IB ESS Test Review

Discuss

A balanced review with a range of arguments. Viewpoints should be backed up with evidence

Climate change

A change in the global or regional climate pattern

Ecosystem

A community of interdependent organisms and the physical environment they inhabit

Outline

A general description or plan giving essential features of something but not the detail

Population

A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time, and which are capable of interbreeding

Community

A group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat

Mass Extinction

A large number of species on Earth become extinct in a short period of time.

Biotic Factor

A living, biological factor that may influence an organism or ecosystem; for example, predation, parasitism, disease, competition.

Biome

A major ecological community or complex of communities sharing similar geographical regions and climatic conditions i.e. tundra, tropical rainforest, desert.

Correlation

A measure of the association between 2 variables. If 2 variables tend to move up or down together, they are said to be positively correlated. If they tend to move in opposite directions, they are said to be negatively correlated.

Abiotic Factor

A non-ling, physical factor that may influence an organism or ecosystem; i.e. the temperature, sunlight, pH, salinity, precipitation

Parasitism

A non-mutual symbiotic relationship between species, where one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host

Consumer

A person or thing that eats or uses something.

Producer

A person or thing that makes or causes something.

Endemic Species

A plant or animal that has a habitat restricted to one area.

Non-renewable

A resource that cannot be readily replaced by nature such as oil

Endangered Species

A species that is close to becoming extinct.

Threatened Species

A species that is likely to become endangered in the near future.

Native Species

A species that is living in an environment naturally without any human intervention.

Exotic/ Invasive/ Non-native Species

A species that is not native and spreads to the degree of damaging an environment.

Niche

A species' share of a habitat and the resources in it. An organism's ecological niche depends not only on where it lives, but also on what it does

Comment

A verbal or written remark expressing an opinion or reaction

Label

Add title, labels or brief explanation to a diagram or graph

Omnivore

An animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin

Carnivore

An animal that feeds on flesh.

Herbivore

An animal that feeds on plants.

Simpson's diversity index

An equation for density and diversity of species

Construct

An idea or theory containing various conceptual elements, typically one considered to be subjective and not based on empirical evidence

Global warming

An increase in the earth's overall temperature

Detritivores

An organism that feeds on dead and decomposing organic matter

Decomposer

Are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so,they carry out the natural process of decomposition.

Competition

Arises whenever at least two parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared or which is desired individually but not in sharing and cooperation

Deduce

Arrive at (a factor or conclusion) by reasoning; draw as a logical conclusion

System storage

Both energy and matter can be stored in the form of stocks or reservoirs

Biological Fitness

Creatures with better traits surviving better due to genetic advantages

Eutrophication

Dense plant growth block sunlight to body of water and decreases dissolved oxygen levels which kills aquatic life

Species Diversity

Different creatures that live in a biome

Diversity

Different species or features of an area

Habitat Diversity

Differing features and creatures in a climate

Renewable

Energy source that does not deplete

Identify

Establish or indicate who or what (someone or something) is

Analyze

Examine methodically and in detail the constitution or structure of (something, especially information) typically for purposes of explanation and interpretation

Design

Explain a process to collect data

Derive

Explain with a mathematical explaination

Smog

Fog or haze combined with pollutants

Explain

Give a detailed account including reasons or causes.

List

Give a sequence or brief answers with no explanation

Describe

Give an account in wrdd of (someone or something) including all the relevant characteristics, qualities, or events

Predict

Give an expected result of an upcoming action or event.

Justify

Give valid reasons or evidence to support an answer or conclusion.

Poaching

Illegal hunting or killing of an animal.

Second law of thermodynamics

In any cyclic process the entropy will either increase or remain the same. Entropy: a state variable whose change is defined for a reversible process at T where Q is the heat absorbed. Entropy: a measure of the amount of energy which is unavailable to do work.

Pollution

Introductions of contaminates into the natural world. Air, water, thermal, and noise pollution.

Gaia Hypothesis: the whole earth is a living organism

It compares the Earths to a living organism in which feedback mechanisms maintain equilibrium

Respiration

Living organisms production of energy by the intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide from the oxidation of complex organic substances.

Spectation

New species through evolution

Measure

Obtain a value for quantity

Solve

Obtain the answer using numeric values.

Determine

Obtain the only possible answer

Primary succession

Occurs in places without a soil suitable for growth.

Pollution non point source

Pollution that comes from a large area ex. rain water picks up pollutants from land and deposits it in local watershed.

Pollution point source

Pollution that comes from a small area, ex. a factory

Fragmentation

Process by which habitat loss results in the division of large, continuous habitats into smaller, more isolated remnants.

Suggest

Propose a solution, hypothesis, or other possible answer.

Distinguish

Recognize or treat (someone or something) as different

Ecological

Related to or concerned with the relations of living organisms to one another and to their physical.

Biogeochemical

Relating to or denoting the cycle in which chemical elements and simple substances are transferred between living systems and the environment.

Replenishable

Resources capable of being used over and over

Estimate

Roughly calculate or judge the value, number quantity, or event of

Zonation

Sections that a system gets separated in

Sere

Set of communities that succeed one another

Adaptation

Species change to their environment

Climax Species

Species that will remain essentially unchanged in terms of species composition for as long as a site remains undisturbed.

Biosphere

That part of the Earth inhabited by organisms, which is, the narrow zone in which plants and animals exist. It extends from the upper part of the atmosphere (where birds, insects and wind-blown pollen may be found) down to the deepest part of the Earth's crust to which living organisms may be found

Biochemical oxygen demand

The amount of dissolved oxygen needed for microorganisms to decompose organic matter in the water

Natural Selection

The animals with more favorable traits overtake the species

Evolution

The creation of new, and more favorable traits and species

Mutualism

The doctrine that mutual dependence is necessary to social well-being.

Extinction

The end of a species.

Habitat

The environment in which a species normally lives

Pioneer species

The first species to live in a damaged or destroyed ecosystem.

Bio-magnification

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

Biomass

The mass of organic material in organisms or ecosystems

System flow

The pathway through which energy and/or matter are exchanged

Trophic Level

The position an organism occupies in a food chain

Pollution

The presence of a substance that is harmful or poisonous

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize food from carbon dioxide and water.

Succession

The process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time.

Biodiversity

The ratios and proportions of different species in an area

Genetic Diversity

The spectrum of different traits a family of organisims might have

Evaluate

To assess the implications and limitations; to make judgments about the ideas, works, solutions or methods in relation to selected criteria.

Compare/ Contrast

To look for similarities and differences

Natural Capital

World's stock of natural assets including geology, air, soil, and water. Commonly called ecosystem services

Open system

a material system in which mass or energy can be lost to or gained from the environment.

System

a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole, in particular.

Equilibrium

a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced.

Model

a system or thing used as an example to follow or imitate

Bio accumulation

an organism absorbs a possibly toxic substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost by catabolism and excretion.

Closed system

closed system is a physical system that doesn't exchange any matter with its surroundings, and isn't subject to any force whose source is external to the system