Download Abiotic Factors

Abiotic Factors
Environmental Factors
• Living ___________________ depend on each other for food and
__________________.
• The features of the environment that are _____________ or were once
alive, are called ___________________ factors.
• The term ______________ means “________________”.
• ________________ factors are not the only things in an
____________________________ that are important to life.
Environmental Factors Cont.
• Most __________________ cannot grow without __________________,
air, water, and soil.
• The nonliving, ___________________ features of the environment are
called __________________ factors.
• The ____________ a means “___________”.
• The term _________________ means “not ________________”.
• Abiotic factors include ______________, water, soil, sunlight,
__________________________, and climate.
• The abiotic factors in an ___________________ often determine which
kinds of ________________________ live there.
Air
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Air is _____________________ and plentiful, so it is easily overlooked as
an ________________ factor of the environment.
The air that ____________________ Earth is called the
___________________________.
Air contains 78% __________________, 21% ________________, .94%
________________, .03% _________________ dioxide, and trace
amounts of other ________________.
Some of these ________________ provide substances that
__________________ life.
Air Cont.
• Carbon _________________ is required for
________________________.
• During photosynthesis _____________________ is
_____________________ into the atmosphere.
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Air breathing _____________, like us, need ____________________ to
breathe.
Plants, some __________________, algae, _________________, and
other organisms need oxygen to breathe as well.
Water
• _____________ is essential to __________________ on Earth.
• It is a major ___________________ of the fluid inside the
___________________ of organisms.
• In fact, most organisms are _____%-_______% water.
• Many life _________________ can only take place in the
________________ of water.
Soil
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Soil is a _______________ of mineral and rock _________________, the
remains of dead organisms, water, and air.
It is the ___________________ layer of Earth’s ________________
and it supports plant growth.
________________ is formed, in part, of rock that has been broken down
into ______________ particles.
Soil is considered an ___________________ factor because most of it is
made up of ____________________ rock and mineral particles.
However, ____________ contains _____________ factors as well.
For example: dead organisms, ___________________, fungi, worms, and
_______________, which is decaying matter.
The type of _________________ present in a region determines what
types of _____________________ grow there.
Sunlight
• All life requires _________________, and sunlight is the energy source
for almost all life on ____________________.
• During ____________________, producers convert the light energy from
the sun into chemical energy that is stored as _____________.
• _____________________ are organisms that can not make their own
_________________ .
• Energy is passed to ____________________ when they eat
________________________ or other consumers.
Temperature
• ________________ supplies life on Earth with light energy for
photosynthesis and heat energy for _______________.
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Most organisms can survive only if their body __________________ stay
within range of 0 degrees C to ______ degrees C.
The temperature of a __________________ depends in part on the
amount of _____________________ it receives.
The amount of sunlight depends on the land’s ___________________ and
_______________________.
Latitude
• Cities located farther from the __________________ tend to have
___________________ temperatures than cities at latitudes nearer the
equator.
• __________________ regions receive less of the Sun’s energy than
_______________________ regions.
• Near the equator, __________________ strikes Earth at an
__________________, which spreads the energy over a larger area.
Elevation
• A region’s ____________________, or distance above
___________________ level, affects its temperature.
• Earth’s atmosphere acts as _______________________ that
__________________ the sun’s heat.
• At __________________ elevations the atmosphere is
_____________________ than at lower elevations.
• Air becomes __________________ when sunlight heats
______________________ in the air.
• Because there are fewer molecules at higher ____________________, air
___________________ there tend to be cooler.
• At higher elevations, trees are ___________________ and the ground is
_________________.
• Above the ____________________, the elevation beyond which trees do
not grow, plant life is limited to __________________________ plants.
• The tops of some ____________________ are so cold that no plants can
_______________________.
• Some ____________________ peaks are covered with
________________ year-round.
Climate
• _________________ refers to an area’s average weather conditions over
time, including temperature, _____________________ or other
precipitation, and wind.
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For the majority of living things, temperature and
_____________________ are the two most important
________________________ of climate.
The average ___________________ and rainfall in an area influence the
type of _____________________ found there.
Wind
• Heat energy from the sun not only determines ____________________
but also is responsible for the __________________.
• The ___________ is made up of _____________________ of gas.
• As __________________ increases, the ________________ spread
farther apart.
• As a result, ______________ air is ______________ than cold air.
• Colder air _______________ below warmer air and _________________
it upward.
• These _______________ create air ________________ that are called
wind.
The Rain Shadow Effect
• The presence of __________________ can affect _________________
patterns.
• Wind blowing toward one side of a ____________________ is forced
_________________ by the mountain’s shape.
• As the _____________ nears the top of the mountain, it
________________.
• When air cools, the ___________________ it contains falls as
____________________ or snow.
• By the time the cool air ________________ over the top of the mountain,
it has lost most of its ____________________.
• The ________________ side of the mountain range receives much less
_____________________.
• It is not uncommon to find lush __________________ on one side of a
mountain range and _____________________ on the other side.
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