Personalised Learning Checklists SL Biology Topic 4

Topic 3 Ecology
Topic Student Checklist R A G
 Outline that species are groups of organisms that can potentially interbreed
to produce fertile offspring.
 Outline that members of a species may be reproductively isolated in
separate populations
 State that species have either an autotrophic or heterotrophic method of
nutrition, mentioning that a few species have both methods and be able to
give and identify examples of each
 Outline that consumers are heterotrophs that feed on living organisms by
ingestion.
 Outline that detritivores are heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from
detritus by internal digestion
 Outline that saprotrophs are heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from
dead organisms by external digestion.
 Distinguish between consumers, detritivores and saprotrophs.
 Explain how a community is formed by populations of different species
living together and interacting with each other.
 State that a community forms an ecosystem by its interactions with the
abiotic environment.
 State that autotrophs obtain inorganic nutrients from the abiotic
environment.
 Outline how the supply of inorganic nutrients is maintained by nutrient
cycling.
 State that ecosystems have the potential to be sustainable over long periods
of time.
 Set up sealed mesocosms to try to establish a sustainable system.
 Test for association between two species by using the chi-squared test with
data obtained by quadrat sampling.
 Recognise and interpret statistical significance
 Outline that most ecosystems rely on a supply of energy from sunlight.
 Outline that light energy is converted to chemical energy in carbon
compounds by photosynthesis.
 Describe how chemical energy in carbon compounds flows through food
chains by means of feeding.
 Outline how energy released from carbon compounds by respiration is used
in living organisms and converted to heat.
 State that living organisms cannot convert heat to other forms of energy.
 Outline how heat is lost from ecosystems.
 Explain how energy losses between trophic levels restrict the length of
food chains and the biomass of higher trophic levels.
 Draw quantitative representations of energy flow using pyramids of
energy.
 Understand different models used to represent organisms in an
ecosystem and their significance.
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 Personalised Learning Checklists SL Biology Topic 4
 Outline that autotrophs convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and
other carbon compounds.
 Outline that in aquatic ecosystems carbon is present as dissolved carbon
dioxide and hydrogen carbonate ions.
 Outline that carbon dioxide diffuses from the atmosphere or water into
autotrophs.
 Explain how carbon dioxide is produced by respiration and diffuses out of
organisms into water or the atmosphere.
 Explain how methane is produced from organic matter in anaerobic
conditions by methanogenic archaeans, and some diffuses into the
atmosphere or accumulates in the ground.
 State that methane is oxidised to carbon dioxide and water in the
atmosphere.
 Outline how peat forms when organic matter is not fully decomposed
because of acidic and/or anaerobic conditions in waterlogged soils.
 Outline that partially decomposed organic matter from past geological eras
was converted either into coal or into oil and gas that accumulate in porous
rocks.
 Explain how carbon dioxide is produced by the combustion of biomass and
fossilised organic matter.
 Outline that animals, such as reef-building corals and molluscs, have hard
parts that are composed of calcium carbonate and can become fossilised in
limestone.
 Explain how the two alleles of each gene separate into different haploid
daughter nuclei during meiosis.
 Outline that fusion of gametes results in diploid zygotes, with two alleles of
each gene that may be the same allele or different alleles.
 Construct a diagram of the carbon cycle.
 Estimate carbon fluxes (in gigatonnes) due to processes in the carbon
cycle.
 Analyse data from air monitoring stations to explain annual
fluctuations.
 Outline that carbon dioxide and water vapour are the most significant
greenhouse gases.
 Understand that ozone depletion is not the cause of the intensified
greenhouse effect.
 Outline that other gases, including methane and nitrogen oxides, have less
impact.
 Explain how the impact of a gas depends on its ability to absorb longwave
radiation, as well as its concentration in the atmosphere.
 Explain that the warmed Earth emits longer wavelength radiation (heat).
 Outline how longer wavelength radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases,
which retain the heat in the atmosphere.
 Outline that global temperatures and climate patterns are influenced by
concentrations of greenhouse gases.

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 Personalised Learning Checklists SL Biology Topic 4
 Outline that there is a correlation between rising atmospheric
concentrations of carbon dioxide since the start of the industrial revolution
200 years ago and average global temperatures.
 Outline that recent increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are largely due
to increases in the combustion of fossilised organic matter.
 Outline the correlations between global temperatures and carbon dioxide
concentrations on Earth.
 Evaluate claims that human activities are not causing climate change.
 Explain how coral reefs are threatened by increasing
concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide.
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