I hate to do this.

[biologyconfusesme]

Hi,
As you can tell by my username Biology Confuses Me. I am taking a biology class (for the third time) and it's mandatory that I pass the class.

I have some learning disabilties and dyslexia and I struggle to read. So as usual I am behind on my reading but I have to get this assignment in.

I am not even sure if this spot on the forum is the right place to post this but I have general to no understanding of the material.

I have no understanding and these are the best answers that I could figure out. Assistance would be appreciated before I fail the class.

And I am not even sure if you can post things like this. But I am great with history and will help out anyone with history homework.

If you have any tips that may help me understand the material that would be great

A producer is an organism that manufactures its own nutrients. Which of the following terms is another word for producer?
autotroph

2. Which of the following types of organisms produce biomass?

producers

3. Which model shows the amount of energy lost during transference between trophic levels?
Food Web


5. In a food web, what do the arrows represent?
the direction that energy moves


6. A _____ is the feeding position that an organism occupies within a food chain.

trophic level

7. During which process do producers convert light energy into chemical energy?
photosynthesis

8. Which trophic level would an organism occupy if it only eats primary producers?

the tertiary consumers level


9. In food chains and food webs, which level is the lowest?
the primary consumer level the tertiary consumer level
the producer level the quaternary consumer level

(after an hour of google and reading I am also unsure about that one)

10. In which trophic level would you find detritivores?
within the producer level above the quaternary consumer level
below the primary producer level at every trophic level

I picked the second one

11. A pyramid of numbers is a model that shows the _____ at each trophic level within an ecosystem.
amount of energy that is available for consumption amount of biomass that is available
number of individual organisms number of heterotrophs that are present



I picked the third one.
12. An energy pyramid is a model that shows the _____ at each trophic level within an ecosystem.
amount of energy that is lost amount of biomass that is available
number of individual organisms possible feeding patterns

the second one.


Part 2
An ecologist is interested in mapping the complex energy transfer relationship that exists between woodland organisms within a deciduous forest. Which of the following models should the ecologist use?

Food Web.

Why do all food chains and food webs begin with a producer?
Producers convert light energy into chemical energy and produce biomass that other organisms can consume for energy.

The cottontail rabbit is an herbivore. From which trophic level does the cottontail rabbit obtain its nutrients and energy?
the primary consumer level

During the carbon cycle, carbon is released into the atmosphere in several ways. Which of the following options is NOT a way that carbon is released into the atmosphere?

emissions from cars and trucks


An ecologist is interested in monitoring the amount of organic material that is generated at each trophic level within a forest ecosystem. Which type of model best organizes this information?
the biomass pyramid

An ecologist wants to study how bacteria convert elements into chemical compounds that organisms can consume for resources. Which of the following cycles should the ecologist study?

Carbon Cycle

An ecologist is tracking the movement of resources within tropical forest ecosystem. The ecologist is monitoring the processes of evaporation, condensation, transpiration, and precipitation over a 180 day period. Which of the following cycles is the ecologist studying?

water cycle.

[JackBean]

8 I would expect secondary to be after primary...

9 by lowest I would understand primary. Oh, I see now, these are the four options? I was wondering, why should be producer quaternary In that case the producers

10 yep probably

11 depends on what numbers

12 I hasitate between first and third, but the "lost" in first one is weird

[Larsa]

English is not my first language and I'm not that good at explaining things via text, but I hope I can help.
You probably know a lot of this already, but I'll just assume you don't. It doesn't hurt to repeat things.

A producer is an organism that manufactures its own nutrients. Which of the following terms is another word for producer?
Autotroph

True. Green plants, some bacteria and some algae are autotrophs.

2. Which of the following types of organisms produce biomass?

producers

This is true. Producers produce biomass via photosyntesis (6CO2+12H2O -> C6H12O6+6O2+6H2O. Oxygen and carbondioxide is transformed to water, oxygen and glucose where the glucose). Biomass is hydrogen, carbon and oxygen (based). Consumers consume the already produced biomass to increase their own, they don't create it themselves.

3. Which model shows the amount of energy lost during transference between trophic levels?
Food Web

True. A food web consists of several food chains, showing how energy flows through an ecosystem. A food chain could be leaves -> rabbit -> fox and leaves -> catterpillar -> blue tit -> sparrowhawk. A food web will incorporate those two food chains into each other. Both the rabbit and catterpillar eats leaves and the sparrowhawk eats both the fox and the blue tit for example. (bad explaination, I know.)

5. In a food web, what do the arrows represent?
the direction that energy moves

True. The more food you have, the more energy. Only a fraction of the food eaten is used to produce biomass. The rest is used to maintain body functions. In a way you can say that a lot of the energy consumed is "wasted" and as we move along the food web, less and less energy is gained by the next consumer because of this. That's why there are fewer larger predators than smaller consumers.

6. A _____ is the feeding position that an organism occupies within a food chain.

trophic level

True. The trophic levels are:
1. Producers (plants)
2. First consumers (herbivores)
3. Second consumers (carnivores)
All above level 3 are carnivores. The web/chain/trophic level usually ends at an apex predator. An apex predator is a organism that doesn't have any natural predator eating it. For example humans, aligators, bears.

