Science Assesment #7 Revamp

To recap our knowledge of ecology and environmental issues, the students in N.E.W. all had to take a multiple choice test. To further learn about the topics we did not score as well in, each group was assigned to find two videos that let us take a deeper dive learning.

Fossil Fuels
One topic we did not fully understand was fossil fuels. To learn more about fossil fuels, we used the below video posted by Earth: The Operator's Manual, a show about the environment on PBS.

Fossil fuels are powerful but an inefficient resource. Natural gas, coal, and oil are made from the carbon and energy in plants over the process of millions of years. Plants store carbon for energy, so after millenia, the dead matter of these plants that still contains carbon is put into the ground. Putting all of these carbon molecules under intense heat and pressure makes energy dense fuel such as oil, carbon and natural gas. Each form of fossil fuel comes from different conditions of heat and pressure.

Heterotrophs, Autotrophs, Phototrophs, and Chemotrophs
The second subject we were all confused about was the labeling of autotrophs and phototrophs. The below video by Biology Professor goes into detail about these terms and how they relate to each other. The biology professor has a Ph.D in Microbiology and Immuniology.

Biotic factors that obtain their carbon from organic sources are called heterotrophs. Others take it in through environmental carbon and are called autotrophs. Organisms can also be categorized by their energy sources. Organisms that get energy from their sunlight are phototrophs. Other organisms cannot do this and use inorganic chemicals and are called chemotrophs. All organisms need both carbon and energy so these categories can be combined. There are four categories, photoautotrophs (plants, algae), photoheterotrophs (certain types of bacteria), chemoautotrophs (extremophiles), chemoheterotrophs(animals).