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Ecosystems
Vocabulary for 5th grade ecosystem unit
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| population | a group of one kind of organism living in an ecosystem |
| ecosystem | a community of organisms and their environment |
| food chain | the transfer of food energy between organisms in an ecosystem |
| food web | a diagram that shows the relationship between different food chains in an environment |
| biotic | living |
| abiotic | nonliving |
| producer | organism, such as a plant, that makes its own food |
| consumer | organism that does not make its own food, but must consume or eat plants, animals or both |
| photosynthesis | the process by which plants make their own food using sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients |
| symbiosis | the relationship between different organisms in an ecosystem when at least one organism benefits from the relationship |
| mutualism | a type of symbiosis in which both organisms benefit |
| commensalism | a type of symbiosis in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected |
| parasitism | a type of symbiosis in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed |
| predation | occurs when one organism (predator) eats another (prey) |