Q4 Ecosystems Amplify

The figure shows an ecosystem with different plants and animals. What statement can you make about the flow of energy in this ecosystem?

• On a cloudy day, no energy will flow in this ecosystem.

• Grass can use and store energy from the sun, which eventually flows to all of the other life forms.

• Eagles eat snakes, rabbits, and frogs and are not affected by the energy in other parts of the  ecosystem.

•  If eagles are removed from the ecosystem, energy can no longer flow to any of the other  animals.

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This diagram shows the flow of matter and energy between producers, consumers, and  decomposers. Decomposers can help your school garden grow. Which activity would make use of decomposers  in the garden?

•  collecting ripe fruit to eat in the school lunchroom

• raking up dead leaves to be picked up by city trucks

• adding plant food to the garden to ensure strong, healthy plants

•  collecting food scraps from the lunchroom to add to the soil in the garden

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  A science teacher has grown an indoor garden for several years. Each year, students carefully  water the plants, add plant food, make sure the garden gets plenty of sunshine, and remove any  dead leaves or stems. This year, students have decided to care for the garden in all the same  ways, except they have stopped using plant food. Instead, they rely on the decomposition of the  dead leaves and stems to supply nutrients to the plants. However, their garden does not grow  this year. Which explanation supports this result?

• The dead leaves and stems are too big and need to be chopped up into smaller pieces.

• The plants have become accustomed to plant food, and now they cannot use the nutrients  from the dead leaves and stems.

• The soil does not have enough nutrients because there is no longer enough matter for the  decomposers to break down.

• The dead leaves and stems are preventing the sunshine from reaching the soil, which is  keeping the plants from growing.

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Which statement is true about changes that could be made to this food web?

•  If producers are removed, consumers and decomposers will continue to maintain a cycle.

•  If consumers are removed, producers and decomposers will continue to maintain a cycle.

•  If decomposers are removed, producers and consumers will continue to maintain a cycle.

•  If the sun is removed, producers, consumers, and decomposers will continue to maintain  a cycle.

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Study the food web. What belongs in the box?

• apex predator, because it is at the end of the food web

•  producer, because it can use and store energy from the sun

• consumer, because it can eat the mice

• bacteria, because it can take nutrients from decomposing material

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Students grew several healthy plants in their classroom. All of them were planted in healthy soil, placed in a sunny window, and watered once a week.  

After the plants grew, the students set up four experiments to see which conditions affected plant growth the most. For each experiment, students kept the same conditions for Plant A and  changed the conditions for Plant B. The results of the experiment are below. Based on the evidence from their findings, which of the following is true?

• Plants obtain most of the materials they need to grow from soil and sunlight.

•  Plants obtain most of the materials they need to grow from water and plant food.

• Plants obtain most of the materials they need to grow from sunlight and water.

•  Plants obtain most of the materials they need to grow from air and water.

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White polar bears only eat fish and other types of meat. What is the source of their energy? 

•  Polar bears are white, which makes them able to use and store energy directly from the sun.

•  The fish and meat that polar bears eat bring and store energy from warmer locations. 

• Fish make their own energy and pass it on to polar bears and the other life-forms that eat  fish.

• Ocean plants use and store energy from the sun and pass it on to the fish and other animals  that the polar bears then eat.

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Sonya builds a terrarium with different kinds of plants inside. She adds some crickets to the  terrarium, too. Sonya wants to show how matter cycles within the terrarium. Which of the  following actions could she take to show this? Choose 2 answers.

• Sonya could add worms and fungi to the terrarium. If a plant in the terrarium dies, these  decomposers can recycle some materials back into the soil for the other plants to use.

• Sonya could remove all of the larger plants in the terrarium. She could plant them in a larger  pot so that all the plants have enough space to grow.

• Sonya could add a lizard to the terrarium. The lizard may eat the crickets and leave  droppings on the ground that will be absorbed back into the soil.

• Sonya could add plant food to the terrarium. The plant food will provide nutrients to the soil  to help the plants grow taller faster.

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The matter in an ecosystem is constantly being used and reused by living organisms. Three of  these statements describe matter flowing through an ecosystem. Which statement does not describe the flow of matter through an ecosystem?

• Humans release carbon dioxide when they breathe that plants then absorb from the air.

•  Rainfall washes dirt to the bottom of a hillside.

• Decomposers break down dead animals into nutrients that plants can later use

• Consumers eat smaller animals and then leave droppings on the ground.

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Use the diagram to answer the question. An area has a large decrease in the deer population. How might this impact the ecosystem? 

• The rabbit population could increase because the cougars now only eat rabbits. 

• The population of mice could decrease, causing the snake population to decrease.

•  There could be less food for cougars to eat, which would cause a decrease in their  population. 

•  There could be an increase in both the cougar and snake populations because more grass  will be available.

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