Life Science Notes

Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Name Date Class
The Nonliving Environment 33
Chapter 25 Section 1 Abiotic Factors
A. Living or once-living environmental features are called biotic factors; ________biotic________ factors are nonliving physical features.
B. Atmosphere—the ______abiotic______ that surrounds Earth
C. _______soil_______—the major ingredient of the fluid inside the cells of all organisms
D. ______soil_______—a mixture of mineral and rock particles, the remains of dead organisms, water, and air
E. _________sunlight________—the source of energy for most life on Earth
F. Most organisms’ body __________heat___________ should stay within the range of 0°C to 50°C for survival.
1. Temperature is affected by ________latitude_________; areas closer to the equator are warmer than areas farther from the equator.
2. _________elevation_________—distance above sea level that affects temperature, wind, and soil
G. Climate—an area’s average ______weather__________ conditions over time, including temperature, precipitation, and wind
1. For most living things, __________temperature__________ and _________precipitation_____________ are the two most important components of climate.
2. Heat energy from the Sun creates air currents called _______wind_______

Section 2 Cycles in Nature
A. Earth’s biosphere contains a fixed amount of water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and other materials that _______cycle_______ through the environment and are reused by different organisms.
B. Water cycle—how water moves from Earth’s surface to the __________evaporate_________ and back to the surface again
1. Evaporation—when liquid water changes into water ______gas________ and enters the atmosphere 2. ________ condensation _____________—the process of changing water from a gas to a liquid
3. When water drops become large and heavy enough, they fall to the ground as rain or other
__________liquids____________.
C. _____________water cycle__________—the transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere
1. Nitrogen fixation—a process in which some types of soil _________bacteria________ can form the nitrogen compounds that plants need
2. Farmers replace nitrogen in the soil by growing nitrogen-fixing crops or using
__________plants__________ that contain nitrogen compounds that plants need for growth.
D. _______soil nitrogen_________—how carbon molecules move between the living and nonliving world
1. Producers remove __________carbon_________________ from the air during photosynthesis.
2. _______carbon cycle__________—the chemical process that provides energy for cells

Section 3 Energy Flow
A. Matter can be ________recycled_________ over and over again, but energy is _____not __________from one form to another.
1. During _________photosynthesis_______________ producers convert light energy to chemical energy.
2. ___________chemosynthesis____________—the production of energy-rich nutrient molecules from chemicals B. Energy stored in the molecules of one organism is transferred to another when one organism becomes _______food______ for another organism.
1. ___________energy transfer_________—a simple way of showing how matter and energy pass from one organism to another
2. Food web—shows all the possible feeding ____relationship____ among the organisms in a community
C. ___energy pyramid_____—shows the amount of energy available at each feeding level in an ecosystem

Meeting Individual Needs
Note-taking Worksheet (continued)