Objective —_—_—————— * Describe the impor water and the water cycle a Fig 4.1 A: The water on the surface of the Earth looks blue from space. al environment t living organisms. Sand, rocks The physic when you study Biology, YOU learn abou! sarmples are not living, The water In Lakes: rivers and the mighty ocean sebbles are not livin : ae but the non-living, Physical environment is where Beier vg 4. A). To understand life, we must understan organisms live (s€ physical environments where life exists. isnot Abiotic factors organisms, plants and animals example: Micr depend on a number of abiotic or no living factors to survive. For «, soll or sand making up a landscape affect the type of plans . The organisms that you see on a rocky from the plants and animals in the © The rock: and animals that survive ther mountainside will be very different rich soil of a river valley. ‘© Temperature has a big i Fig 4.1 B. The organisms from the ones where the temperature is often below freezing. © Water is needed for organisms to live, so the amount of water avai life. Water is the environmental factor you w mpact on what can grow and survive ~ see living in a hot environment will be very different in an ecosystem affects all look at in this chapter. a Fig 4.1 B: Desey ie deserts may be cold or hot. It is the lack of water that limits life in both of these condition Why is water so important? About 71% eae of the surface of the Earth is covered in water (see Fig4.2""" ane Morea rivers and lakes. It has carved out our landscapes: AI" ater (96.5%) is in the oceans. Fresh water is rare and Pre” We I ater fills our cells. Up to 60% of an adult human being is water! T" ere pecans varies with your age and what you do. Table 1 shows &* Percentage of water in some of your organsmuscles kidneys heart 3 brain = 73 skin = a | bones oe Pe si gieeensee| a Table 1 Allother animals rely on water too, both as part of their bodies and as a place to live. Some animals, like jellyfish, are up to 90% water! Plants also depend on water (see Fig 4.1). They need watertotransport_ * FIBA} C: Cacti stove food and minerals around their bodies, to make food in photosynthesis and Phicy stems for support. The properties of water itis the special properties of water that make it important to life. Here are three of them: '* Water is a very good solvent. Many substances dissolve in it. All the chemical reactions of life take place in solution in water. Sea water contains 3.5% dissolved sodium chloride (salt) and many other minerals. Your blood is water containing many dissolved food molecules, mineral salts and chemical messengers, as well as your blood cells. Ittakes a lot of energy to heat water up, and it cools down very slowly. This means that the temperature of oceans and big lakes is very stable, so organisms that live in water do not have to cope with big temperature changes. = When water freezes, the solid ice floats on top of the liquid water, as «4 Fig 4.1 D: Ice floats on shown in Fig 4.1 D. it makes an insulating layer that stops the water SoReal very Under the ce freezing, The animals and plants that live in the water then gyaanisms. 9 survive until warmer weather returns. Questions 1. Name two abiotic factors in the physical environment. 2. Suggest two reasons why the plants that grow in a rocky desert will be very different from the plants that grow in a tropical rain forest. 3. a. Display the data shown in Table 1 asa bar chart. © Water is needed by all living things. b. State which organ contains the most water. © Water is an important elementiin the environment of all cmmnioms. State which organ contains least water. “Give three properties of water and explain how they are important for living organisms,Objective © Describe the water cycle 1s Fig 4.2 B: You can see all three states of water in this image of a partly frozen waterfall in Iceland. ——— a, The water cycle Have you had a drink of water today? Imagine yourself taking a sip and Swallowing the water. That water is the very same water that dinosaurs drank millions of years ago! The Earth has been recycling fresh water for call the water cycle around 4 billion years in a process W' Water in the world The water on the Earth moves b lakes, and the Earth's atmosphe! of years to complete. It changes $1 solid (ice), a liquid (water) and a gas (st [below 100°C)) - see Fig 4.2 A and Fig 4.2 B. etween the oceans, glaciers, rivers and re, in a process which takes thousands tate during the process. You find it as a eam [over 100°C] or water vapour boils / evaporates —P melts steam (gas) pe condenses freezes a Fig 4.2 A: Water exists in different states of matter. The water cycle Water moves constantly through the the water cycle (see Fig 4.2 C). environment in the different stages of Evaporation: Energy from the sun heats up the water in puddles, streams, lakes, rivers and oceans. Some of the water evaporates. It tums from a liquid to a gas called water vapour. @ Condensation: Water vapour rises up into the sky. The higher it gets: the cooler itis. When the water vapour cools down, it turns back into liquid water. This is condensation. The small drops of liquid water form clouds in the sky. These clouds can travel thousands of mites up inthe atmosphere, vier 8 . peer The water droplets in the clouds get bigger and he: jore water condenses. When they get big enough, they