Evolution
What do fossil records help scientists understand about past life forms?
How species have changed over time
What is an ecosystem?
all living and non-living things in a certain area.
What is an adaptation?
A characteristic or special feature that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.
What is a genotype?
A pair of alleles that make up a trait.
What is a food chain?
Shows the flow of energy in an ecosystem. Shows who eats who.
What can the structure of a bird's beak tell you about its diet?
It can tell you about the size of the food (seeds) they eat.
How do energy pyramids show energy flow in an ecosystem?
Energy decreases as it moves from one level to the next (energy moves from the producers at the bottom and becomes less as it moves up)
Why do animals have different adaptations in different environments?
Organisms evolve and get certain traits overtime that are best fit for their environment.
What does a Punnett square show?
The probability that an offspring will inherit a trait from their parents
What is a primary consumer?
An organism that eats the producers.
What is natural selection?
What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
Food Chain: a single pathway of energy flow, shows who eats who.
Food Web: a model showing connected pathways in an ecosystem
Give an example of a physical adaptation in animals.
Any physical adaptation (teacher decides if correct)
How are traits inherited?
Offspring receive one allele from one parent and one from the other.
How do decomposers fit into a food chain?
They break down dead matter and return it back into the soil.
How do environmental changes affect species evolution?
Organisms change overtime to better adapt to their environment
How does competition affect organisms in an ecosystem?
There are only a limited amount of resources in an ecosystem. Organisms compete for them and the strongest survive. Limits population size. Keeps balance.
How do adaptations help animals survive?
Organisms have special traits that are meant to help them survive in their specific environments.
Explain what dominant and recessive traits are.
Dominant traits overshadow recessive traits. The only way for an organism to have a recessive trait is for their genotype to be two recessive alleles.
Explain the role of herbivores in a food chain.
Herbivores consume plants
Explain how traits are passed from parents to offspring.
What role do producers play in a food chain?
Producers use energy from the sun to create their own food.
Describe how camouflage is an adaptation.
Camouflage can help organisms blend in to their environments to hide from predators or sneak up on prey.
What is genetic variation?
organisms having differences in traits
What happens if one organism is removed from a food chain?
It can cause an imbalance in the ecosystem.