OUR BLUE PLANET BIO BEYOND EVALUATION EXAM
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔What has created the subterranean caves in Florida? - ✔✔Freshwater underground,
made slightly acid by rain, slowly dissolves limestone and creates caves
✔✔What is noteworthy about the springs in Florida? - ✔✔They feed rivers and pools, in
which all kinds of life flourish, including the manatee
✔✔What two negative impacts have humans had on the springs in Florida? -
✔✔Humans are now taking so much water from these springs and polluting many of the
others
✔✔When the river is clean, what spectacle can be observed? - ✔✔wildlife is quick to
return
✔✔Where do most of Iguazu's water come from? Describe how this water forms -
✔✔The Amazon Rainforest -> thousands of tons of fresh water thunder over them every
second. It rose as vapor from the surface of the jungle canopy
✔✔An impressive factoid: a single tree in the Amazon rainforest can give off a ___ liters
of water vapor a day. How many billions of tons of water leave the forest each day via
vapor? - ✔✔thousands. Twenty billion tons of water leave the forest each day, more
than travels down the Amazon River itself
✔✔What is the name of the largest tropical wetland on Earth? - ✔✔The Pantanal
✔✔What is remarkable about Lake Tanganyika in terms of fresh water? - ✔✔it holds
almost a fifth of all accessible fresh water on Earth
✔✔Where is Lake Tanganyika is most animal and plant life found? What is the limitation
(i.e. why isn't life found everywhere in Lake Tanganyika?) - ✔✔The bottom of the water
contains no oxygen. Life is found close to the surface (in its top 150 meters) where the
water contains enough oxygen for life to exist
✔✔The cichlid fish of Lake Tanganyika are quite famous. How many species exist
there? - ✔✔250 species
✔✔What is unusual about the callipterus cichlid? (Note: a "fortnight" is a British term
referring to a term of 2 weeks). - ✔✔Males attract mates by collecting shells (more
shells = more attraction). Females use the shells as cradles where she lays eggs (slip
inside the shells). She stays in there protecting them until they hatch.
, ✔✔What effect is global warming having on Lake Tanganyika? - ✔✔The waters are no
longer mixing as well as they did, so the top oxygenated layer is reducing
✔✔Mekong River, Southeast Asia - ✔✔The Mekong River in Southeast Asia is an
impressively long river (about 2700 miles) that starts at the Tibetan Plateau and runs
through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
As the narrator notes, 60+ million people depend on this river for their livelihood. As
you'll learn in a bit, one-fifth of all the freshwater fish caught by people worldwide comes
from this single river system
✔✔For a few months, the floodwaters of the Mekong River create the planet's greatest
breeding grounds for freshwater fish ____ (name of fish) has a particularly ingenious
solution to the problems of living in shallow, oxygen-poor water. Describe this
"solution"? - ✔✔The Siamese fighting fish
- Solution: The male fish breathes by gulping air from the surface, and during the
breeding season. He uses that ability to build a raft of bubbles. A mate the comes the
raft and that's where they lay eggs. The fertilized eggs get blown into the bubble raft.
✔✔The narrator notes, "But the future of the Mekong, like that of so many other rivers
around the world, is increasingly at risk. We have changed the natural flow of more than
two-thirds of the planet's longest rivers by, amongst other things, building dams across
them. So now, many rivers across the world no longer flow."
Why do we build dams?
