Question | Answer |
What is an Ecosystem? | the interaction between the biotic (living or once living) factors and abiotic (non-living) factors |
What is a biotic factor? | parts of an ecosystem that are living or were once |
What is an abiotic factor? | parts of an ecosystem that are non-living |
What are four main abiotic factors? | Sun, Air, Water, Soil |
What does the sun provide? | Provides warmth to living organisms
Provides solar energy (light) for green plants to make their own food
The number of hours of daylight triggers seasonal events, such as:
-plants flowering
-birds migrating |
What does water provide? | Important for life processes of all living things (plants and animals) such as:
-distributing food particles through their bodies
-digesting food
Important for organisms that live under water, such as:
-trout
-whales
-algae |
What does air provide? | Provides oxygen (O2), which animals breathe
Provides carbon dioxide (CO2) for plants to use to make their own food |
What does soil provide? | Provides a home for many animals that live underground
-earthworms
Provides nutrients for plants |
What is an organism? | any living thing-plant or animal |
What's a species? | a group of similar organisms that can reproduce |
What is a population? | a group of organisms of the same species (one species) living together in one place at one time. |
What is a community? | all the populations of all the living things in an area (more than one species). |
What is a habitat? What 4 things does an organism need to find in a habitat? | a habitat is the home or location where an organism lives. In a habitat, an organism must find: water, food, shelter and space |
What is a niche? | an organism’s role (job) in the ecosystem. It includes what it eats, where it lives, and what it does. Two species cannot occupy the same niche. |
What are producers? | organisms that can make their own food |
What 3 things do plants need to take in to make their own food? | Sunlight, Water, Carbon Dioxide |
What is the process called by which green plants take in sunglight, carbon dioxide and water to make their own food? | Photosynthesis |
In what part of the leaf does photosynthesis occur? | Chloroplasts |
What are the green pigments called in the chloroplasts that absorb light? | Chlorophyll |
What is a consumer? | organisms that must eat other organisms (plants or animals) for their food. Consumers cannot make their own food. Consumers come in all shapes and sizes and all eat very different things. |
What is a herbivore? | plant-eating consumers |
What is a carnivore? | meat-eating consumers |
What is an omnivore? | consumers that eat both plants and animals |
What is a scavenger? | consumers that eat dead plants and dead animals |
What are the 3 levels of consumers? | Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Consumers |
What is a primary consumer? | “first eaters”---these consumers eat the producers. |
What is a secondary consumer? | “second eaters”---these consumers eat the primary consumers. |
What is a tertiary consumer? | “third eaters”---these consumers eat the secondary consumers. |
What is a decomposer? | organisms that break down the cells of dead material and recycle the nutrients back into the ecosystem. Eventually all food chains end in decomposers. |
What are 3 examples of decomposers? | Bacteria, Fungi (mushrooms, molds, yeast), and Worms |
What 5 conditions promote decomposers? | Warmth, lots of air, lots of food, moisture (water), darkness |
What is the difference between a decomposer and a scavenger? | scavengers eat dead material that they find (they have mouths) and decomposers break down the cells of dead material. |