NS(The concept of the bisosphere)

• Where are living organisms found on earth?

  They are found in the air, in water and on land.
• In order to survive, organisms need access to water, air, food, space,

  
  

  favourabletemperatures and protectionfromenemies
• The Earth consists of four systems that interact with one another. These are the: lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere
• Lithosphere, which consists of the thin layer of soil and rocks covering Earth
• hydrosphere, which contains all of the water found on Earth in rivers, lakes and oceans and in the air in the form of water vapour
• atmosphere, which is a thin layer of gases that surrounds Earth. It consists mainly of nitrogen, oxygen and a small amount of carbondioxide
• biosphere, which is made up of all of the areas on Earth where life exists.
• The biosphere contains:

  • the parts of the lithosphere, the hydrosphere and the atmospher that support life
  • alllivingorganisms on Earth
  • deadorganicmatter.
• Dead organic matter consists of dead plants and animals taht have begun to rot or decay.
• Decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria, feed on the organic matter and help to break it down.
• when dead plants and animals decay, the nutrients in their bodies are returned to their ecosystems, in this way, the nutrients are cycled through the environment
• The biosphere can be divided into smaller units called ecosystems.
• An ecosystem can be large or small, they include all of the living things in a particular place, interacting with each other and with their non-living environment.
• The biosphere can be thought of as a system where all of Earth's living and non-living things interact with each other.
• The biosphere is the largest biological sysytem on Earth
• A large variety of animals, plants and micro-organisms live in the biospshere.
• Micro-organism are tiny organisms, such as bacteria, that play important roles in the bisosphere. For example, they help cycle nutrients through the environment so that they can be reused.
• Scientists estimate that there are between 10 and 50 miliion living organisms on Earth.
• New species are described every day
• Few organisms live only in the atmosphere.
• The seven life processes:

  • Nutrition
  • Growth
  • Reproduction
  • Respiration
  • Excretion
  • Sensitivity to the environment
  • Movement
• Nutrition(feeding) - Plants make their own food and animals eat plants or other animals.
• Growth-All living things increase in size as they grow into adults.
• Reproduction-Living things produce new individuals with the same characteristics as their parents.
• Excretion- the removal of waste substances from the body.
• Sensitivity to the environment - Living things detect changes or stimuli in the environment and react to them. For example, you may sneeze to remove dust and germs that enter your nose.
• Movement- Animals move from place to place to find food and shelter, or to avoid danger. Plants do not move although they can grow towards the light and the petals of a flower can open and close in responses to light.