Invasive Species
A non-native species that spreads quickly and harms the environment, economy, or human health.
What is an invasive species?
One word for the human change when Humans dig into the Earth to extract valuable resources, leaving behind large holes and waste materials.
Mining
The long-term increase in Earth's average temperature due to human activities like burning fossil fuels.
What is global warming?
How do beavers change their environment, and how does this affect other organisms?
They build dams, creating wetlands that provide habitat for other species.
Explain why invasive species often have no natural predators and how this affects ecosystems
Because they are not native, local predators may not recognize them as prey, allowing their populations to grow unchecked, outcompeting native species
One word for when humans cut down large areas of trees are cut down to make space for buildings, farms, or roads.
deforestation
A period of extremely cold temperatures when glaciers covered large parts of Earth, forcing animals to migrate or adapt.
Ice Age
How do grazers like cows or bison affect grassland ecosystems?
They control plant growth, which can help maintain biodiversity but if they eat to much the ground coverage would decrease and soil will be exposed for erosion
One word for the place where people dispose of waste in large designated areas, where it is buried underground, sometimes releasing harmful chemicals.
landfills
What do animals need to do to ensure they survive climate changes
Adapt
Some birds, like woodpeckers, create holes in trees. How does this help other animals?
Other animals, like small mammals and insects, use the holes for shelter.
Chemicals from farms and factories can wash into rivers and oceans, harming fish and other wildlife.
water polution
What gas in the atmosphere contributes the most to global warming today?
carbon dioxide
An overgrowth of algae in water blocks sunlight and depletes oxygen when it decomposes. What is this process called, and how does it harm aquatic ecosystems?
Algal bloom
When people remove large amounts of fish from the ocean faster than they can reproduce, it disrupts marine ecosystems. What is this called?
over fishing
As temperatures rise, some animals are forced to move to new habitats. What is this process called?
Migration
Elephants often knock down trees in savannas. How does this impact the ecosystem?
It creates open spaces for grasses to grow, benefiting grazing animals like zebras and antelopes.