Ecosystems
What is an ecosystem?
A community of interconnected organisms and their environment.
What are other terms for plantlife and wildlife?
Flora and Fauna
What are the four requirements for survival all animals?
Food, Water, Shelter, and Space.
Also known as the four "basic needs."
What is biology?
The scientific study of life, and of living things (like animals!).
What is climate change?
Earth's weather usually follows patterns.
Anytime that there is a big change is earth's weather patterns - something ABNORMAL - it is called climate change.
(Climate change is important to study and be aware of, because earth's climate effects EVERYTHING (think if it rained twice as much in the winter, or our hot days in summer got even hotter).)
Name 3 things in an environment that are ABIOTIC:
Rocks
Dirt
Sand
Water
Air
What are the small, single-cell organisms that can be found in all natural environments?
Bacteria!
What are the two types of animal vision?
Monocular and Binocular.
What is ecology?
The study of ecosystems - organisms and their environments!
What is the term for the rise in earth's annual temperature?
Global Warming.
What is the edge, or transitional zone, between two habitat types?
An ecotone.
What is it called when an organism has chemicals stored in its body that are at higher levels than normal or natural?
Bioaccumulation.
What is the word for certain aquatic species that can live in and breathe in both freshwater and saltwater?
Anadromous.
What is geology?
The scientific study of earth's structure and substance (what it's made of), and its history.
What is the name of the gas that is a natural part of earth and life, but can cause global warming when there is too much of it released into our atmosphere?
Carbon Dioxide. (Or Greenhouse gases, generally.)
What is biodiversity?
Why is it important?
Biodiversity is how many different KINDS of species or flora and fauna an ecosystem has.
It is important because lots of different kinds of species makes an ecosystem more STABLE. If something happens, it doesn't make everything crash when there are lots of different species to fill NICHES.
What is the word for a species that plays a crucial role in its ecosystem, so many other species would be effected by its changes?
A Keystone Species.
Name the four TROPHIC levels:
"trophic" = eating
(Hint: "Producer...")
PRODUCER
PRIMARY CONSUMER
SECONDARY CONSUMER
TERTIARY CONSUMER
What is geography?
The study of earth's physical features, its atmosphere, and its human activity (like the locations of our countries, states, and cities).
What is the word for fuel that used to be plants and animals, millions of years ago?
Think OLD.
Fossil Fuels.
Fossils are OLD - old living things a million years ago turned into stuff we use for fuel today:
COAL, OIL, NATURAL GAS
What is it called when different species in an ecosystem depend on each other for survival?
Interdependence.
What is the word for an organism that can produce it's own food?
Autotroph.
"auto" = on its own
(think "automatic", or "autobiography" - when something does something on its own)
What is the word for animals feeding on leaves, soft shoots, and fruits of woody plants?
What is one example of an animal that does this?
Hint: "grazers" are animals eating soft grasses and forbs - herbaceous plants. Woody plants are tougher, so only some animals are able to reach their leaves, digest their leaves, or only eat the "soft shoots", which are new growth and not as tough.
Browsing.
Examples of browsers are deer and elk.
Extra: When there are too many browsers that eat so much that the woody plants struggle, it is called OVERBROWSING.
What is botany?
The scientific study of plants.
Crude oil is a liquid fossil fuel.
Crude oil is what you use to make petroleum.
Petroleum is what you use to make gasoline for cars.