Term | Definition |
Basic Needs | The things an organism needs to survive such as; food, water, air, and shelter. |
Community | A group of organisms that live together in the same environment. A group of fish, frogs, dragonflies, water plants live together in a pond environment. |
Competition | A contest between organisms for food. |
Drought | A long period of time with little to no rain. |
Ecosystem | ALL living and non-living things in an environment. |
Individual Organism | Any living single (one) member of a population. One frog in a group of frogs. |
Interdependent | An organism that depends on each other for survival. For example, some vines depend on trees so that they can reach sunlight in a heavily wooded area. |
Living Organism | Something in the environment that grows, changes, eats, breathes, takes in carbon dioxide, produces waste, reproduces (has babies) or makes it's own food. |
Non-Living Organism | Something in the environment that does not eat, breathe or produce waste. Not living. |
Population | ALL members of a species living in the same environment |
Relationship | A connection between two or more things. For example, a living fish uses non-living water to live in...that is their connection. |
Species | Th smallest group of organisms of the same kind that are able to produce offspring (babies). There are many species of frogs. |
Survive | To stay alive |
Bacteria | A one cell organism with no nucleus that can make you sick, or heal you. |
Carnivore | An animal that eats other animals for food |
Compost | Dead and decaying plant matter. Gardeners save plant matter to put in their gardens to provide nutrients for growing plants. |
Consumer | An organism that receives energy by eating other organisms whether they be plant or animals. |
Decomposer | An organism that receives energy by breaking down dead matter, returning it nutrients (food) to the environment |
Food Chain | The transfer of energy from producers to consumers in order, starting from the SUN in an ecosystem |
Food Web | A system of overlapping connecting food chains in an ecosystem |
Herbivore/Grazers | A consumer that eats only plants. Grazers usually eat grass. |
Nutrients | A substance needed by an organism to grow and survive...food! |
Omnivore | An organism that eats both plants and animals |
Producer | An organism that makes it's own food. PLANTS only make their own food through a process called PHOTOSYNTHESIS. |
Scavenger | An animal that feeds on the remains of dead animals or garbage. Turkey Buzzards love road kill! |
Human Impact | The effect on humans in the environment. For example, pollution left by humans in the water can cause fish to die |
Deforestation | To cut down trees so that young trees can survive....usually done by the logging industry. It also helps prevent forest fires from occuring |
Carbon/Oxygen Cycle | The movement of Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen among plants, animals and non-living parts of the environment. Carbon Dioxide is breathed OUT by animals, and taken in by plants. Oxygen is released by plants and breathed IN by animals. |
Structural Adaptation | A structure or physical feature (like hooves, feathers or webbed feet) that help the organism survive in it's environment |
Overpopulation | A situation that causes the organism to become too great in number for the area they occupy |
Behavioral Adaptation | the action an organism takes to survive like like migrating to another location or hibernation |
Inherited Trait | A trait or characteristic passed from parent to offspring (baby) through genes |
Learned Behavior | A behavior that is taught or acquired through experience |
Complete Metamorphosis | The life cycle of an organism whose appearance changes at each of the four stages |
Incomplete Metamorphosis | The life cycle of an organism whose appearance does not change and has three stages |
Nymph | A stage of incomplete metamorphosis where the young insect resembles the adult |
Reproduce | To have offspring (babies) |
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