Question | Answer |
ecosystem | a community and the abiotic parts of its environment |
biotic | relating to the living parts of the environment |
abiotic | relating to the nonliving parts of the environment |
habitat | the part of an environment in which an organism lives |
population | organisms of the same species living together in the same environment |
community | the populations living in the same environment at the same time |
niche | the role of an organism in an ecosystem |
biome | a region of the world that is defined by its climate and the unique plants and animals that live there |
deciduous forest | a biome in which the dominant plants are broad-leaved trees that shed their leaves each fall |
grassland | a biome where the dominant plants are grasses |
taiga | a biome where winters are very cold and long and the dominant plants are conifers |
evaporation | the change of water from liquid water to water vapor |
condensation | the process by which water vapor changes from a gas to liquid |
transpiration | the process by which plants lose water to the air |
water cycle | the movement of water through Earth's ecosystems |
precipitation | the process by which water returns to Earth's surface, usually as rain or snow |
carbon cycle | the flow of carbon dioxide and oxygen through Earth's ecosystems |
nitrogen cycle | the movement of nitrogen through ecosystems |
reusable resources | resources that can be used again and again |
renewable resources | resources that can be replaced within a human life span |
nonrenewable resources | resources that cannot be replaced within a human life span |
producer | an organism that makes its own food |
consumer | an organism that eats other organisms |
decomposer | a type of consumer that gets its food by breaking down animal wastes and remains of dead plants and animals |
predator | an animal that feeds on other living animals |
prey | the animals predators eat |
scavengers | an animal that eats the remains of animals that have died |
food chain | shows how energy is passed through several organisms |
food web | shows many more of the feeding relationships in an ecosystem |
energy pyramid | one way to show how energy is used in an ecosystem; each level has only about 1/10th as much energy as the level below |
symbiosis | "living together"; It is a relationship between two organisms of different species that benefits one or both of the organisms. |
parasitism | a symbiotic relationship for one organism where the other organism is harmed |
mutualism | symbiotic relationship that benefits both organisms involved. |
commensalism | symbiotic relationship that benefits one organism and doesn't harm or help the other organism. |
In a parasitic relationship which organism is harmed? | the host |
continental shelf | the gently sloping part of a continent that is under water and rings each continent |
continental slope | the edge of a continent that drops steeply down to the deep-ocean floor |
abyssal plain | the vast floor of the deep oceans |
mid-ocean ridge | the place where plates of the Earth's crust along the ocean floor are being split apart and molten rock pushes up to form new ocean floor and a mountain range |
trench | a place where two plates of the Earth's crust hit each other, forming a deep part of the ocean |
seamount | a steep-sided volcanic mountain under the ocean |
atoll | a ring of islands around a shallow central lagoon |
intertidal zone | the area between the high-tide mark and the low-tide mark |
coral reef | a structure built by living creatures |
estuary | a place where a freshwater environment and a saltwater environment meet |
troposphere | the bottom layer of the Earth's atmosphere |
thermosphere | the upper layer of the atmosphere where temperatures are extremely high |
mesosphere | the layer of atmosphere where air is thin and most meteors burn up |
stratosphere | the layer of the atmosphere in which ozone is present |
air mass | a large body of air that has the same characteristics throughout |
air pressure | the weight of air pressing down on an area |
relative humidity | a comparison of the actual amount of moisture in the air to the greatest possible amount that could be in the air at the same temperature and pressure |
front | the border between two air masses that collide |
forecast | a prediction of what the weather will be like in the future |
station model | an arrangement of symbols and numbers that show the weather conditions recorded at a weather station |
surface map | a map that includes station models and information about fronts and about centers of high pressure and low pressure |
weather balloon | a balloon released into the atmosphere that carries a package of instruments that records data about temperature, air pressure, and humidity |
weather map | a map that shows data about recent weather conditions across a large area |
thunderstorm | a very strong storm with a lot of rain, thunder, and lightning |
hurricane | a large, spiraling storm system that can be as much as 600 km across |
tropical storm | the stage of hurricane development when the winds of a tropical depression reach a constant speed of 63 km/hr |
tornado | an intense windstorm that often forms within a severe thunderstorm |