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Worksheets

Communities and Ecosystems

Total questions: 48

Worksheet time: 25mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Observe the food chain above. Which organism’s population would increase if finches were removed from the ecosystem?

a)

Grass

b)

Grasshopper

c)

Snake

d)

Hawk

2.

An animal that eats only plants is called a -

a)

carnivore

b)

omnivore

c)

insectivore

d)

herbivore

3.

What is a part of the food chain that makes its own food and nutrients?

a)

consumer

b)

producer

c)

omnivore

d)

sun

4.

Which of the following organisms is a herbivore?

a)

fox

b)

ladybug

c)

butterfly

d)

snake

5.

How many predators does the squid have?

a)

3

b)

4

c)

2

d)

1

6.

How might a lack of sunlight disrupt the food web?

a)

It would cause consumers to consume less.

b)

It would prevent decomposers from decomposing matter.

c)

It would prevent producers from producing nutrients

d)

It would not disrupt the food web at all.

7.

How are primary consumers different from secondary consumers?

a)

Primary consumers eat only plants; secondary consumers eat other consumers.

b)

Primary consumers eat other consumers; secondary consumers eat only plants.

c)

Primary consumers eat plants and other consumers; secondary consumers eat plants and decompose matter.

d)

. Primary consumers eat plants and decompose matter; secondary consumers eat plants and other consumers.

8.

This organism is most likely:

a)

A primary consumer

b)

A secondary consumer

c)

A decomposer

d)

A producer

9.
The efficiency of energy transfer from a lower trophic level to the next highest level is roughly
a)
1%
b)
10%
c)
100%
d)
1000%
10.
Trophic levels are represented by 
a)
squares
b)
circles
c)
pyramids
d)
lines
11.
Eat primary consumers (can be carnivores and omnivores)
a)
Tertiary Consumers
b)
Secondary Consumers
c)
Quaternary Consumers 
d)
Top Predators 
12.
An organism that obtains energy by consuming plants and animals.
a)
Omnivores
b)
Carnivores
c)
Herbivores
d)
Humans 
13.

The word "primary" means "first."

If that's true, what does primary consumer mean?

Hint: look carefully at the food chain!

a)

the first organism in a food chain

b)

the first organism that consumes something else for energy

14.

A worm is a/an

a)

autotroph

b)

heterotroph

15.

(True or False)- Autotrophs are organisms that can undergo Photosynthesis to make their own nutrients such as plants and trees.

a)

True

b)

False

16.

What are the two categories scientists use to organize organisms based on their main source of energy?

a)

the sun

b)

photosynthesis

c)

autotroph

d)

heterotroph

e)

cellular respiration

17.

A decomposer does not have a mouth and ...

a)

eats meat/animals/heterotrophs only to get its energy

b)

eats dead or living tissues by using chemicals

c)

eats both plants/autotrophs and meat/animals/heterotrophs to get its energy

d)

eats dead/decaying organisms only to get its energy

18.

Classify the animal based on its energy sources. A panda gets its energy by eating bamboo (plants) for its energy. (Choose all that apply)

a)

Autotroph

b)

Heterotroph

c)

Carnivore

d)

Herbivore

e)

Omnivore

19.

What are the two main saprotrophs on Earth?

a)

vultures

b)

bacteria

c)

worms

d)

fungus

20.

What are the two classifications of decomposers?

a)

omnivore

b)

detritivore

c)

saprotroph

d)

consumer

21.

Detritivores have mouth parts.

a)

True

b)

False

22.

Without detritivores and decomposers dead organisms would break down in other ways.

a)

True

b)

False

23.

What limits the length of a food chain in an ecosystem?

a)

The size of the individual organisms

b)

Competition between organisms

c)

The loss of energy between trophic levels

d)

Natural selection

24.

What is the classification of an organism that is able to make organic compounds from inorganic nutrients?

a)

Autotroph

b)

Consumer

c)

Detritivore

d)

Saprotroph

25.

What is lost between trophic levels and cannot be recycled?

a)

Heat

b)

Nitrogen

c)

Carbon compounds

d)

Biomass

26.

Which organism can best be described as a saprotroph?

a)

A fungus that digests its food externally and absorbs the products of digestion

b)

A beetle that feeds by ingesting the dung of other animal species and digesting its food internally

c)

A single-celled eukaryote that is able to photosynthesize and consumes smaller organisms by endocytosis

d)

A giraffe that feeds by ingesting leaves from an acacia tree

27.

The diagram shows the food web for an aquatic ecosystem in which letters R–Z represent individual species. Which organism is a tertiary consumer?

a)

Organism T

b)

Organism U

c)

Organism W

d)

Organism Y

28.

