Question | Answer |
producer | An organism that can make its own food. |
consumer | An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms. |
herbivore | A consumer that eats only plants. |
carnivore | A consumer that eats only animals. |
omnivore | A consumer that eats both plants and animals. |
scavenger | A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms. |
decomposer | An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms. |
food chain | A series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy. |
food web | The pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem. |
energy pyramid | A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another. |
water cycle | The continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back. |
evaporation | The process by which molecules of a liquid absorbs energy and change to a gas. |
condensation | The process by which a gas changes to a liquid. |
precipitation | Rain, snow, sleet or hail. |
nitrogen fixation | The process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usable form. |
biogeography | The study of where organisms live |
continental drift | The very slow motion of the continents. |
exotic species | Species that are carried to a new location by people. |
climate | The typical weather pattern in an area over a long period of time. |
dispersal | The movement of organisms from one place to another. |