Review the key concepts, formulae, and examples before starting your quiz.
🔑Concepts
Interdependence refers to the mutual reliance between living organisms (biotic) and their non-living environment (abiotic) for survival.
Plants are known as producers or autotrophs because they prepare their own food using sunlight, water, and through the process of photosynthesis.
Animals are consumers or heterotrophs. They depend directly or indirectly on plants for food and oxygen ().
The balance in nature is maintained through the continuous exchange of gases: plants release during photosynthesis, which animals use for respiration, while animals release which plants use for photosynthesis.
Decomposers like bacteria and fungi break down dead organic matter, returning essential nutrients like Nitrogen () and Phosphorus () back into the soil.
A food chain represents the flow of energy from one organism to another, typically starting with a producer: .
Human activities such as deforestation and pollution increase the levels of in the atmosphere, leading to global warming and disrupting the ecological balance.
📐Formulae
💡Examples
Problem 1:
Construct a simple terrestrial food chain using the following organisms: Snake, Grass, Frog, Grasshopper.
Solution:
Explanation:
In this chain, Grass is the producer. The Grasshopper (Primary Consumer) eats the grass, the Frog (Secondary Consumer) eats the grasshopper, and the Snake (Tertiary Consumer) eats the frog.
Problem 2:
Explain what happens to the level of in the atmosphere if a large forest area is cleared (Deforestation).
Solution:
The level of increases significantly.
Explanation:
Since plants use for photosynthesis (), removing trees means less is absorbed from the atmosphere, leading to an accumulation of this greenhouse gas.
Problem 3:
Why are decomposers essential for maintaining the balance in an ecosystem?
Solution:
They recycle nutrients back into the soil.
Explanation:
Decomposers break down complex organic compounds from dead plants and animals into simpler inorganic substances like Nitrates (), which are then reused by plants for growth.