| Questions | 5 |
| Topics | Decomposers, Infiltration, Prefixes, Tertiary Consumers, Traits |
Decomposers (saprotrophs) are organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down the organic matter in the dead bodies of plants and animals into simple nutrients.
The water then accumulates as runoff and eventually returns to bodies of water or is absorbed into the Earth (infiltration) and becomes part of the water table, an underground resevoir of fresh water.
A prefix is added to the base units of the metric system to indicate variations in size. Each prefix specifies a value relative to the base unit in a multiple of 10. Common prefixes are:
| Prefix | Symbol | Relative Value | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| mega | M | 106 (1,000,000) | Mm |
| kilo | k | 103 (1,000) | km |
| base unit | N/A | 1 | m |
| centi | c | 10-2 (1/100) | cm |
| milli | m | 10-3 (1/1,000) | mm |
Tertiary consumers eat primary consumers and secondary consumers and are typically carnivorous predators. Tertiary consumers may also be omnivores. Examples include wolves, sharks, and human beings.
The traits represented by genes are inherited independently of each other (one from the male and one from the female gamete) and a trait can be dominant or recessive. A dominant trait will be expressed when paired with a recessive trait while two copies of a recessive trait (one from each parent) must be present for the recessive trait to be expressed.