Biology STAAR Reporting Category 5

Which of the following is NOT an example of how bacteria help other organisms and their communities?

• Bacteria in our gut help defend us against pathogens, develop the immune system, and digest otherwise indigestable food.

• Bacteria can fix nitrogen in the air into ammonia in the soil as an important part of the nitrogen cycle.

• Bacteria help plants make glucose during photosynthesis.

• Bacteria decompose dead plants and animals and return carbon into the ground, where they will eventually turn into fossil fuels as part of the carbon cycle.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Which of the following is NOT an example of how bacteria help other organisms and their communities?

• Fungi produce antibiotics, which are toxic to bacteria that compete with them for food. Health professionals use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections in humans.

• Fungi decompose dead plants and animals and return their remains to the ground as part of the carbon cycle.

• Fungi can exist in a mutualistic symbiotic relatioship with plants where the fungus greatly increases the surface area that is open to nutrient and water absorption, maximizing the plants access to these essential compounds and elements. In return, the plant supplies the fungus with carbohydrates for use as energy.

• Like plants, fungi perform photosynthesis and return oxygen to the environment for organisms to use during cellular respiration.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Primary succession occurs when there is a natural disaster that completely destroys an ecosystem, such that the only thing left is bare rock. Which of the following organisms breaks down rocks into soil so that plant life can begin again?

• Lichens and mosses

• Shrubs and grasses

• Primary consumers such as rabbits

• Tall deciduous trees

Which has more biodiversity: an ecosystem undergoing primary succession or an ecosystem undergoing secondary succession?

• An ecosystem undergoing primary succession

• An ecosystem undergoing secondary succession

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS2-5

Which ecosystem has the most biodiversity?

• Newly formed volcanic island

• Tropical rainforest that has not been cleared

• Regularly mowed lawn

• Temperate grassland

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-5

• A

• B

• C

• D

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

• F

• G

• H

• J

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

• F

• G

• H

• J

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Remora fish have a disk on their heads that makes them able to attach to larger animals, such as sharks, mantas, and whales. When the larger animal feeds, the remora detaches itself to eat the extra food. What type of symbiotic relationship is this?

• Mutualism

• Commensalism

• Parasitism

• Predation

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-2

Clownfish are often found living amongst the tentacles of the sea anemone. While those tentacles are able to sting nearly all other fish, the clownfish, thanks to the mucus on its skin, is protected from the stinging. What type of symbiotic relationship is this?

• Mutualism

• Commensalism

• Parasitism

• Predation