Question | Answer |
organism | any living thing |
energy pyramid | a triangular diagram that shows an ecosystems loss of energy |
producer | organisms that use energy in sunlight to make their own food |
consumer | organisms that cannot make their own energy. They must eat to gain energy |
food chain | shows how energy flows from one organism to another |
food web | shows the feeding relationships between organisms in the ecosystem |
primary consumer | consumers that eat producers to get energy |
secondary consumer | consumers that eat another consumer for energy |
herbivore | consumers that only eat plants |
carnivore | consumers that only eat meat |
omnivore | consumers that eat plants and animals |
scavenger | eats dead plants and animals |
decomposer | they are the final link of the energy cycle and they return nutrients to the environment |
stimulus | anything in the environment that causes a response in an organism |
response | reaction to the stimulus |
adaptation | a structure or behavior that helps an organism survive and function better in it's environment |
dormancy | a period of inactivity where it does not grow in order to survive unfavorable environmental conditions |
germination | when a seed begins to sprout |
tropism | plant growth in response to a stimulus |
phototropism | plant growth in response to light |
thermotropism | plant growth in response to heat |
geotropism | plant growth in response to gravity |
biome | a large geographical area with similar climates and ecosystems |
biotic factor | living parts of the environment |
abiotic factor | non-living parts of the environment |
limiting factor | any biotic or abiotic factor that causes a population to decrease |
community | populations of different species that live in the same area |
individual | any living thing or organism |
tolerance | the ability of an organism to survive changes in biotic and abiotic environmental factors |
population | a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area |
ecosystem | the relationship between the living and nonliving parts of an environment |