The Silver Springs feed into the Silver River in Florida. The diagram shows a pyramid of energy for the Silver Springs ecosystem. The units are kJ m–2 y–1. What do level I and level III represent in the pyramid of energy?

a)

l sunlight, lll secondary consumer

b)

l producer, lll tertiary consumer

c)

l producer, lll secondary consumer

d)

l primary consumer, lll tertiary consumer

29.

The Australian pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis) is a green plant that traps and feeds on flies and other live insects. What is this plant’s mode of nutrition?

a)

Producer and saprotroph

b)

Autotroph and detritivore

c)

Autotroph and heterotroph

d)

Consumer and saprotroph

30.

Animals in the highest trophic level of a food chain will often be the largest in body size but will be few in numbers. What accounts for the small numbers?

a)

Food eaten by animals at the highest trophic level has a lower energy content per gram

b)

Energy losses through the food chain

c)

Conversion of heat energy into chemical energy

d)

Biomass of producers is small

31.

Which of the following trophic levels would have the LEAST amount of available energy?

a)

Producers

b)

first order consumers (primary consumers)

c)

second order consumers (secondary consumers)

d)

third order consumers (tertiary consumers)

32.

What do the arrows in the food chain indicate about the flow of energy in an ecosystem?

a)

energy is continuously recycled by the organisms in an ecosystem

b)

energy flows in one direction in an ecosystem from producers to consumers

c)

more of the available energy in an ecosystem is given to large animals than to small animals

d)

organisms at the end of the food chain receive more energy than those at the beginning

33.

Approximately how much energy is available to the secondary consumers in this energy pyramid?

a)

10 kcal/m2/year

b)

100 kcal/m2/year

c)

1,000 kcal/m2/year

d)

5,000 kcal/m2/year

34.
How much of the energy in each level of a ecological pyramid gets lost as heat or used by the organism so that it cannot be passed on to the next trophic level?
a)
80%
b)
90%
c)
10%
d)
20%
35.

What is the efficiency of the primary consumer? (round to the nearest tenth of a percent)

(a)  

36.

What is the efficiency of the secondary consumer? (round to the nearest tenth of a percent)

(a)  

37.

What is the efficiency of the tertiary consumer? (round to the nearest tenth of a percent)

(a)  

38.

True/False: Based on the efficiencies you calculated for the previous three questions, this ecosystem is probably terrestrial.

a)

True

b)

False

39.

Check all of the answers below that are HETEROTROPHS

a)

grass

b)

bacteria

c)

consumer

d)

autotroph

e)

decomposer

40.

Check all of the answers below that are HETEROTROPHS

a)

venus fly trap plant

b)

vulture

c)

apex predator

d)

chemosynthetic organism

e)

phytoplankton

41.

What type of ecological pyramid is shown?

a)

biomass

b)

numbers

c)

productivity / energy

42.
Which item listed is NOT produced in the process of cellular respiration?
a)
CO ₂  (carbon dioxide)
b)
C₆H₁₂O₆  (glucose)
c)
H₂O (water)
d)
Energy in the form of ATP
43.
In what way is photosynthesis and respiration related to each other?
a)
The reactants of photosynthesis are the reactants of respiration.
b)
The products of photosynthesis are the reactants of respiration.
c)
The products of photosynthesis are the products of respiration.
44.
In photosynthesis, how is chemical energy stored?
a)
ATP
b)
Glucose
c)
Oxygen
d)
Carbon Dioxide
45.

Which is the correct, balanced equation for PHOTOSYNTHESIS?

a)

C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O + sunlight --> 6CO2 + 12H2O

b)

C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O + ATP--> 6CO2 + 12H2O

c)

6CO2 + 12H2O + sunlight --> C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O

d)

C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O --> 6CO2 + 12H2O + ATP

46.

Which is the correct, balanced equation for CELLULAR RESPIRATION?

a)

C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O + sunlight --> 6CO2 + 12H2O

b)

C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O + ATP--> 6CO2 + 12H2O

c)

6CO2 + 12H2O + sunlight --> C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O

d)

C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O --> 6CO2 + 12H2O + ATP

47.

Which of the following organisms are most at risk for the bio magnification of Mercury?

a)

phytoplankton

b)

zooplankton that eat the phytoplankton

c)

minnows that eat the zooplankton

d)

large fish that eat the minnows

48.

Why do pollutants BIOACCUMULATE?

a)

because the concentration grows as you go higher up the food chain.

b)

because the organism cannot break down / digest the pollutant once it is ingested

c)

because the pollutant is in low quantities in the environment

d)

because the pollutant is easy to digest