carbon during nitrification.

• Plants to absorb carbon in the process of photosynthesis.

• Snails to use carbon through cellular respiration.

• Mushrooms to absorb carbon during decomposition.

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Which statement is an example of how carbon moves through a food chain as part of the carbon cycle?

• Producers release carbon dioxide, and consumers take it in.

• Producers take in carbon dioxide, and consumers release it.

• Producers take in carbon from the soil, and they release it when they decompose.

• Producers release carbon into the soil, and consumers take it in from the soil.

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NGSS.MS-LS2-3

What would be the most likely effect of a wildfire that burned a large area of a forest?

• More sugars and starches would be available for animals in the area.

• The availability of fossil fuels for use by industries in the area would be reduced.

• Less carbon dioxide would be removed from the atmosphere in the area by plants.

• An increase in animal respiration would increase the release of carbon dioxide in the area.

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As part of the nitrogen cycle, animals acquire some amino acids by doing which of the following?

• Breathing air

• Eating plants

• Drinking water

• Producing waste

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Atmospheric nitrogen has to be combined with other elements, or fixed, in order to be used by plants. Lightning is one way that nitrogen is fixed. When lightning occurs, the extreme heat breaks the bonds in nitrogen molecules, allowing nitrogen to combine with oxygen and form nitrogen oxides.

In what way is most of the nitrogen fixed by lightning made available for use by plants?

• It is moved by the wind to dry areas.

• It is incorporated into the exoskeletons of flying insects that eat plants.

• It is inhaled and exhaled by birds roosting in trees during rainstorms.

• It is carried by rain into the soil.

The diagram shows the flow of organic molecules through an ecosystem. One process that occurs in this ecosystem is labeled X, and another that occurs is labeled Y.

Which two processes are identified as X and Y?

• X: respiration

  Y: predation

• X: adaptation

  Y: decomposition

• X: fermentation

  Y: nitrogen fixation

• X: decomposition

  Y: respiration

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NGSS.MS-LS2-3

The carbon cycle includes processes that release carbon into the atmosphere and places that act as carbon reservoirs. The diagram shows both major processes that release carbon and major carbon reservoirs.

Which of these disruptions could cause an excess output in the carbon cycle?

• The destruction of trees

• Decrease in marine life

• An reduction in the use of fossil fuels

• Thickening of ocean sediments

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Which of the following explains how water undergoes a change of state in one stage of the water cycle in order to move from the ocean's surface to the atmosphere?

• Liquid water that is heated by the sun becomes a gas vapor and rises.

• Water vapor rises as it is cooled by the ocean.

• Liquid water that is heated by the sun condenses into precipitation.

• Water vapor collects in droplets of fog over the ocean's surface.

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NGSS.MS-PS1-4

The diagram shows the process of evaporation over the ocean. What is the most likely effect of this process on the land areas nearby?

• Increased drought conditions.

• Decreased erosion of the shoreline.

• Increased precipitation.

• Decreased solar radiation.

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus can enter rivers as rainwater carries excess fertilizers from agricultural areas. Therefore, the Mississippi River often carries unnaturally high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus into the Gulf of Mexico, where the river meets the ocean. Each summer, phytoplankton, photosynthetic bacteria, and algae grow rapidly because of the increased amount of nutrients which alters the food chain and depletes the dissolved oxygen in the water. When the level of dissolved oxygen in the water is low, large seasonal dead zones can form. Organisms that depend on dissolved oxygen to survive are unable to live in those areas, hence the term "dead zone".

The nitrogen that is released into the Gulf of Mexico through agricultural runoff is used by the phytoplankton and algae to build which of the following types of macromolecules?

• Proteins

• Glucose

• Lipids

• Carbohydrates

Answer explanation

Nitrogen is a component of amino acids, which are the building blocks (monomer) of proteins.

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NGSS.MS-LS1-6

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