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MYP 2 / Level 13 /Sciences

Unit 5: Communities
SOI: “To achieve fairness, development must balance the needs of current communities
with the needs of future communities.”

Name: _____________________ Date: ____________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

The questions in this test will be used to give you a criterion A level, it is
divided into three sections.
Section A: questions that will assess how you explain your scientific
knowledge.
Section B: questions that will assess your application of scientific knowledge
and how you use it to solve problems.
Section C: questions that will assess the way you analyse and evaluate
information to make scientifically supported judgments.
Each question is designed to be hierarchical; this means that as you answer each
question you will find it will get progressively more difficult. You should attempt all of
the questions.

Achieved SECTION
Level
A B C

1–2

3–4

5–6

7-8

Your achievement level: ____________________________________________

What could you do to improve your level on the next assessment:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Read the following article very carefully and answer the questions from each section.

Symbiotic Relationships in the Rainforest

www.sciencing.com

Updated January 28, 2020

By Debashree Sen
Reviewed by: Lana Bandoim, B.S.
A forest ecosystem describes the community of plants, animals, microbes and all other organisms in
interaction with the chemical and physical features of their environment: Specifically, a terrestrial
environment dominated by trees growing in a closed canopy — a forest, in other words.

The organisms involved in a forest ecosystem definition are interdependent on one another for survival and
can be broadly classified according to their ecological role as producers, consumers and decomposers. To
describe forest ecosystem dynamics, you'll use a well-known example of such an ecosystem as your
model: the Amazon rainforest of South America.

Let’s start your look at forest ecology where energy from the sun enters the system: at the producer level,
made up of organisms that can manufacture their own energy from this solar input. Green plants
conducting photosynthesis serve as the producers of a forest ecosystem, and in the tropical rainforest of
the Amazon, typically arrange themselves in four layers.

The emergent layer includes huge trees towering 165 feet or more that are spaced far apart. Beneath these
emergent trees lies the main canopy,composed of closely spaced trees generally 65 to 165 feet tall. They
provide fruits, nectar and seeds for many creatures. The understory supports few plants as it receives very
little sunlight. Almost nothing grows on the forest floor as it is devoid of sunlight.
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Primary consumers can’t manufacture their own energy and instead obtain it by eating green plants.
Scientists call such plant-eating animals herbivores. Herbivores may eat a wide variety of different plant
materials depending on their physical adaptations and habitat preferences.

In the Amazon, a semi-aquatic rodent known as a capybara, forages on the forest floor and in wetlands for
grasses and water plants. Other primary consumers, such as the red howler monkey, live in the rainforest
canopy and feed on the leaves, flowers, fruits and nuts of trees.
Secondary consumers feed on primary consumers (aka herbivores) to obtain the energy originally
produced by green plants, while tertiary consumers feed on other secondary consumers.

These meat-eating animals are known as carnivores, and many act both as secondary and tertiary
consumers depending on the creature they’re preying on. The jaguar — the biggest mammalian carnivore
in the Amazon — may prey on capybaras, a primary consumer, but also readily hunts such secondary
consumers as caimans, in which case — as a carnivore eating a carnivore — it plays the role of a tertiary
consumer.

Some secondary and tertiary consumers mix up an animal diet with plant matter. For example, the golden
lion tamarin, a small monkey, will eat both fruits as well as insects and frogs. Such consumers are known
as omnivores.

Predators thrive in all the layers of the Amazon rainforest. Ocelots and jaguars hunt for mammals, reptiles
and birds on the forest floor and understory. Harpy eagles and the green snakes called emerald tree boas
prey on birds, lizards and mammals for food.
The decomposers of the forest ecosystem break down dead plants and animals, returning the nutrients to
the soil to be made usable by the producers. Apart from bacteria, ants and termites are important
decomposers in the Amazon rainforest. Millipedes and earthworms also help to break down dead matter.
The warm and moist climate of the Amazon is conducive for the decomposers to work at a rapid pace:
Dead matter is broken down within six weeks.

The organisms of this ecosystem are interdependent on each other for survival. An example in this regard
is the relationship between Azteca ants and cecropia trees. The ants, which thrive in the hollow stems of
the trees, depend on the special juice produced by the trees for food. In exchange, the ants chase away the
insects that may harm the ceropias and kill the climbing vines that might choke these trees. This sort of
close, interactive relationship between two organisms is an example of symbiosis.

Another example of a symbiotic relationship is the one between ants and caterpillars. The ants feed on
sweet juices produced by spots on the caterpillars’ back. In return, they protect the caterpillars from attack.

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SECTION A: Scientific knowledge

1. Draw two food chains from the given examples in the article and explain the roles
of each member of the food chain.

SECTION B: Apply scientific knowledge and understanding to solve problems

2. Offer an example about competition in this community.

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SECTION C: Interpret information to make scientifically supported judgements

Discuss the given example about symbiotic relationship in this article, what kind of
relationship it presents and what are the living organisms involved.

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Criterion A: Knowing and understanding

Maximum: 8
At the end of year 1, students should be able to:
i. outline scientific knowledge
ii. apply scientific knowledge and understanding to solve problems set in familiar situations and
suggest solutions to problems set in unfamiliar situations
iii. interpret information to make scientifically supported judgments.
Level Level descriptor Task-specific clarifications
The student does not reach a standard described by
0 any of the descriptors below.

The student is able to:

i. select scientific knowledge.
ii. select scientific knowledge and
1 understanding to suggest solutions
2 to problems set in familiar
situations.
iii. apply information to make
judgments, with limited success.

The student is able to:

i. recall scientific knowledge.
ii. apply scientific knowledge and
3 understanding to suggest solutions
4 to problems set in familiar
situations.
iii. apply information to make
judgments.

The student is able to:

i. state scientific knowledge
ii. apply scientific knowledge and
5 understanding to solve problems set
6 in familiar situations
iii. apply information to make
scientifically supported
judgments.

The student is able to:

i. outline scientific knowledge.
ii. apply scientific knowledge and
understanding to solve problems set
in familiar situations and suggest
7 solutions to problems set in
8 unfamiliar situations.
iii. interpret information to make
scientifically supported
judgments.

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