Scribd
Upload
12 views

Science Notes

notes stage 8 Cambridge science

Uploaded by

touanouria87
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
12 views

Science Notes

notes stage 8 Cambridge science

Uploaded by

touanouria87
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Toua Akame Zoe Emmanuelle Nouria Thursday, 28th November 2024

ISP2 B

Science Notes
Unit 4.2 – Different ecosystems

• Mangrove forest

• Mangroves are trees that grow with their roots in sea water. They form forests along
the coasts of many tropical countries.

• Young fish live among the mangrove roots, which protects them from larger fish that
might eat them. Mud skippers climb out onto the mode when the tide is low, feeding
on whatever they can find.

• As the mangrove leaves fall on the mud, they are decomposed by the bacteria. Prawns
and crabs eat the partly decomposed leaves.

• Crab-eating macaques, which is a specie of monkeys, climb through the trees and
catch crabs on the tree roots and mud.

• Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean

• During the winter in the Arctic Ocean, it is so cold that of the sea water freezes.

• Seals hunt for fish in the water, but have to come to the surface of the water to
breathe air.

• Polar beats patrol the ice, to look for seals to kill and eat. Polar bears are good
swimmers, and come move from one ice floe to another.

• Arctic foxes also look for food on the ice.

• Enough light passes through the ice to allow tiny algae, which are single-celled plants
to grow on the underside of the ice floes.

• Tiny shrimp-like organisms eat the algae, and the fish eat the shrimps.
Toua Akame Zoe Emmanuelle Nouria Thursday, 28th November 2024
ISP2 B

• Rice paddy

• Not all ecosystems are natural. This area of rice paddies in Malaysia is farmed by
people. At some times of the year, the paddy fields are flooded with water. Algae grow
in the shallow water, and on the mud at the sides of the flooded areas. Fish swim into
the flooded paddies from the irrigation canals. Frogs and dragonflies breed in the
water. As the water is low in depth, it heats up fast during the day, and cools down
quickly at night. Farmers often add fertilizer to the paddy fields, making not only the
rice and algae to grow faster, providing more food for the other animals. And many
birds feed in and around the paddy fields.

Unit 4.3 – Intruders in an ecosystem


Objectives
− Learn about how new or invasive species can affect and ecosystem

Notes

• The introduction of new species in an area can cause a positive and


negative impact to the ecosystem living and being sustained there.
• In New Zealand, before humans arrived, many of the native species of
bird’s nest on the ground, and as there were no animals that would eat
the birds, the eggs and the baby birds could stay living there with no
risk.
• But when humans arrived into New Zealand, they started bringing
species that did not even originate there. Now rats mostly live in the
country, and they eat bird’s eggs and defenseless young birds, sheep
that were taken into New Zealand for wool and meat, and stoats that are
fierce and fast hunters who already killed 60% of kiwi chicks and made
several species extinct, which is about 53, as they hunt and eat them,
and they have become an invasive species.
Toua Akame Zoe Emmanuelle Nouria Thursday, 28th November 2024
ISP2 B
Unit 4.4 – Bioaccumulation

• DDT is a harmful chemical that is very toxic to living organisms. First used to kill
mosquitos and other organisms that spread diseases, after the publishing and reading
of the book, Silent Spring, by Rachael Carson, scientists and us discovered that DDT
was not only killing mosquitos, but was also killing birds. We now understand that
DDT, and other chemicals are harmful to the environment and our ecosystems.
• DDT is a persistent chemical as it cannot be decomposed by bacteria in the nature, so
it stays there for several years without any change. When DDT is sprayed, its particles
can be blown and travel long distances, far away from where it was used. When DDT
gets into an organism’s body, it will stay there for its entire lifetime, as it never breaks
down.
• A female ibis laid eggs and they did not hatch as the female had DDT in her body.
DDT makes the shells of bird eggs very thin and easy to break. DDT is very poisonous
to living organisms.
• Bioaccumulation is the process in which a substance accumulates throughout a food
chain or web.
• Biomagnification is the increase in the concentration of a substance throughout the
organisms in the food chain or web. Biomagnification is measured in ppm (parts per
million)
Toua Akame Zoe Emmanuelle Nouria Thursday, 28th November 2024
ISP2 B

You might also like