fall back down" Lor sleet the Earth as precipitation. Precipitation may be rain, snow, hall depending on the temperature of the air. ae © Collection: Precipitation collects in bodies of water, and th ace oe again. It may fall directly into open water such a5 0¢€2" lakes and vers. The precipitation may soak trough the ground unt restos De ss cannot travel through, and be stored there, water aust mu ert underground is called groundwater. W: ae sone kb te Bround, but runs off the surface i"! e whole[evaporation] ivanspiation 4° Fig 4.2 C: The water cycle, Living organisms and the water cycle Living things play a part in the water cycle, Plants absorb water from the soil through thelr roots. It travels through the xylem tissue (Unit 2,6), moving up the plant, and evaporates from the surface of the leaves in a process called transpiration, Animals such as mammals take in water when they drink and intheir food, They lose water when they breathe out, when they produce Urine and faeces, and when they sweat. This water evaporates and forms water vapour in the air as part of the water cycle, © Waters constantly recycled through the 1, Define the following words or phrases: environment in the water vapour ee beeen Water from the surface of the Earth evaporates to form water vapour in the ar. This coots and condenses to form water 2. Rasheed has a drink of water: giopiets iciaids). The 4. Make a flow chart to show how this water has moved through the water droplets fall as ii water cycle to reach Rasheed's cup. perro water, groundwater or b. State how long it takes for a molecule of water to move through run-off, which goes into the water cycle. the open water. condensation 4, transpiration,eyo’ Be Objectives © Describe the water cycle @ Discuss how the uses of science can have a global environmental impact a Fig 4.3 A: We take crude oil from the ground and use it to make many useful substances. 25 fres wate 97.5% salt % i 5 water js roportions of salt Snd{tresh water 1.2% surface ‘water Global warming and the water cycle Have you travelled in a car? Do you use electricity? Then you have probably consumed fossil fuels. Scientists have developed many ways of using foss fuels which bring great benefits to people everywhere. They are also bringing many problems. The carbon dioxide produced when fossil fuels are burned ‘warming our Earth and causing climate change. You will look at this in more detail in Chapters 8, 12 and 13. Problems for the water cycle Climate change is causing problems in the water cycle. Two students, Raja and Mariam, did some research and prepared short reports on how using science can have a global environmental impact. Raja: The ice is melting Most of the water on the Earth is salty - look at Fig 4.3 B. Most of the fresh water is stored as ice in the glaciers and ice caps. This stored water is parto! the water cycle. As the surface of the Earth warms up, the polar ice caps and glaciers around the world are melting fast. The store of fresh water gets smaller as they met into the sea. The sea is also getting warmer and, as it does, it expands (gets bigger). As a result of these two factors, sea levels are rising (see Fig 43 Scientists predict that some island countries and low-lying land will disappear completely in the next 100 years. 4 Fig 4.3 C: The rise in average sea levels over time is caused by glace ‘melting and the sea water expanding : % “4 Fig 4.3 B: These pie charts show you what proportion of the water an 68.7% ce Caps + / “glacies fresh water storage Earth is fresh and how of the fresh water much is stored as ice. oddroughts temperature of the Earth means that from the surface into the air. Warmer Asit rises and cools, we get bigger ms that often lead to flooding washes away soil and causes loss of off and does not soak into the soil. The water left in vaporates quickly in the warmer climate, once the rain 502% more rainfall than normal 50% less rainfall than normal : Areas getting 50% more or 50% less rainfall than normal. 1. Explain simply how our use of science in transport and generating electricity is having a global effect on the environment. Look at Fig 4.3 B. State what percentage of the water on the ue fresh water, and what percentage of that fresh water is stored as ice. 2, 3. Look at Fig 4.3 C and give the approximate rise in average sea level between 1900 and 2000 CE. 4. Look at Fig 4.3 E, Name two parts of the world which are Lai ‘More rainfall than normal, and two which are getting less rainfal Sea. Summarise three global environmental impacts of using fossil fuels, b. Which of these problems seems the most serious to you? Explain why. © Much of the fresh wate in the water cycle is stored in glaciers and the ice caps, © Theuse of science applied to the buming of fossil fuels has a global environmental impact on the surface temperature of the Earth, This is causing problems such as ice melting and the rise of global sea levels, extreme flooding, and droughts. a Fig 4.3 D: When no rain falls, nothing can grow. Plants die, and people and their animals starve.Water and life m of the water cycle ‘a. Name the processes shown at labels A,B,C, Dand E. (5) . Describe what happens in each process. [10] © Waters stored on the Earth in different ways Which water stores are shown by labels X and ¥? (2) 4. Describe two other important fresh water stores. [2] C.D