Environmental Systems and Societies IB1 Exam Please read this page, but do not open your booklet until your teacher tells you to start. Write your name in the spaces below. First name______________________________________ Last name______________________________________ Remember The test is 1 ½ hours long. There are 3 sections to the exam:- Section A – Multiple Choice – answer all questions Section B – Longer questions – answer all questions Section C – Essay style question – choose only one question from this section Answer all questions on the writing paper provided Check your work carefully. Ask your teacher if you are not sure what to do. There are 11 pages and 1 blank page
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Environmental Systems and
Societies
IB1 Exam
Please read this page, but do not open your booklet until your teacher tells you to start. Write your
name in the spaces below.
First name______________________________________
Last name______________________________________
Remember
The test is 1 ½ hours long.
There are 3 sections to the exam:-
Section A – Multiple Choice – answer all questions
Section B – Longer questions – answer all questions
Section C – Essay style question – choose only one question from this
section
Answer all questions on the writing paper provided
Check your work carefully.
Ask your teacher if you are not sure what to do.
There are 11 pages and 1 blank page
Page | 2
Section A – Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following could be described as an isolated system?
A. The entire universe
B. The planet Earth
C. The biosphere
D. A remote island
2. Which statement describes the result of the first law of thermodynamics?
A. The amount of energy available to do useful work in a system decreases over time.
B. Doing work always creates heat.
C. Total energy input is always equal to total energy output.
D. Energy cannot be recycled.
The diagram below refers to question 3 and question 4. It represents a terrestrial food web
in the deserts of the south-west USA.
3. Which statement is a correct description of the Hognose snake?
A. It is a tertiary consumer only.
B. It is a quaternary consumer only.
C. It is a tertiary and quaternary consumer.
D. It is the top carnivore.
Page | 3
4. Which of the following organisms named below is part of the trophic level which makes
most efficient use of energy input for that food chain?
A. Garter snake
B. Sparrow
C Rabbit
D. Hognose snake
5. In a European forest, oak tree leaves are eaten by small caterpillars, which are eaten by
small birds (Bluetit), that then are eaten by larger birds (Sparrowhawk).
Which of the following pairs of pyramids are most likely to represent this food chain?
Page | 4
6. Toxins such as heavy metals are more likely to kill top predators than organisms lower in the
food chain. Which is the best explanation of this effect?
A. Herbivores rapidly excrete heavy metals.
B. Top predators often eat dead animals which may have been poisoned.
C. The digestive system of top predators allows toxins to enter their bloodstream
more readily.
D. Non-biodegradable toxins become more concentrated as they move up the food
chain.
7. Which list shows the major biomes of the world in the correct order of increasing latitude?
A. Hot desert, tropical rainforest, tundra, temperate forest
B. Tropical rainforest, hot desert, temperate forest, tundra
C. Tropical rainforest, temperate forest, hot desert, tundra
D. Tropical rainforest, hot desert, tundra, temperate forest
8. The diagram below represents a balanced model ecosystem.
Which of the following would have to be supplied, from the outside, to enable the aquarium
to act as a model for an ecosystem?
I. Light
II. Carbon dioxide
III. Minerals
IV. Oxygen
A. I only
B. II and IV only
C. I, II and III only
D. I, II, III and IV
Page | 5
9. The biomass assimilated by heterotrophic organisms measured in units of mass per unit area
per unit time is
A. gross primary productivity.
B. net primary productivity.
C. carrying capacity.
D. gross secondary productivity.
10. Which of the following statements is correct?
A. A community is a collection of ecosystems sharing similar climatic conditions.
B. A species is a group of organisms of the same population living in the same area at
the same time.
C. Two species of a community may share the same habitat but not the same niche.
D. A population may include two different species living in the same community.
Page | 6
Section B – Longer answers
11. The graph below shows the density of creosote bushes (Larrea tridentata) plotted
against rainfall in the Mojave Desert in California.
Describe and explain the trend shown in the graph. [4 marks]
density of bushes varies from less than 1 to 5 per 100m2;
density increases with rainfall / shows a positive correlation with rainfall / is directly
proportional to rainfall;
there is likely to be severe competition for water between plants in a desert region;
(E)
rainfall/water is a limiting factor; (E)
hence low density in areas on lowest rainfall; (E)
the correlation is not exact / considerable scatter in data;
there is one anomalous point/outlier;
other factors e.g. production of growth inhibiting toxins / spread of roots / soil type
may reduce/increase density; (E)
possibility of human activities having an effect/clearing/burning; (E) [4 max]
Any other reasonable answer.
Must have at least one “explain” point (E) for full *4+ marks.
