Grade 8 Physics Worksheet: Ecosystems Assessment Prep

Ecosystems Assessment Prep

Grade 8 Physics Ecosystems Assessment Prep Medium 20 Questions 26 Views

Classroom Worksheet

Grade 8 Physics Worksheet: Ecosystems Assessment Prep

Ecosystems Assessment Prep

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Grade: Grade 8

Subject: Physics

Topic: Ecosystems

Time: 20 Minutes

Difficulty: Medium

Questions: 20

Instructions:
Read each question carefully and answer in complete sentences when needed. Show your work for calculation questions. Questions get a little more challenging as you go.

Skills Practiced:

Ecosystems
Physics
Critical Thinking
Problem Solving

1Question

What is an ecosystem?

2Question

Name two biotic factors in a forest ecosystem.

3Question

Name two abiotic factors in a pond ecosystem.

4Question

What is the role of a producer in an ecosystem?

5Question

What does a consumer get energy from?

6Question

What is a decomposer?

7Question

In a food chain, what is the main source of energy for most ecosystems on Earth?

8Question

Look at this food chain: grass → rabbit → fox. Which organism is the primary consumer?

9Question

Look at this food chain: algae → small fish → big fish → heron. Which organism is the secondary consumer?

10Question

What happens to energy as it moves from one level of a food chain to the next?

11Question

Why are food chains usually short?

12Question

What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

13Question

A frog eats insects, and a snake eats the frog. If the insect population decreases, what may happen to the frog population?

14Question

If the rabbit population in a meadow increases greatly, what may happen to the grass population? Explain briefly.

15Question

What is carrying capacity?

16Question

In a lake, the amount of dissolved oxygen drops. Name one type of organism that may be affected and explain why.

17Question

How can temperature changes affect an ecosystem?

18Question

Why might the removal of one species from a food web affect many other species?

19Question

A wildfire removes many plants from a habitat. Describe two effects this may have on the ecosystem.

20Question

A scientist notices that after a drought, the number of insects decreases, followed by a drop in bird numbers and then a rise in weed growth. Explain how these changes are connected in the ecosystem.

Answer Key

#	Answer
1	An ecosystem is a community of living things and the nonliving parts of their environment interacting together.
2	Any two living parts of the ecosystem, such as trees, birds, insects, fungi, or animals.
3	Any two nonliving parts, such as sunlight, water temperature, rocks, dissolved oxygen, or soil.
4	A producer makes its own food, usually using sunlight through photosynthesis.
5	A consumer gets energy by eating other organisms.
6	A decomposer is an organism that breaks down dead plants, dead animals, and waste materials.
7	The Sun.
8	The rabbit.
9	The big fish.
10	Only part of the energy is transferred; much of it is lost as heat and through life processes.
11	Because energy decreases at each trophic level, so there is less energy available for higher levels.
12	A food chain shows one pathway of energy transfer, while a food web shows many connected feeding relationships.
13	The frog population may decrease because there is less food available.
14	The grass population may decrease because more rabbits will eat more grass.
15	Carrying capacity is the largest number of organisms an environment can support over time with available resources.
16	Fish may be affected because they need dissolved oxygen to breathe.
17	Temperature changes can affect survival, reproduction, and the availability of food or water for organisms.
18	Because many organisms are connected through feeding relationships, so removing one species can change predator and prey populations.
19	Possible effects include less food for herbivores, fewer places for animals to live, soil erosion, and changes in population sizes.
20	The drought reduced insect numbers, which affected birds that eat insects. With fewer birds and possibly fewer plants eaten by insects, weed growth could increase. The changes show how one abiotic change can affect multiple populations in a food web.