Unit 4

• Photosynthesis and cellular respiration


  1. Consumers give carbon dioxide that plants require for photosynthesis

  2. Plants (producers) create glucose through photosynthesis that consumers need for cellular respiration
• Reactants and products of photosynthesis


  • Reactants: CO2 + H2O
  • Products: Sugar + O2
• Goal of photosynthesis


  Solar energy converting into chemical energy
• Parts of a flower


  • Male: stamen, anther, filament, sepal
  • Female: stigma, style, carpel, ovary, ovule
• Climate


  Long range, long scale patterns of atmosphere conditions
• Weather


  Short-term local conditions of the atmosphere, usually measured in minutes to months
• The greenhouse effect is the process through which heat is trapped near Earth's surface by substances known as 'greenhouse gases'
• Major greenhouse gases


  • CO2 (carbon dioxide) - byproduct of burning fossil fuels
  • CH4 (methane) - primary component of natural gas (traps more heat)
  • N2O (nitrous oxide) - byproduct of microbial decomposition of nitrogen containing organic material
• Ecology


  The natural science of the relationships among living organisms
• Levels of ecology


  • Organism
  • Population
  • Community
  • Ecosystem
  • Biosphere
• Abiotic factors affecting ecosystems


  • Sunlight
  • Water
  • Temperature
  • Wind
  • Nutrients
• Northeast: 4 degree F increase, more precipitation rather than snow, 67% rise in precipitation overall
• Southeast: fall will be wetter, summer and winters drier. Increased wild fire breakouts, increased flooding
• Midwest: increase in avg temp, hotter winters. Increased precipitation resulting in storms and flooding. Hotter winters are melting the ice on great lakes. Heavier snowstorms
• Great Plains: 1.5 degree F increase in avg temp. Stressed water supply. Evaporations rise, lengthen & intensify drought
• Southwest: avg temp increase 2 degree. More rain than snow. Mountain snowpacks are diminishing. Rising temp. Intensifies droughts
• Northeast: average temperature increases 1.5 degrees F, snowpacks diminished
• Water cycle


  Evaporates over oceans, forms clouds, releases water into the land
• Nutrient cycle


  Animals and plants consume nutrients found in the soil, then released back into the environment via death and decomposition
• Deforestation, pollution, and fracking are two ways that humans destroy habitats
• Humans introduce species to new places they do not naturally grow, and in turn, they upset the ecosystem
• Ecological footprint


  A method that determines how reliable humans are on natural resources
• Food chain


  Linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another
• Biological magnification


  The increase in the concentration of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain
• Types of species


  • Threatened species
  • Endangered species
  • Invasive species
  • Keystone species
• Properties of life


  • Reproduction
  • Growth
  • Energy and matter transformation
  • Order
  • Response to environment
  • Evolution
• Levels of classification


  • Domain
  • Kingdom
  • Phylum
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species
• Domains of life


  • Bacteria
  • Archaea
  • Eukarya
• Endosymbiosis


  The origin of eukaryotic organisms from a fusion between archaeon cells and bacteria
• Groups of protists


  • Protozoans
  • Amoebas
  • Slime molds
  • Algae
• When there is a shortage of food, unicellular protists merge to form multicellular organisms
• Protists reproduce sexually, leading to a variety of protists
• Hyphae


  The feathery filaments that make up multicellular fungi
• Mycelium


  The porous structure composed of tubular filaments called hyphae
• Fungi are used in the production of enzymes, organic acids, vitamins, and antibiotics
• Fungi can also destroy crops, cause diseases in humans (e.g., candidiasis and ringworm), and ruin clothing and food with mildew and rot
• Terrestrial plants get plenty of air so they usually have stomata on the bottoms of their leaves
• Major plant groups


  • Nonvascular plants (bryophytes)
  • Seedless vascular plants
  • Gymnosperms
  • Angiosperms
• Monocot


  Plants with only one cotyledon
• Dicot


  Plants with two cotyledons