Download Section 2

OCT TRAILBLAZER- SCIENCE
Section 1
Read each question carefully. Choose the most suitable answer.
1.
The following are components that all living things need to survive, except:
A. Water.
B. Air.
C. Sunlight.
D. Wind.
2. Which of the following is not a characteristic of living things?
A. Is made up of cells.
B. Grows.
C. Reproduces.
D. Does not respond to stimuli.
3. What is the relationship between two different organisms that gain benefits from each
other, called?
A. Parasitism.
B. Mutualism.
C. Predation.
D. Competition.
4. Which of the following can make their own food?
A. Fog.
B. Sloth.
C. Stinkbug.
D. Bromeliads.
5. What is the name given to the way in which organisms get their own food?
A. Nutrition.
B. Excretion
C. Respiration.
D. Indigestion.
1
Section 2
Answer the questions in the spaces provided.
6. Study the picture below and answer the following questions.
a. The picture above is of epiphytes. What are epiphytes?
______________________________________________________________________
b. Are epiphytes parasites? Explain.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2
c. Orchids are a type of epiphyte. How is the orchid root able to absorb water without
drying out?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
d. How do epiphytes help or benefit other organism living in the same habitat? Give one
example.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3
Answer Key
Section 1
1. D. Wind.
Tip: Air is made up of several gases, but the two most important gases are oxygen and
carbon dioxide. Without oxygen, animals will die, and without carbon dioxide, plants cannot
survive.
2. D. Does not respond to stimuli.
Tip: Response to stimuli is an important characteristic of life. Anything that causes a living
organism to react is called a stimulus. Stimuli can be external or internal.
3. B. Mutualism.
Tip: The heart of mutualism is that two species live together in harmony. Both species
receive an advantage by working with the other.
4. D. Bromeliads.
Tip: Plants make their own food, glucose, in a process called photosynthesis.
5. A. Nutrition.
Tip: Organisms need energy to live and they get this energy from their food. Some
organisms make their own food and some organisms get their food by consuming other
organisms.
Section 2
6.
a. Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants without ever having their roots in the soil.
b. Epiphytes are not parasites, as they do not feed on the plants they are on. They live on
airborne moisture and dust particles, which they absorb mainly through specialized
leaves and also through aerial roots that anchor the plants.
c. Orchids have a special white coating on their roots that is a layer of dead cells that
enables the roots to absorb rainwater and water in the air and keeps it from drying out.
d. Accept any appropriate answers.
 The bromeliad leaves can hold water which provides a drinking supply for many
canopy animals.
 Some frogs use the water reservoir of the bromeliads as a breeding ground.
 Insect larvae, which exist in the pool of water in the bromeliad leaves, are a great
source of food for some animals.
 The epiphytes provide seeds and nectar for birds and other animals that live in the
canopy.
4