MISAMIS UNIVERSITY OZAMIS CITY

COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ELECTIVE
MR. SOC VIRNYL ESTELA
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

COURSE OUTLINE: PRELIMS

• The Environmental Science
• Energy Flow Through the Ecosystem
• Biogeochemical Cycles

THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Environmental science is the dynamic, interdisciplinary
study of the interaction of the living and non-living parts of
the environment.

THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE

Environmental science gathers knowledge about the
natural world. Since it is a science, it follows a step-by-
step process called the "scientific method" - an empirical
method of acquiring knowledge.
ENERGY FLOW THROUGH THE ECOSYSTEM

THE SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY ENERGY – the ability to do work.

One thing common to all forms of science: an ultimate
goal to know. WORK – definition in the physical sciences which is to
cause change.
Two methods of logical thinking are used:
• inductive reasoning
• deductive reasoning ENERGY IN VARIOUS FORMS

INDUCTIVE REASONING: a form of logical thinking that

uses related observations to arrive at a general
conclusion.

DEDUCTIVE REASONING: a form of logical reasoning

that is used in hypothesis-based science.
 MISAMIS UNIVERSITY OZAMIS CITY
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ELECTIVE
MR. SOC VIRNYL ESTELA
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

Energy can take in many forms. In the environment or • trophic level

ecosystem or even the biosphere, energy is converted • biomass
from one form to another. • gross primary productivity
• net primary productivity
Wasted energy because of inefficient conversion is
usually in the form of heat.
TROPHIC LEVEL
FORMS OF ENERGY: light energy, chemical energy, a particular position occupied by a group of organisms
mechanical energy, electrical energy in a food chain or food pyramid:

• primary producer
• primary consumer
HOW ORGANISMS ACQUIRE ENERGY • secondary consumer
:RADIOACTIVE_SIGN: • tertiary consumer
All living things require energy. Plants get energy from the
Sun. Herbivores get their energy from plants. And so on. With each trophic level higher, the amount of
energy is lost as heat.
Depending on their roles in the environment, organisms
can either be autotrophs, or heterotrophs.

The names of their roles change based on the source

of energy: photo-, chemolitho-, chemo-

For now we will just focus on chemoautotrophs,

photoautotrophs and heterotrophs.

PHOTOAUTOTROPHS
The word photo means light.

The suffix -troph means "nutrient matter".

Plants are photoautotrophs. This means they acquire

energy from light energy and convert it to chemical energy
using carbon dioxide (and water) via the process of
photosynthesis.

The main source of energy would be the Sun.

BIOMASS
the weight or total quantity of living organisms in a
given area or ecosystem at a given time.
HETEROTROPHS
The word hetero means "other". Biomass on each trophic level, starting from producer to
consumers, will be lower than the previous:
Animals are heterotrophs. This means they cannot
produce their own food without consuming other low → high biomass is to
organisms. consumer ← producer trophic levels

Since animals require other organisms which are also

another source of organic substrate, they are rightfully HEAT: byproduct of all the trophic levels
called as organotrophs.

PRODUCTIVITY WITHIN TROPHIC LEVELS

 MISAMIS UNIVERSITY OZAMIS CITY
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ELECTIVE
MR. SOC VIRNYL ESTELA
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

GROSS PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY • Carbon returns to the atmosphere

It is the rate at which photosynthetic primary producers - cellular respiration - combustion
incorporate energy from the Sun.

CARBON SINK – A sink is a part of the cycle which

NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY removes a nutrient from the cycle for long periods of
It is the remainder of energy in the primary producers time.
after accounting heat loss.
- Limestone
- Fossil Fuels
RO
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE OR NUTRIENT CYCLE
A Biogeochemical cycle is the movement of materials
through the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) parts
of an ecosystem.

They are the pathways that 4 materials vital to life follow

through an ecosystem.

• Carbon.
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Water

These materials cycle through both biotic and abiotic

reservoirs in an ecosystem:

BIOTIC RESERVOIRS are the living things that these

materials move through. (living things)
ABIOTIC RESERVOIRS are the non-living things that
these materials move through. (atmosphere, water)
• The carbon in fossil fuels has been stored in the
earth for millions of years.
• Burning them for energy releases the CO2 back to
the atmosphere.

