Man and His Environment
Easy Level (30%)
1. Which of the following best defines the environment?
- a) The natural world including only plants and animals
- b) All living things and non-living things surrounding an organism
- c) The activities done by humans
- d) Ecosystems and the atmosphere only
2. What is ecology?
- a) The study of human population growth
- b) The study of relationships between organisms and their environment
- c) The study of human impact on earth
- d) The study of natural resources
3. In an ecosystem, plants are generally known as:
- a) Consumers
- b) Producers
- c) Decomposers
- d) Parasites
4. Which term describes the variety of life on Earth?
- a) Ecosystem
- b) Population
- c) Biodiversity
- d) Habitat
5. What does a food chain represent?
- a) The habitat of organisms
- b) The flow of energy in an ecosystem
- c) The competition between species
- d) The structure of a community
6. Which of the following is an abiotic component of an ecosystem?
- a) Plants
- b) Animals
- c) Sunlight
- d) Bacteria
7. What is sustainable development?
- a) Use of resources without harming future generations
- b) Increasing the industrial footprint
- c) Rapid economic development
- d) Limited use of resources
8. Which cycle involves the exchange of water in nature?
- a) Nitrogen cycle
- b) Water cycle
- c) Carbon cycle
- d) Phosphorus cycle
9. Which of these is a primary consumer?
- a) Plants
- b) Deer
- c) Wolves
- d) Fungi
10. What is the main source of energy for most ecosystems?
- a) The ocean
- b) The sun
- c) Volcanoes
- d) Soil
Moderate Level (40%)
11. The level of ecological organization that consists of different populations is called a:
- a) Biosphere
- b) Population
- c) Community
- d) Ecosystem
12. Which process is primarily responsible for adding oxygen to the atmosphere?
- a) Photosynthesis
- b) Respiration
- c) Decomposition
- d) Nitrogen fixation
13. Which of the following is an example of mutualism?
- a) A lion hunting a deer
- b) A tick feeding on a dog
- c) Bees pollinating flowers
- d) Fungi decomposing dead organisms
14. In which ecological pyramid is the total biomass measured at each trophic level?
- a) Pyramid of numbers
- b) Pyramid of energy
- c) Pyramid of biomass
- d) Pyramid of species
15. Which of the following statements is true about decomposers?
- a) They make their own food
- b) They help recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem
- c) They produce energy through photosynthesis
- d) They do not depend on other organisms
16. Which component is considered a biotic factor in an ecosystem?
- a) Sunlight
- b) Water
- c) Fungi
- d) Minerals
17. What is the role of autotrophs in an ecosystem?
- a) To consume other organisms
- b) To recycle dead material
- c) To produce energy from sunlight
- d) To act as predators
18. Which biogeochemical cycle involves the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to a usable form for plants?
- a) Carbon cycle
- b) Water cycle
- c) Nitrogen cycle
- d) Phosphorus cycle
19. Which of the following describes the nitrogen cycle?
- a) Transfer of carbon between plants and animals
- b) Circulation of nitrogen between organisms and the environment
- c) Movement of water through ecosystems
- d) Production of oxygen by plants
20. What is a niche in an ecosystem?
- a) A physical area where an organism lives
- b) The role or function of an organism within its environment
- c) A group of similar organisms
- d) The total biomass of an ecosystem
21. Which type of organism can convert sunlight into chemical energy?
- a) Heterotroph
- b) Autotroph
- c) Decomposer
- d) Scavenger
22. Which of the following is an example of an ecosystem?
- a) Only trees
- b) Animals and plants
- c) Forest with all its organisms and environment
- d) Plants only
23. How does deforestation affect biodiversity?
- a) It increases biodiversity
- b) It reduces biodiversity
- c) It has no effect on biodiversity
- d) It only affects abiotic factors
24. Which of the following is an example of symbiosis?
- a) Fish swimming in a school
- b) Birds hunting insects together
- c) A clownfish living with a sea anemone
- d) A deer grazing on grass
25. What is the main reason for the buildup of greenhouse gases?
- a) Respiration by plants
- b) Burning of fossil fuels
- c) Photosynthesis
- d) Water cycle
26. What is a habitat?
- a) The role of an organism
- b) The place where an organism lives
- c) An entire ecosystem
- d) A specific type of food
27. Which of the following pollutants is a greenhouse gas?
- a) Oxygen
- b) Nitrogen
- c) Carbon dioxide
- d) Neon
28. Which of the following statements is true about energy flow in ecosystems?
- a) Energy flows in cycles
- b) Energy flows in one direction
- c) Energy can flow in any direction
- d) Energy remains constant at each level
29. The practice of conserving resources through reduction, reuse, and recycling is known as:
- a) Waste disposal
- b) The 3 R's
- c) Biogeochemical cycling
- d) Deforestation
30. Which of the following describes the phosphorus cycle?
- a) Involves the movement of water
- b) Involves the weathering of rocks
- c) Transfers nitrogen between organisms
- d) Releases oxygen into the atmosphere
Tough Level (30%)
31. What limits the number of trophic levels in an ecosystem?
- a) Abundance of sunlight
- b) Energy loss at each trophic level
- c) Diversity of species
- d) Water availability
32. Which of the following is a likely consequence of introducing an invasive species into an ecosystem?
- a) Increased native biodiversity
- b) Stabilization of the ecosystem
- c) Disruption of existing food webs
- d) More food for native predators
33. Why is the carbon cycle critical for maintaining life?
- a) It balances the amount of water on Earth
- b) It provides energy to decomposers
- c) It regulates the levels of carbon dioxide and oxygen
- d) It circulates minerals in the soil
34. Which ecological pyramid can never be inverted?
- a) Pyramid of numbers
- b) Pyramid of energy
- c) Pyramid of biomass
- d) Pyramid of species
35. Which of the following best describes biomagnification?
- a) The increase in population size of predators
- b) The concentration of toxins at higher trophic levels
- c) The process of photosynthesis in producers
- d) The reproduction of organisms in ecosystems
36. What is the primary cause of acid rain?
- a) Carbon dioxide emissions
- b) Sulfur and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere
- c) Ozone layer depletion
- d) Methane gas emissions
37. **How does cellular respiration contribute to the carbon cycle?**
- a) By releasing oxygen into the atmosphere
- b) By using sunlight to produce glucose
- c) By converting glucose to carbon dioxide
- d) By adding carbon to fossil fuels
38. What does a pyramid of energy illustrate?
- a) The total number of organisms
- b) The total biomass at each level
- c) The flow of energy from producers to top consumers
- d) The concentration of nutrients at
each level
39. In a food web, how is energy primarily lost between trophic levels?
- a) Through digestion
- b) As heat
- c) Through respiration only
- d) As stored fat
40. Which of the following biomes has the highest biodiversity?
- a) Tundra
- b) Desert
- c) Tropical rainforest
- d) Grassland
Answers
1. b
2. b
3. b
4. c
5. b
6. c
7. a
8. b
9. b
10. b
11. c
12. a
13. c
14. c
15. b
16. c
17. c
18. c
19. b
20. b
21. b
22. c
23. b
24. c
25. b
26. b
27. c
28. b
29. b
30. b
31. b
32. c
33. c
34. b
35. b
36. b
37. c
38. c
39. b
40. c