Summer 2009 paper2 question 3
Page | 7
12. a) Name and briefly describe an ecosystem that you have studied. [1]
b) Name three abiotic factors that are important in this ecosystem. [1]
c) For one of these abiotic factors explain how it may affect the abundance of a
named organism that is found in the ecosystem. [2]
d) Explain how a named biotic factor other than human activity might affect the
abundance of the organism named in 12 (c). [2]
(a) Allow [1] for an actual name (toponym) or reasonable location and brief description.
e.g. Wytham Wood, Oxford, UK, mixed deciduous woodland;
Herdsman Lake, Perth, Western Australia, freshwater lake surrounded by
swampland;
small secondary woodlot near Woodbridge, Connecticut, USA;
“Wood” or “Lake” in “name of country”/“tropical rainforest” without a location is insufficient for
credit.
(b) Award [1] for any three abiotic factors appropriate for the ecosystem selected.
e.g. for Wytham Wood
soil pH / temperature / rainfall / sunshine / aspect;
(c) name of organism e.g. (wood)mice;
affected by rainfall which floods burrows and impedes breeding;
Award [1] for name of organism and [1] for effect of factor.
Reject tree, shrub, bird, fish, and other very generic names.
(d) e.g. predation/competition/disease/parasitism;
(e.g. predation by tawny owls) reduces numbers of mice;
Award [1] for named biotic factor and [1] for effect of factor – direction of change in abundance e.g.
increase/decrease/reduce must be specified.
Summer 2009 paper2 question 5
Page | 8
13. This table gives a list of energy sources used to generate electricity and their cost per
kilowatt hour.
a) Identify the two energy sources with the average lowest cost in Figure 1, and state one
advantage and one disadvantage of each. [3]
b) Outline two reasons why a country may not use the cheapest energy source to produce
electricity. [2]
c) Suggest two reasons why it is so difficult to persuade people to reduce the amount of
energy that they use. [2]
d) Describe how the second law of thermodynamics applies to environmental systems. [1]
Ecosystems summer 2009 paper 1 question 1
Energy source Advantage Disadvantage
natural gas; plentiful supply at present / cheaper than burning coal or oil;
burning releases carbon dioxide / non renewable;
wind; renewable resource / once turbines built it is cheap;
only available when wind blows / not always near population centres;
Award [1 max] for natural gas/wind.
Award [1] for each pair of correct responses of advantages and/or disadvantages.
Do not credit “cheap” with no qualifier.
Accept any reasonable advantages or disadvantages.
Credit advantages and disadvantages for an incorrect source to avoid error carried forward.
(b) inertia / satisfied with existing system;
country wishes to increase diversity of energy sources;
pressure to meet quotas for renewable energy;
some resources not continuously available;
country does not have that resource e.g. HEP, near sea for wave;
Accept other reasonable responses.
(c) people are selfish / inertia / tragedy of the commons;
people desire a better lifestyle which is equated with wanting more e.g. bigger car /
having a fridge;
Page | 9
poor design of equipment/buildings e.g. standby on electrical equipment / phantom loads;
education; (do not accept “don’t know better”)
(d) environmental systems increase their disorder / all energy ends up as heat;
environmental systems increase their order so go against the law for a short time;
Do not credit answers which just state the second law without relating it to
environmental systems.
Page | 10
14. The following two figures show a rocky seashore and the distribution of four species of
animal on the seashore. Mean high water mark represents a high tide and mean low water
mark a low tide. The abundance of each species is shown by the thickness of the bars.
a) Identify one abiotic (physical) factor which changes from mean low water mark to mean
high water mark.[1]
b) Mussels are permanently attached to a rock and feed by filtering small particles of food
out of sea water. Suggest one reason why they are only found in the intertidal zone. [1]
c) Distinguish between the terms herbivory and predation. [2]
d) List the following terms in increasing order of size. [1]
Biome, Ecosystem, Biosphere, Habitat
Ecosystems summer 2009 paper 1 question 2
a) time submerged in sea water decreases / time in air increases / salt water
/slope/gradient / area of beach habitat / exposure to wind / oxygen availability
/temperature / exposure to sun;
b) cannot survive drying out for too long;
Page | 11
cannot compete with organisms which are always submerged;
are able to close their shells so conserve water/not dessicate, but need water to be able
to feed;
turbulence increases food availability;
Accept other reasonable responses.
c) herbivory: process of an animal eating a plant;
predation: process of an animal eating another animal;
d)
All four in correct order needed for [1] mark.
Page | 12
15. The graph below shows changes in the sea level on the island of Oahu in the
Hawaiian Islands, Pacific Ocean, over the last century. Zero represents the mean sea level
in 1950.
a) Describe and discuss possible explanations for the shape of the curve in the graph. [6]
b) Identify the years in which the lowest and highest levels were recorded. [1]
c) Describe processes that might be involved in the transfer of phosphorus from the water
of the ocean surrounding a remote island to the soil of that island. [3]
d) State whether a remote oceanic island is an open, closed or isolated system. Explain
your answer. [1]
Summer 2008 paper 2 question 1
a) long-term trend of an apparent rise in sea-level;
approx 12 cm (± 3 cm) rise in about 90 years;
possibly due to greenhouse effect / increase in greenhouse gases in atmosphere