Atmosphere

The diagram below summarizes part of the carbon cycle in a Florida ecosystem.

Which of the following statements about the carbon cycle is accurate?

• The scrub jay receives carbon from plants in the form of glucose.

• An individual carbon atom may move rapidly or slowly from the atmosphere to plants to scrub jays.

• The total amount of carbon in the carbon cycle fluctuates as the scrub jay population seasonally fluctuates.

• As carbon circulates among the scrub jay, other animals, and the atmosphere, it remains in a narrow range of molecules.

The carbon cycle is shown in the diagram below.

From this information, which statement correctly describes a step in the carbon cycle?

• Photosynthesis adds carbon directly to the lithosphere.

• Plant respiration adds carbon directly to the atmosphere.

• Burning fossil fuels removes carbon directly from the biosphere.

• Animal respiration removes carbon directly from the atmosphere.

.On field trip to an orange grove, Susan walked between the large rows of trees. As she walked, she considered the cycle of our relationship to trees in exchanging different materials with them.

Which of these best describes one of the natural cycles that is taking place while Susan is at the orange grove?

• She exhales carbon dioxide, which the trees use with other substances combined in cellular respiration to produce water.

• She inhales oxygen from the trees, which will combine with other substances in cellular respiration, to produce water.

• She exhales carbon dioxide, which the trees use to combine in photosynthesis to produce more carbon dioxide.

• She inhales oxygen from the trees, which will combine in photosynthesis to produce carbon dioxide.

Which two stages of the water cycle happen after evaporation?

• runoff and precipitation

• precipitation and transpiration

• condensation and precipitation

• condensation and transpiration

Which of the following would most likely result in decreasing carbon dioxide levels in a lake?

• an increase in the amount of precipitation

• a decrease in competition among consumers

• an increase in the number of fish caught from the lake

• a decrease in the amount of sedimentation entering the lake

Which example demonstrates an interaction between the geosphere and the atmosphere?

• waves

• El Niño

• hurricane

• photosynthesis

Which statement correctly identifies a direct interaction between two of the major Earth systems?

• The cryosphere (frozen water system) impacts the biosphere when a glacier form.

• The hydrosphere impacts the atmosphere when a flood affects many organisms.

• The geosphere impacts the atmosphere when a volcanic eruption sends ash and hot gases into the air.

• The biosphere impacts the hydrosphere when plants increase the amount of oxygen in the air.

In the early 20th century, many southern farmers found that the yields of their chief crop, cotton, were significantly decreasing. The chemist George Washington Carver recognized that the repeated growth of a single crop in the same field season after season was depleting the soil of essential minerals. He encouraged farmers to rotate the crops they grew in a plot of land, growing nitrogen-rich peanuts, legumes, or other crops for a season before replanting cotton. Which two spheres were most impacted by this technique?

• the geosphere and the biosphere

• the biosphere and the atmosphere

• the hydrosphere and the geosphere

• the atmosphere and the hydrosphere

The diagram below shows the exchange of carbon on Earth.

Which biological processes are represented at X and Y in the diagram?

• X: decomposition; Y: fermentation

• X: cellular respiration Y: decomposition

• X: photosynthesis; Y: cellular respiration

• X: fermentation; Y: photosynthesis

The diagram shows some stages of the water cycle.

What process is occurring at points 1 and 2?

• Water is being absorbed through the roots of plants.

• Water is condensing on the surfaces of plant leaves.

• Water is evaporating from the ground under the plants.

• Water is being released from plants through transpiration.