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Ecosystems
Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Abiotic | Non-living; examples of abiotic factors include soil, water, temperature, rocks, etc. |
Adaptations | Characteristics that help an organism survive in a particular ecosystem (ex. thorns, camouflage) |
Bacteria | single celled organisms; decomposers |
Carnivores | animals that eat only other animals |
Consumers | animals, must eat other organisms to survive |
Decomposers | organisms that break down dead and dying materials into useful material (examples include bacteria, fungi, and earthworms) |
Ecosystem | everything living and non-living in an area |
Food Chain | shows a linear progression of “who eats whom,” the flow of nutrients and energy through an ecosystem; arrows point from what is eaten to the eater (ex. carrot -> bunny) |
Food Web | similar to a food chain, but more complex; branches show all of the nutritional relationships for an entire ecosystem; can demonstrate the balance of an ecosystem |
Herbivores | animals that eat only plants |
Omnivores | animals that eat both plants and other animals (ex. humans, bears) |
Photosynthesis | process that plants use to produce their own food (sugar); occurs in the chloroplasts |
Predator | animals that hunt, kill and eat other animals (ex. lion) |
Prey | animals that are hunted and killed for food (ex. rabbits) |
Producers | organisms that make their own “food” via photosynthesis |
Scavengers | animals that eat dead organisms (ex. vultures, millipedes, flies |