ECOSYSTEM BASICS
Question:
What is the main source of energy for almost every ecosystem?
Answer:
The sun.
Passage
Plants are called producers because they make their own food using energy from the Sun. Rabbits eat plants to get energy. Foxes hunt rabbits for food. When plants and animals die, decomposers such as mushrooms and bacteria break them down. The nutrients from these organisms return to the soil, helping new plants grow.
Question:
Which sentence from the passage best supports the idea that decomposers help ecosystems?
A. "Plants are called producers because they make their own food."
B. "Rabbits eat plants to get energy."
C. "The nutrients from these organisms return to the soil, helping new plants grow."
D. "Foxes hunt rabbits for food."
Answer:
C. "The nutrients from these organisms return to the soil, helping new plants grow."
A tree has 18 branches. Each branch has 24 leaves.
How many leaves are there?
18 × 24 = 432 leaves
Passage
After several weeks without rain, the grass in a meadow began to dry out. As the grass disappeared, rabbits had less food to eat, so many moved to another area. Foxes that hunted the rabbits also had trouble finding food. After heavy rains returned, the grass grew back, and the rabbit and fox populations slowly increased.
Question:
What is the main idea of this passage? Name two details that support your answer.
Answer:
Main Idea: Changes in one part of an ecosystem affect many other organisms.
Supporting Details:
A park uses 18.75 liters of water on Monday and 12.6 liters on Tuesday.
How many liters of water were used altogether?
Answer:
18.75 + 12.60 = 31.35 liters
Question:
What is a producer?
Answer:
An organism that makes its own food using sunlight.
Passage
Both forests and deserts are ecosystems. Forests usually receive plenty of rain and have many different kinds of plants and animals. Deserts receive very little rain and have fewer plants. Even though these ecosystems are different, both depend on sunlight, water, and living organisms to survive.
Question:
How are forests and deserts alike, and how are they different?
Answer:
Alike: Both are ecosystems that depend on sunlight, water, and living things.
Different: Forests receive more rain and have more plants and animals, while deserts receive little rain and have fewer plants.
A park has 144 flowers planted equally into 12 gardens.
How many flowers are in each garden?
144 ÷ 12 = 12 flowers
Passage
Both bees and butterflies help pollinate flowers by carrying pollen from one flower to another. Bees collect pollen and nectar to feed their colonies. Butterflies drink nectar mainly for their own energy. Bees have fuzzy bodies that collect more pollen, while butterflies have smooth bodies and long, thin mouths for drinking nectar.
Question:
How are bees and butterflies similar? How are they different?
Answer:
Similarities:
Differences:
A hiking trail is 6 miles long.
A class walked 2⅓ miles before lunch and 1½ miles after lunch.
How many miles did they walk altogether?
How much farther do they have to go?
Answer:
2⅓ = 2 2/6
1½ = 1 3/6
Total walked:
3 5/6 miles
Remaining:
6 − 3 5/6 = 2 1/6 miles
Question:
What is a consumer?
Answer:
An organism that eats plants or other animals for energy.
Passage
Every organism in an ecosystem depends on other organisms. Plants make food using sunlight. Herbivores eat plants, and carnivores eat herbivores. Decomposers recycle nutrients back into the soil so plants can continue growing. If one part of the ecosystem changes, many other organisms are affected.
Question:
What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Plants are the only important organisms.
B. All parts of an ecosystem work together and depend on one another.
C. Carnivores are stronger than herbivores.
D. Decomposers only help plants.
Answer:
B. All parts of an ecosystem work together and depend on one another.
A gardener watered 3.6 liters of water on Monday and 2.45 liters on Tuesday.
How much water did the gardener use?
Answer
3.60 + 2.45 = 6.05 liters
Passage
Scientists noticed that a pond had fewer frogs than usual. They discovered that pollution had killed many insects living near the water. Since frogs eat insects, the frog population also began to decrease.
Question:
Which sentence provides the best evidence explaining why the frog population decreased?
A. Scientists noticed fewer frogs.
B. Pollution had killed many insects living near the water.
C. Frogs live near ponds.
D. Scientists studied the pond.
Answer:A farmer sprayed chemicals on weeds growing near a pond. A few weeks later, fish populations began to decrease even though no fish
B. Pollution had killed many insects living near the water.
A science class planted 12.5 square meters of wildflowers in the spring. Later, they planted 8.75 square meters more. At the end of the season, 4.2 square meters of the flowers did not survive.
Question:
How many square meters of wildflowers are still growing?
Answer:
Step 1: Add the areas planted.
12.5 + 8.75 = 21.25
Step 2: Subtract the area that did not survive.
21.25 − 4.2 = 17.05 square meters
Final Answer: 17.05 square meters
Question:
What is a decomposer?
Answer:
An organism that breaks down dead plants and animals and returns nutrients to the soil.
Passage
The rabbit depends on grass for food. Without grass, the rabbit would struggle to survive. Because many animals rely on rabbits for food, changes in one population can affect many others.
Question:
What does the word depends most nearly mean as it is used in the passage?
A. Hides from
B. Needs
C. Watches
D. Protects
Answer:
B. Needs
A rabbit ate 3/8 of a carrot.
Later it ate 2/8 more.
How much of the carrot did it eat altogether?
Answer
3/8 + 2/8 = 5/8
Passage
A farmer sprayed chemicals on weeds growing near a pond. A few weeks later, fish populations began to decrease even though no fish had been removed from the pond.
Question:
What can you infer happened to the fish? Use evidence from the passage.
Answer:
The chemicals likely washed into the pond and affected the fish or their food supply.
Evidence: The fish population decreased shortly after the chemicals were sprayed.
A nature center has 18 tables.
Each table seats 6 students.
If 3 classes visit and each class has 24 students, will there be enough seats?
Explain.
Seats available:
18 × 6 = 108 seats
Students:
3 × 24 = 72 students
Yes, because 108 > 72.
There are 36 extra seats.
Question:
Why are decomposers important?
Answer:
They recycle nutrients so plants can grow again.
Passage
A wildfire destroyed many of the trees in a forest. Soon afterward, fewer birds were seen nesting in the area. Insects that lived on the trees also became less common. Although new plants eventually began growing, it took several years for the forest to recover.
Questions:
Answer:
There are 80 trees in a park.
25% are maple trees.
How many maple trees are there?
Answer
80 × .25 = 20 maple trees
Passage
Healthy ecosystems depend on interactions among producers, consumers, decomposers, and nonliving things like water and sunlight. If one part changes, many organisms are affected. Learning about ecosystems helps people make choices that protect habitats and wildlife.
Question:
Answer:
A park ranger is planting 14 flower gardens. Each garden needs 3.75 bags of soil.
Questions:
Answer:
Step 1: Multiply to find the total bags of soil needed.
14 × 3.75 = 52.5 bags
Step 2: Subtract the bags the ranger already has.
52.5 − 20 = 32.5 bags
Final Answers: