DSST Environmental Science Race to Save the Planet Test Questions and Answers

_______ describes the study of the interaction between organisms and their nonliving environment. Ecology. Ecology examines interactions in the natural world. Ecologists focus on the interactions of organisms, ___________, communities, ecosystems and biospheres. Populations. A population relates to an interacting group of the same species occupying a particular area at the same time. For example, a group of maple trees in the same forest. Ecologists focus on populations because of their impact on the environment. Populations alter their size, age distribution, density and _______ makeup to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Genetic. Genetic changes over time may be made in response to a shift in environmental conditions to improve the chances of survivability of a population. Organisms are classified into species, which can be differentiated by the way the way they _________. Reproduce. The two types of reproduction are asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction. The first usually occurs in bacteria with only one cell, which splits up to produce clones to replace the original cell. Sexual reproduction requires sex cells from both parents to produce offspring. A(n) ecosystem is a natural or artificially created _________ of varying species interacting with one another and the nonliving environment. Community. A community describes a place where populations of various species live together in the same space and is an intricate network of animals, plants and organisms. The biosphere describes all of the planet's __________. Ecosystems. The Earth's life-giving system is made up of the atmosphere, ___________, stratosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Troposphere. The hydrosphere consists of the Earth's water sources, liquid, solid and vapor in the air. The ____________ contains sufficient quantities of ozone to filter out the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays; thereby permitting life on Earth. Stratosphere. The sun plays an important role in sustaining life on Earth in that it provides warmth, light, stimulates photosynthesis, promotes the _____ of matter and determines the climate and weather systems. Cycle. The sun promotes the cycling of matter. The Earth is essentially closed off to space and hence all matter on Earth must be recycled. This matter includes atoms, ions and molecules that are necessary for living organisms to survive on.