CARBON CYCLE a. causing a rapid increase in CO2 in the

CARBON is the backbone for many of the most atmosphere
important molecules used by living things.
b. CO2 is a greenhouse gas which traps heat,
carbohydrates, fats, protein, nucleic acid warming the Earth.

c. Increasing CO2 is leading to Global Climate

• Carbon exists as CO2 in the atmosphere: Change

• CO2 in the atmosphere cannot be used by living

things – it must be converted into a usable form
through photosynthesis in plants.

• CO2 is used to make glucose – the carbon in

glucose can be used by living things.
MISAMIS UNIVERSITY OZAMIS CITY
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ELECTIVE
MR. SOC VIRNYL ESTELA
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

IMPORTANCE OF CARBON CYCLE

- Respiration/Photosynthesis
- Long Term vs Short Term
- Limestone Deposits
- Connection to Fossil Fuels
- Greenhouse Gas
- Carbon Sinks

NITROGEN CYCLE
Nitrogen is used by living things to make proteins and
nucleic acids (DNA & RNA)

• Nitrogen exists in the atmosphere as N2. The N2

molecule will not react and so must be converted to
be used by living things.

• Large amounts of energy are needed to split the N2

molecule – lightning will split Nitrogen.
 MISAMIS UNIVERSITY OZAMIS CITY
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ELECTIVE
MR. SOC VIRNYL ESTELA
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

Certain bacteria contain the enzymes necessary to

convert N2 into useable forms of nitrogen called
nitrates NO2 or NO3.

• these nitrogen fixing bacteria are found in the soil

and in symbiotic relationships with certain plants
called legumes. (beans, peas, etc.)

• The nitrates enter the food chain when plants

assimilate them – take them up and use them.

PHOSPHORUS CYCLE
Phosphorus in needed to make Nucleic Acids – DNA
and RNA.

It is scarce in the biosphere – most is locked away in

rocks and ocean sediment.

The phosphorus enters an ecosystem when rocks are

weathered (eroded).

• some of the phosphorus is retained in soil and

some finds its way into water.

• The phosphorus enters the food chain when it is

assimilated by plants..
 MISAMIS UNIVERSITY OZAMIS CITY
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ELECTIVE
MR. SOC VIRNYL ESTELA
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE
WATER CYCLE
The water cycle is powered by the Sun.
water evaporates and moves into the atmosphere to
begin the cycle.
• TRANSPIRATION: the evaporation of water from
plants – accounts for large amounts of water moving
into the atmosphere.
• the moisture cools and condenses to become clouds.
• the moisture falls back to earth as PRECIPITATION
– rain, snow, sleet, hail etc...
• some of the water percolates back into the ground
and
• becomes ground water.
• some of the water runs off and finds its way through
rivers to lakes and the ocean.
TRANSPIRATION
Plant leaves have openings on the bottom called
stomata.
• the stomata open during photosynthesis to allow
CO2 into the leaf.
• water evaporates from the leaf while the stomata
are open.
Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus are typically in
limited supply in an ecosystem.
• the limited supply of nutrients limits the overall
productivity of a given ecosystem
• If additional quantities of the limited nutrient are
added to an ecosystem, productivity increases.
GREEN REVOLUTION
People have learned how to use chemical processes to
fix nitrogen, and mine phosphorus. The use of fertilizer
has led to a boom in food production.
IMPORTANCE OF OXYGEN
• In aquatic ecosystems, additional quantities of a
limiting nutrient cause algae to multiply out of control.
• when the algae die, they sink to the bottom and are
decomposed- unfortunately the decomposers
remove oxygen from the water creating dead zones
area without enough oxygen to support life.
• this process is called EUTROPHICATION.
CONCLUSION
are different, because they get recycled. For one thing,
the atoms in your body are not brand new. Instead,
they've been cycling through the biosphere for a long,
long time, and they've been part of many organisms and
nonliving compounds along the way. The chemical
components that make up living organisms