| What is a habitat, a population, a community and an ecosystem? | A habitat is the environment where an organism lives.
A population is the total number of organisms of the same species that live in the same geographical area.
A community is the population of all the different species living in the same habitat, which includes animals, insects, plants, bacteria, and fungi.
An ecosystem is the biotic and the abiotic parts of an environment which includes how they interact. |
| What animals live in the grassland’s habitat of Africa? | Animals that live in the grasslands habitat of Africa include elephants, zebras, giraffes, and gazelles. |
| What do the terms biotic and abiotic refer to? | The term biotic refers to the living organisms in the environment. While the non-living parts of the environment are referred to as the abiotic parts, such as the water and minerals in the soil. |
| What do plants compete with each other for and what do animals compete with each other for? | Plants compete with each other for light and space, water, and mineral ions from the soil. While animals compete with each other for food and water, mating partners and for territory. |
| What does the term interdependence mean? | The term interdependence refers to every animal depending on other living organisms for food. Such as lions who eat zebras and gazelles, while zebras rely on grass and shrubs for food, plants depend on animals for bees to spread their pollen and birds to disperse feeds in their faeces. |
| What would happen if bees were to disappear from a community? | If bees were to disappear from a community lots of plants would not get pollinated and therefore not be able to reproduce. Therefore animals who feed on these plants could run out of food, causing their species to fall. |
| What are the populations of communities like in stable communities? | In stable communities the populations of organisms are in balance with each other and with the abiotic resources. |
| What are structural, functional and behavioural adaptations? | Structural adaptations are adaptations of the body’s shape or structure.
Functional adaptions are adaptions of the body’s functions of an orgasm.
Behavioural adaptations are adaptations to an organism’s lifestyle or behaviour. |
| What structural adaptations do camels have for the hot and dry conditions of a dessert? | Camels structural adaptations for the hot and dry conditions of a dessert are their hump stores the thermal insulator of fat in a single place so heat can be lost around the rest of the body. This also reduces water loss from sweating and water can be produced from this fat through metabolic reactions.
Secondly, camels have a thick coat on the upper surface of their body to insulate the top of them from the suns heat, which also reduces water lost through sweating.
camels also have leathery mouths so they can chew desert plants which often have thorns and can be a good source of water .
camels have long eyelashes and can close their nostrils to keep dust out.
and camels have wide feet to prevent them from sinking in the sand. |
| What functional adaptations do camels have for the hot and dry conditions of a dessert? | Camels functional adaptations for the hot and dry conditions of a desert are they have concentrated urine and dry faeces that reduce water loss. And camels are able to tolerate large changes in body temperature which helps to cope with the desert’s intense heat. |
| What behavioural adaptations do kangaroo rats have for the hot and dry conditions of a dessert? | Kangaroo rats have behavioural adaptations for the hot and dry conditions of a dessert as they are nocturnal, so they avoid the heat of the daytime. And during the day they live in underground burrows which helps them stay cool and protects them from predators. |
| How are animals adapted to live in cold conditions? | Animals such as the arctic fox are adapted to live in cold conditions as they have thick fur, that provides insulation and reduces heat loss through the air. They have fur on the soles of their feet to reduce heat loss to the ice and snow. Arctic foxes also have very small ears to reduce their surface area, and therefore reduce heat loss and their coat provides effective camouflage, helping them hunt for prey. |
| How are cacti adapted to live in dry conditions? | Cacti are adapted to live in dry conditions as they have small leaves that reduce water loss while some have spikes that also protect them from animals. Cacti have extensive and shallow roots that collect water after rainfall, and cacti can collect water in their stem and therefore go months without rain. |
| What are extremophiles? | Extremophiles such as bacteria are organisms that can live in extreme conditions such as very high temperatures and pressures, who can also live in very high concentrations of salt. |
| What is one of the biotic factors animals can be affected by? | One of the biotic factors animals can be affected by is food. |
| What is a food chain that would be found in the UK? | A food chain that would be found in the UK is one where grass is eaten by a rabbit and the rabbit is eaten by a fox. |
| What is the producer? | The producer is the start of the food chain that is most often a green plant, such as trees or algae in seas. |
| What is the producer in food chains important? | The producer is important in food chains because they synthesise complex molecules or biomass. Such as green plants that use energy from sunlight to make the molecule glucose in photosynthesis, allowing the producer to be the source of all the biomass in a community. |
| What do the primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers do? | Primary consumers eat the producers, the secondary consumers eat primary consumers and the tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers. |
| What are predators and what are prey? | Predators are consumers that kill and eat other animals while prey are animals that are eaten. |
| How do the number of predators and prey change? | The number of predators and prey change as they rise and fall in cycles for example if the population of rabbits increases, they will reproduce, giving foxes more food to kill and eat. Which will cause the rabbit population to decrease, giving foxes less food, which decreases their population, and allows the rabbit population to increase. Therefore predators and prey population cycles are only consistent if they are in a stable community – where the biotic and abiotic factors are in balance. So if a new predator arrived, or a drought happened, the cycle would change. |
| How can random sampling be used to calculate the total population size? | Random sampling is used to compare the number of organisms in different areas by using a quadrat. And random sampling can be used to calculate the total population size with the equation total population size = total area/area sampled x number of organisms of that species counted in the sample. |
| What is sampling along a transect used for? | Sampling along a transect is used to measure how the number of species changes across a habitat, such as the habitat of a sand dune which has different species of plants. |
| How do you do random sampling? | You do random sampling is by getting a quadrat, for example, a 0.5m by 0.5m quadrat, then placing two 20m tape measures at right a right angle.
You then need two bags containing the numbers 1 to 20, so the first student picks a number from the first bag, e.g. 8 then stands where that number falls on the tape measure, and the second student picks a number from the second bag e.g. 12 and stands at that point.
Then a third student drops a quadrat at the point where the 8 and 12 meet, where they count the number of daisies in the first quadrat
Now repeat the nine times, for 10 samples and calculate the total population of daisies using the equation.
Then the students find the total population of daisies in the whole field using the total population size equation. |
| When should the number of quadrats be increased? | The number of quadrats should be increased if the ten quadrats are not enough to represent the whole area, so they cover a greater percentage of the area. |
| How is the effect of a factor on the distribution of a species measured? | The effect of a factor on the distribution of a species can be measured, such as the effect of light intensity on the number of daisies, using sampling along a transect to measure how the number of daisies changes from the tree outwards. |
| How is sampling along a transect done? | Sampling along a transect is done by placing a tape measure at a tree which is in the corner of a field of daisies.
Then use a quadrat to count the number of daisies at the start of the transect, while recording the light intensity using a light meter or an app.
Now move the quadrat 1m down the line and continue this process until the end of the tape measure. |
| Why would a greater number of daisies be found under the tree? | A greater number of daisies will likely be found under the tree because the light intensity is lower under the tree, and plants need light for photosynthesis. |
| How could light intensity not be the only abiotic factor affecting a population of daisies? | Light intensity may not be the only abiotic factor affecting a population of daisies as the tree may absorb water and minerals from the soil. |
