Trophic Level
CER Structure and Logic
Population Dynamics
Vocabulary
100

The role of Flowers and Grass in Legacy Park

What are producers? 

100

The part of the CER argument that states your main belief or conclusion

What is claim? 

100

Food, water, and shelter are the three essential components of this, which is necessary for population stability.

What is Habitat?

100

The name for the non-living things in an ecosystem, such as Sunlight, Water, and Air.

What is abiotic factors? 

200

The role of mushrooms and worms in Legacy Park

What are decomposers? 

200

The part of the CER argument that must contain specific numbers or data from the graphs to be convincing.

What is the Evidence?

200

The Ivy is an example of a biotic factor limiting the Flowers, while Water Availability is an example of this kind of limiting factor.

What is an Abiotic Factor?

200

This is the ecological term for all of the different living populations (Plants, Rabbits, Wolves, Birds, etc.) that interact in Legacy Park.

What is community?

300

The percentage of energy that transfers from one trophic level to another

What is 10%

300

The goal of the Reasoning section, beyond just repeating the Claim and Evidence.

What is to explain how the evidence proves the claim?

300

The entire area of Legacy Park, which includes all the living organisms, the soil, the air, and the water, all interacting as one complex unit.

What is an Ecosystem?

300

The general term for a species that is non-native and causes harm to an ecosystem.

What is an Invasive Species?

400

Based on the food chain, a Small Bird that eats seeds and beetles is this type of Consumer.

What is an omnivore? or Primary and Secondary Consumer

400

The final, crucial step in a strong argument that connects the Claim and Evidence using scientific principles.

What is the reasoning? 

400

The name for the environmental conditions (like low water, or high Ivy population) that keep a population size from increasing indefinitely.

What are Limiting Factors?

400

The abiotic factor that the English Ivy reduced for the native Flowers, causing the Flowers' population to crash.

What is Sunlight?

500

The specific biotic factor that was the most direct limiting factor for the Wolf population in Legacy Park.

What are rabbits? 

500

This is the mistake made if you use the stable Sunlight data to argue that the Flowers declined, even though the Ivy data is much more relevant.

What is using irrelevant evidence?

500

The term for the maximum number of organisms an environment can sustain.

What is Carrying Capacity?

500

The collective term for the Rabbit, Wolf, and Small Bird in the Legacy Park food web, since they cannot make their own food.

What is a Heterotroph?

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