What do we call the living things in an ecosystem?
Biotic Factors
Any habitat
Where does all energy from a food chain come from?
The Sun
Describe the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates
Vertebrates have an endoskeleton and invertebrates have an exoskeleton
What is the name of the tool that helps scientists identify organisms by asking a series of yes-or-no questions?
Dichotomous key
What down call the organisms that break down dead matter and recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem?
Decomposers
Describe what a food web is.
Connection of different food chains in an ecosystem
Which group of consumers feeds directly on producers such as plants and algae?
Primary Consumers
List 3 characteristics of living organisms
Grow and develop
Respire
Respond to changes in their environment
Reproduce themselves
Produce and excrete waste
Assimilate (take in and process substances)
How many choices do you get at each step when using a dichotomous key?
Two
What process do green plants use to convert sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into glucose and oxygen?
Photosynthesis
Describe how energy flow is represented in food webs.
Arrow points from prey to predator
What type of animal eat both plants and animals?
Omnivore
List the 5 types of vertebrates
Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish
List 2 types of dichotomous keys
Branched & tabular
What are the four key characteristics required for a habitat?
1 food
2 Shelter
3 Water
4 Same species so they can mate
If a tertiary consumer is removed from a food web, what could be the immediate effect on the populations of other organisms? Refer to each trophic level
Secondary consumer would increase, primary consumer would decrease, and producer would increase.
What is another name for producers?
Autotrophs
Rewrite this scientific name on your whiteboard
Canis Familiaris
Is 'lives in the ocean' a suitable question for a dichotomous key
NO
Provide an example of Biotic and Abiotic factors interacting in an ecosystem
Explain why energy availability decreases at higher trophic levels in a food web.
Only a small percentage of energy—about 10%—is transferred from one level to the next.
A food chain starts with seagrass, which is eaten by sea turtles, and sea turtles are eaten by tiger sharks. If human activity causes most of the seagrass to disappear, explain how this could affect both sea turtles and tiger sharks.
Both populations could decrease
List the 7 levels of the Linnaeus Classification System.
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
1a. Has feathers → go to 2
1b. Does not have feathers → go to 3
2a. Can fly → Pigeon
2b. Cannot fly → Penguin
3a. Has fur and four legs → Cat
3b. Has scales and no legs → Snake
Which animal would you identify if it has feathers but cannot fly?
Penguin