M2 EOMA

You choose to grow two plants: grass and corn. You have experience growing grass, but you have never grown corn. What makes you think corn will be able to grow inside the dome on Mars? Use evidence from classroom investigations to support your response. Choose THREE correct answers.

• We learned in our investigations with green onions that plants use matter from air and water to grow.
• Plants do not need soil to grow, but they do need nutrients in the soil to stay healthy.
• Corn is a plant, so it will have everything it needs to grow in the colony.
• We learned in our investigations with green onions that plants do not use matter from air and water to grow.
• Plants do need soil to grow, but they do not need nutrients in the soil to stay healthy.

The following organisms will live in the dome: 1.Corn plants 2.Grass plants 3. Sheep (eat grass) 4. Chickens (eat grass, corn, and insects) 5. Humans (eat corn, sheep, and chickens) 6. Insects (eat animal waste and grass) Use the information above to choose the correct food chains showing how all the organisms in the dome ecosystem will get the matter they need for growth. Choose FOUR correct answers.

• Corn plants--->Chickens--->Humans
• Grass plants--->Sheep--->Humans
• Grass plants--->Insects--->Chickens--->Humans
• Animal waste--->Insect--->Chicken--->Human
• Corn plants--->Sheep--->Chickens--->Humans

The plants will grow in soil that also contains decomposers such as bacteria and fungi. Describe what would happen to the dome ecosystem WITHOUT these organisms.

• Decomposers break down dead organisms and animal waste, and this process returns matter to the environment.
• Without decomposers in the colony, dead organisms and animal waste wouldn’t decompose.
• Matter wouldn’t be returned to the environment, and plants wouldn’t have everything they need to grow and stay healthy.
• Decomposers do not break down dead organisms and animal waste, and do not return matter to the environment.
• The colony does not need decomposers because they will rot by themselves.

Part A: A member of your team claims that the colony will not need additional supplies of air or soil. Is this true?

• Yes, this is true
• No, this is not true

Part B: Which pieces of evidence below support(yes) or refute(no) your claim?

• The air and soil does not get recycled, so they will need more.
• Because the air and soil in an ecosystem get recycled.
• Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen as waste, and animals take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide as waste.
• Plants take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide as waste, and animals take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen as waste

Which series of energy transfers below best shows how a human in the colony would get energy?

• Sun → Corn → Grass → Human
• Grass → Chicken → Insect → Human
• Sun → Sheep → Human
• Sun → Grass → Sheep → Human

Part A: What does the sheep get from the food(grass) it eats? Choose TWO answers

• Matter
• Fat
• Energy
• Nothing

Part B: Choose TWO ways the sheep uses its food (grass).

• They use energy to eat more grass
• They use the matter to grow and to repair injuries.
• They use the energy to move around and to stay warm.
• They use the matter to hibernate during the winter

Part A: Another member of your team claims that the ecosystem is stable, meaning each species is able to meet its needs over time. Does the data set support this claim?

• Yes
• No

Part B: Which TWO answers that support your response to Part A?

• Each year, the number of each organism goes up or down a little bit, but the numbers stay about the same.
• Each year, the numbers go up or down by a lot, so the numbers don't stay the same.
• Most organisms are not able to survive from year to year since their needs are not able to be met.
• Most organisms are able to survive from year to year since their needs are being met