Ecology
Food Chains & Energy Flow
Succession
Carbon Cycle
Nitrogen & Phosphorus Cycle
Riddles
100
An individual living thing
What is an organism?
100
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: An organism that eats plants
What is an herbivore or primary consumer?
100
the starting point of primary succession
What is a barren rock?
100
This gas, which plants use during photosynthesis, is a major component of the carbon cycle. What is it called?
carbon dioxide
100
Why do animals need nitrogen?
For protein
100
You are in a dark room with a box of matches. On a table are a candle, an oil lamp, and a log of firewood. What do you light first?
The match! Can’t light any of those things without a lit match.
200
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: Identify a community in this ecosystem 
What are the polar bears, Arctic fox, seal, and starfish?
200
The species with the smallest population
What is the hawk population?
200
Mosses, Ferns, and lichens
What are examples of pioneer organisms?
200
Letter A in this picture.
What is oxygen?
200
the process of converting atmospheric N2 gas into ammonium (NH4+) through the bacteria found on leguminous plants
nitrogen fixation
200
I have 13 hearts, but no lungs or stomach. What am I?
A deck of cards.
300
Temperature, pH, Humidity, water in an environment
What are abiotic factors?
300
the rule that a certain percentage of energy is passed from one trophic level to the next through consumption
What is the 10% rule?
300
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: What is climax community?
the final stage of succession
300
The way primary producers provide carbon to primary consumers
What is feeding?
300
the geological process of that moves rocks from ocean into the land
uplift
300
What has a head, a tail, but no body?
coin
400
A population (define)
What are multiple individuals of the same species living together?
400
A food chain in this food web
What is grass, grasshopper, lizard, hawk, bacteria in that order? (answers can vary)
400
An example of secondary succession
wildfire, deforestation, hurricane, farming
400
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: a method humans contribute excess carbon to the atmosphere
combustion (burning of fossil fuel; transportation)
400
the physical and chemical breakdown of rocks that leads to the release of phosphate ions
weathering
400
An electric train is headed east. Where does the smoke go?
Electric trains don’t produce any smoke!
500
This level of ecological organization includes all the different communities within a specific area, interacting with each other and their environment, as well as the physical components such as soil, water, and air. What is this level called?
ecosystem
500
this type of organism can occupy multiple trophic levels by feeding on both primary producers and other consumers. What is it called?
omnivore
500
What is one function of pioneer species?
Fix Nitrogen
Break down rock
Add organic material to soil
500
The two ways carbon is pulled from the atmosphere
What is photosynthesis and oceans dissolving carbon dioxide from the air?
500
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: this process involves decomposers breaking down organic nitrogen from dead organisms and waste products into ammonia(NH4)
ammonification
500
I have keys but open no locks. I have space but no room. You can enter but not go outside. What am I?
keyboard
600
This biome is known for its high rainfall and warm temperatures, supporting a wide variety of plant and animal life.
What is a rainforest?
600
The energy available for the hawks when 23,000 kcal is available at primary producer level
What is 23 kcal of energy available?
600
Sometimes, an ecosystem can recover after a natural disaster, but human activities can cause permanent damage. When a new species is brought into an area and takes over, harming native species and stopping succession, it is called this.
What is an invasive species?
600
this process occurs when dead organic matter is broken down by microorganisms
decomposition
600
What is assimilation?
the uptake of nitrates/phosphates from the soil through the roots of plants
600
What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
The letter “R.”