(This is not in the documentary. Check out
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/dams/?utm_source=BibblioRCM_Row
You can also Google dams "national geographic" - ✔✔Dams are used to store water
(reservoirs) , control flooding, and generate electricity
✔✔The water requirement for elephants in east Africa is considerable. How much water
does each elephant need to drink per day? - ✔✔200 liters a day
✔✔How have agricultural practices impacted the availability of freshwater for wildlife
such as elephants, lions, hippos, etc.? - ✔✔agriculture upstream is taking great
quantities, and during the dry season, the rivers shrink into isolated pools
✔✔How have elephants adapted to deal with drought? (Two methods are mentioned in
the documentary in different places.) - ✔✔- they eat baobab wood in great quantities
because the wood contains a lot of moisture
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔What has created the subterranean caves in Florida? - ✔✔Freshwater underground,
made slightly acid by rain, slowly dissolves limestone and creates caves
✔✔What is noteworthy about the springs in Florida? - ✔✔They feed rivers and pools, in
which all kinds of life flourish, including the manatee
✔✔What two negative impacts have humans had on the springs in Florida? -
✔✔Humans are now taking so much water from these springs and polluting many of the
others
✔✔When the river is clean, what spectacle can be observed? - ✔✔wildlife is quick to
return
✔✔Where do most of Iguazu's water come from? Describe how this water forms -
✔✔The Amazon Rainforest -> thousands of tons of fresh water thunder over them every
second. It rose as vapor from the surface of the jungle canopy
✔✔An impressive factoid: a single tree in the Amazon rainforest can give off a ___ liters
of water vapor a day. How many billions of tons of water leave the forest each day via
vapor? - ✔✔thousands. Twenty billion tons of water leave the forest each day, more
than travels down the Amazon River itself
✔✔What is the name of the largest tropical wetland on Earth? - ✔✔The Pantanal
✔✔What is remarkable about Lake Tanganyika in terms of fresh water? - ✔✔it holds
almost a fifth of all accessible fresh water on Earth
✔✔Where is Lake Tanganyika is most animal and plant life found? What is the limitation
(i.e. why isn't life found everywhere in Lake Tanganyika?) - ✔✔The bottom of the water
contains no oxygen. Life is found close to the surface (in its top 150 meters) where the
water contains enough oxygen for life to exist
✔✔The cichlid fish of Lake Tanganyika are quite famous. How many species exist
there? - ✔✔250 species
✔✔What is unusual about the callipterus cichlid? (Note: a "fortnight" is a British term
referring to a term of 2 weeks). - ✔✔Males attract mates by collecting shells (more
shells = more attraction). Females use the shells as cradles where she lays eggs (slip
inside the shells). She stays in there protecting them until they hatch.
, ✔✔What effect is global warming having on Lake Tanganyika? - ✔✔The waters are no
longer mixing as well as they did, so the top oxygenated layer is reducing
✔✔Mekong River, Southeast Asia - ✔✔The Mekong River in Southeast Asia is an
impressively long river (about 2700 miles) that starts at the Tibetan Plateau and runs
through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
As the narrator notes, 60+ million people depend on this river for their livelihood. As
you'll learn in a bit, one-fifth of all the freshwater fish caught by people worldwide comes
from this single river system
✔✔For a few months, the floodwaters of the Mekong River create the planet's greatest
breeding grounds for freshwater fish ____ (name of fish) has a particularly ingenious
solution to the problems of living in shallow, oxygen-poor water. Describe this
"solution"? - ✔✔The Siamese fighting fish
- Solution: The male fish breathes by gulping air from the surface, and during the
breeding season. He uses that ability to build a raft of bubbles. A mate the comes the
raft and that's where they lay eggs. The fertilized eggs get blown into the bubble raft.
✔✔The narrator notes, "But the future of the Mekong, like that of so many other rivers
around the world, is increasingly at risk. We have changed the natural flow of more than
two-thirds of the planet's longest rivers by, amongst other things, building dams across
them. So now, many rivers across the world no longer flow."
Why do we build dams?
(This is not in the documentary. Check out
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/dams/?utm_source=BibblioRCM_Row
You can also Google dams "national geographic" - ✔✔Dams are used to store water
(reservoirs) , control flooding, and generate electricity
✔✔The water requirement for elephants in east Africa is considerable. How much water
does each elephant need to drink per day? - ✔✔200 liters a day
✔✔How have agricultural practices impacted the availability of freshwater for wildlife
such as elephants, lions, hippos, etc.? - ✔✔agriculture upstream is taking great
quantities, and during the dry season, the rivers shrink into isolated pools
✔✔How have elephants adapted to deal with drought? (Two methods are mentioned in
the documentary in different places.) - ✔✔- they eat baobab wood in great quantities
because the wood contains a lot of moisture