7. During which process do producers convert light energy into chemical energy?
photosynthesis

True. Explaination in question #2.

8. Which trophic level would an organism occupy if it only eats primary producers?

the tertiary consumers level

This is false. The tertiary consumers eat lower consumers and are usually at the top of a food chain. The correct answer is first consumer. The first organism in a food chain is always a producer. The first organism that eats a primary producer is called a primary consumer. A primary consumer is always a herbivore. You can translate primary consumer to "the first eater", and as we know: plants don't eat other organisms (expect for a few carnivore plants). Therefore the first one to eat must be the primary consumer.
1. Primary producer, | 2. Primary consumer, 3. Secondary consumer, 4. Tertiary consumer.
I hope I don't confuse you more by this explaination. I've never been good at explaining anything via text.

9. In food chains and food webs, which level is the lowest?
the primary consumer level the tertiary consumer level
the producer level the quaternary consumer level

Here the answer is "The producer level", as explained above.

10. In which trophic level would you find detritivores?
within the producer level above the quaternary consumer level
below the primary producer level at every trophic level

In a food web or chain you would place detritivores after the last consumer, and before the first producer ("Below the primary producer level"). In this question I would pick "At every trophic level" because it asks where we find them, not where we would place them. Baiscly: detritivores break down dead organic matter and recycles this into the soil for new producers to use. A detritivore breaks down both plants and consumers alike, no matter where in the food chain they are.
If you are unsure what to answer you could either ask your teacher to explain what he/she is thinking about in this question, or you could include an explaination like the one above in your answer.

11. A pyramid of numbers is a model that shows the _____ at each trophic level within an ecosystem.
amount of energy that is available for consumption amount of biomass that is available
number of individual organisms number of heterotrophs that are present

True. A pyramid of numbers shows the number of individual organisms. If you google "pyramid of numbers" on images you'll see a food chain with bars stacked up over each other. The wider the bar, the more individuals there are.
Look at it this way; here's an example of a food chain used in a pyramid of numbers: Clover -> Snail -> Thrush -> Sparrowhawk. There are considerably more clovers than there are snails. More snails than thrush and more thrushs than sparrowhawks. A pyramid is, as you know, widest at the bottom and gradually becomes smaller and smaller as you reach the top.
_ Sparrowhawk
_____ Thrush
__________ Snail
_______________ Clover
Where the lines represent how many individuals there are.

12. An energy pyramid is a model that shows the _____ at each trophic level within an ecosystem.
amount of energy that is lost amount of biomass that is available
number of individual organisms possible feeding patterns

An energy pyramid is a model that shows the amount of energy that is lost at each trophic level within an ecosystem.
As we now know: for each level you go up a food chain, the less energy there is. An energy pyramid shows how much energy that is lost per step you move up the pryamid. There is less energy lost the higher up you go because of fewer predators (consumers) and less energy to gain.


I don't have enough time right now to explain the second part, but I can tell you if you are correct or not and give you hints real quick.

An ecologist is interested in mapping the complex energy transfer relationship that exists between woodland organisms within a deciduous forest. Which of the following models should the ecologist use?

Food Web.

This looks correct, but I don't have the alternatives to look at.

Why do all food chains and food webs begin with a producer?
Producers convert light energy into chemical energy and produce biomass that other organisms can consume for energy.

Correct.

The cottontail rabbit is an herbivore. From which trophic level does the cottontail rabbit obtain its nutrients and energy?
the primary consumer level

Correct.

During the carbon cycle, carbon is released into the atmosphere in several ways. Which of the following options is NOT a way that carbon is released into the atmosphere?

emissions from cars and trucks

This is false. All fossil fuels used add to the carbon cycle. Things that add to the carbon cycle and carbon released into the atmosphere include:
Plant and animal respiration
Plant and animal decay (by detritivores)
Combustion of fossil fuels (emissions from cars and trucks).
Volcanic eruptions

Pick the alternative that does not fit here.

An ecologist is interested in monitoring the amount of organic material that is generated at each trophic level within a forest ecosystem. Which type of model best organizes this information?
the biomass pyramid

Correct.

An ecologist wants to study how bacteria convert elements into chemical compounds that organisms can consume for resources. Which of the following cycles should the ecologist study?

Carbon Cycle

I would say this is correct, but I don't know the alternatives.

An ecologist is tracking the movement of resources within tropical forest ecosystem. The ecologist is monitoring the processes of evaporation, condensation, transpiration, and precipitation over a 180 day period. Which of the following cycles is the ecologist studying?

water cycle.

Correct.


I hope this helps you at least a little bit.

[sakshi06]

i checked all the answer given by lora and she did it best. i am sure it will help you.
second thing you hate biology or we can say you find it diffcult to understand.
1 suggestion for you- try to read more books to develop interest and during this also co-relate with your environment , animal , earth and ,plant. try to develop scientific approach like when you see any animal ask question in your mind such as how they feed , reproduce etc. when you got to listen any disease name just go thru your books and sites to find out more about them
thing is that involving yourself in biology, makes it easy and interesting for you.
watch channels like discovery, national geographic, animal planet, discovery science etc any other channels available in your country.... as i said involve yourself in biology.
i hope this will help you to pass your biology class. good luck !!