Topic 27 What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it — what needs James (13)

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 1 · tests LIF5-020

EasyMCQType 1 — a described place: which sign of a healthy ecosystem it shows

A lake in Vermont holds trout, frogs, water lilies, ducks and otters. Which sign of a healthy ecosystem does the lake show?

1. a) many different kinds of living things ← key
2. b) clean water
3. c) enough food for every eater
4. d) no dead logs or weeds anywhere

Why it is this type: A healthy ecosystem has many different kinds of living things. The lake holds five different kinds. So the lake shows the sign many different kinds of living things.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 2 · tests LIF5-020

EasyMCQType 2 — which of four places is a healthy ecosystem / shows clean water / is the healthiest / shows the most signs (table)

Which of these four places in Illinois is a healthy ecosystem?

1. a) a ditch holding only green algae
2. b) a parking lot with one weed in a crack
3. c) a clear pond with twelve kinds of living things ← key
4. d) a lawn mowed short, with one kind of grass

Why it is this type: A healthy ecosystem has many different kinds of living things and clean water. Only the pond has many kinds and clear water; the ditch, the parking lot and the lawn each hold one kind. So the pond is the healthy ecosystem.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 3 · tests LIF5-020

EasyMCQType 3 — what a dead log or a weed is in the ecosystem; which sentence about the log is true; what one kind of living thing means for the eaters

A rotting log lies on a forest floor in Oregon, with beetles under its bark and mushrooms growing on top. Which sentence about the log is true?

1. a) The log should be taken away to keep the forest healthy.
2. b) The log shows that the forest is in poor health.
3. c) The log takes food away from the forest's living things.
4. d) The log is food and a home for the forest's living things. ← key

Why it is this type: Dead logs and weeds are part of a healthy ecosystem: they are food and homes. The beetles live under the log's bark, and the mushrooms feed on the log. So the log is part of a healthy ecosystem.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 4 · tests LIF5-020

MediumMCQType 4 — Cora's raked park is wrong. What is the correct reason?

Cora says a raked city park in New York, with every dead leaf and branch removed, is a healthier ecosystem than the wild woods beside it, but Cora is wrong. What is the correct reason?

1. a) The raked park has much cleaner water than the wild woods beside it have.
2. b) The wild woods hold far fewer kinds of living things than the raked park holds.
3. c) The wild woods hold many kinds of living things, fed by the dead leaves and branches. ← key
4. d) The park's mowed grass makes much more food than the woods' trees make. Source: LIF5 register SD-3; Lesson 1 (The signs of a healthy ecosystem)'s lawn-and-meadow pair.

Why it is this type: A healthy ecosystem has many different kinds of living things, and dead logs and weeds are part of it. The dead leaves and branches are food and homes, so the wild woods hold many kinds; the raked park holds few. So the wild woods are the healthier ecosystem, and Cora is not right.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 5 · tests LIF5-021

EasyMCQType 5 — which of four actions is beneficial / harmful to a named ecosystem; why a named action is beneficial / harmful

Which of these four things is beneficial to the ecosystem of a stream in Vermont?

1. a) pouring used motor oil into the stream
2. b) picking up the trash along the bank ← key
3. c) cutting down every tree along the bank
4. d) draining the stream to build a road

Why it is this type: What people do is beneficial when it keeps or brings back a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Picking up the trash keeps the water clean; the oil, the cutting and the draining each take a sign away. So picking up the trash is the beneficial thing.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 6 · tests LIF5-021

MediumMCQType 6 — which sign the action brings back, keeps or takes away

A mine in Colorado lets rusty water run into a stream, and the stream turns orange. Which sign of a healthy ecosystem does the rusty water take away?

1. a) many different kinds of living things
2. b) clean water ← key
3. c) enough food for every eater
4. d) soft mud on the bottom

Why it is this type: A healthy ecosystem has clean water. The rusty water turns the stream orange. So the rusty water takes away clean water.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 7 · tests LIF5-021

HardtypedType 7 — the coined word from its definition (habitat, harmful typed); the coined word among its sisters from a fresh case (beneficial; population)

Trucks are driven across a marsh in Nebraska, and the marsh's many kinds of plants are crushed and gone. Type the one word we use for an action like this, one that takes away a sign of a healthy ecosystem.

Accepted answers (typed): harmful / harmfull / harm full / it is harmful / harmful to the ecosystem; wrong_fb for "bad", "beneficial", "harm", "damage", "pollute".

Why it is this type: What people do is harmful when it takes away a sign of a healthy ecosystem. So the word is harmful.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 8 · tests LIF5-022

HardMCQType 8 — a habitat change and one named population: what happens to it (hard: two links chained, or a population outside the chain)

A marsh in Florida is drained. Crows at a dump nearby eat trash, and never ate anything from the marsh. What happens to the crow population?

1. a) It gets smaller.
2. b) It stays the same. ← key
3. c) It grows.
4. d) It changes its body to fit the new place.

Why it is this type: When a habitat changes, a population that loses what it needs gets smaller, and the populations that ate it get smaller too. The crows needed nothing from the marsh and ate nothing from it. So the crow population stays the same.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 9 · tests LIF5-022

HardMCQType 9 — which population grows / gets smaller because it has less food / is first to grow / loses a named food; which sentence says why a population got smaller

A marsh in Michigan is drained, and the cattails need water. Which population is the first to get smaller because it has less FOOD?

1. a) the cattails
2. b) the geese ← key
3. c) the foxes
4. d) the dry-ground grasses

Why it is this type: The populations that ate a population that got smaller get smaller too. The cattails get smaller because they lost water; the geese ate the cattails, so they are the first to lose food; the foxes lose food only after that. So the geese are the first to get smaller because they have less food.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 27 · What a healthy ecosystem looks like, and what people do to it · Type 10 · tests LIF5-022

Hardmulti-selectType 10 — the TWO signs an action keeps; the TWO populations that get smaller because of who eats whom

A bay in Texas fills with mud from a building site, and the seagrass dies. Select the TWO populations that get smaller.

1. a) the gulls that eat trash at the dump
2. b) the shrimp ← key
3. c) the redfish ← key
4. d) the mice that live in the sand dunes

Why it is this type: The populations that ate a population that got smaller get smaller too. The shrimp ate the seagrass, and the redfish ate the shrimp; the gulls eat trash and the dune mice eat seeds, so neither loses food. So the shrimp and the redfish get smaller.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar