Vocabulary
What is an organism called that makes its own food using sunlight?
Producer
In the food chain grass → rabbit → fox, which organism is the producer?
Grass
A hawk catches and eats a mouse. What is the hawk's role in this relationship?
Predator
Are rocks, sunlight, and water examples of biotic or abiotic factors?
Abiotic factors
Why do plants need sunlight?
Plants use energy from sunlight to make their own food.
What do we call an animal that eats both plants and animals?
Omnivore
In the food chain grass → mouse → snake → hawk, what would most likely happen to the grass population if the mouse population greatly increased?
The grass population would likely decrease because more mice would be eating it.
A tick lives on a deer and feeds on its blood. What type of relationship is this?
Parasite and host. The tick is the parasite, and the deer is the host.
Are mushrooms, insects, and trees examples of biotic or abiotic factors?
Biotic factors
A forest has many rabbits and foxes. If the fox population suddenly decreases, what would most likely happen to the rabbit population?
The rabbit population would likely increase because fewer foxes are hunting them.
What is the difference between a herbivore and a carnivore?
A herbivore eats plants, while a carnivore eats other animals.
What do the arrows in a food chain represent?
The direction energy moves from one organism to another.
What organisms break down dead plants and animals and return nutrients to the environment?
Decomposers
What are the four main limiting resources that can affect the size of a population?
Food, water, space, and shelter.
A pond has 30 frogs. A drought causes the pond's water supply to decrease. What will most likely happen to the frog population? Explain why.
The frog population will likely decrease because water is a limiting factor needed for survival.
What is an ecosystem?
All the living and nonliving things interacting in an environment.
In the food chain Sun → grass → grasshopper → frog → snake, identify the herbivore and two carnivores.
Herbivore: Grasshopper. Carnivores: Frog and snake.
Two rabbits live in the same area and need the same limited supply of grass. What relationship is occurring?
Competition. Both rabbits need the same limited food resource.
What is carrying capacity?
The largest population an environment can support with its available resources.
Which organism would be most helpful in breaking down food scraps in a compost pile?
A. Butterfly
B. Mushroom
C. Rabbit
D. Grass
B. Mushroom — mushrooms are fungi that act as decomposers.
Why are animals classified as consumers instead of producers?
Animals cannot make their own food and must eat other organisms to obtain energy.
In a food web, both frogs and birds eat grasshoppers. What relationship exists between the frogs and birds? Explain why.
Competition. Both organisms depend on the same food source (grasshoppers).
A disease kills many trees in a forest. What will most likely happen to the population of animals that depend on those trees for food and shelter? Explain why.
Their populations will likely decrease because they have less food and shelter available.
A forest becomes overcrowded with deer. Explain how overcrowding could affect the deer population.
The deer would have to compete for limited food, water, space, and shelter. Some deer might die or move away, causing the population to decrease.
Study this food chain:
Sun → Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake
If the frog population greatly decreases, what would most likely happen to the grasshopper population and the grass population?
The grasshopper population would likely increase because fewer frogs are eating them. The grass population would likely decrease because more grasshoppers would be eating it.