Ecology Basics
What is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment?
Ecology
In a food chain, arrows show the flow of what?
Energy
What symbiotic relationship benefits both organisms?
Mutualism
Which biome receives the highest average rainfall and has many layers of plant life?
Tropical Rainforest
Which prefix means “together?"
Sym-
Which term describes the living parts of an ecosystem (plants, animals, bacteria)?
Biotic Factors
Which organisms make up the first trophic level in most ecosystems?
Producers (plants and algae)
Which symbiosis describes one organism benefiting while the other is neither helped nor harmed?
Commensalism
Which biome is characterized by very low temperatures, short growing seasons, and permafrost?
Tundra
Which suffix means “one who eats”?
-vore
What is the word for the place where an organism lives and that meets its needs?
Habitat
What name is given to organisms that eat only plants?
Herbivores
A tick feeding on a dog is an example of which symbiotic relationship?
Parasitism
Which biome would you expect to find cacti and plants adapted to conserve water?
Desert
Which root means “to nourish” or relates to feeding?
troph
Which prefix or root means “life”?
bio-
Define carrying capacity in one sentence.
Carrying capacity = the largest number of individuals of a species that an environment can support.
Match: (A) Mutualism, (B) Commensalism, (C) Parasitism — “One organism is helped, the other is harmed.” (Give the letter.)
(C) Parasitism
The largest biome on Earth by area is the ______.
Ocean/Marine Biome
Which prefix/suffix would you use to form a word meaning “study of life”?
Use bio- + -logy
Explain the difference between a habitat and a niche in 1–2 sentences.
Habitat is the physical place where an organism lives and that meets its needs. Niche is the role an organism plays in its ecosystem, including how it gets food, where it lives, and how it interacts with other organisms.
Give one example each of a producer, a primary consumer, and a secondary consumer from a grassland ecosystem.
Example (grassland): Producer = grass; Primary consumer = rabbit (herbivore); Secondary consumer = fox (carnivore).
Describe a real-world example (1–2 sentences) of any type of symbiotic relationship example not mentioned in the study guide and explain how both organisms benefit.
Mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots — fungi help plants absorb water and nutrients; plants provide sugars to fungi.
Which biome typically experiences four distinct seasons and has many deciduous (leaf-shedding) trees? Explain one plant adaptation found in that biome.
Temperate forest; Example adaptation: Deciduous trees drop leaves in winter to reduce water loss and re-grow them in spring to maximize photosynthesis
Create a new biology-related word using one prefix/root/suffix from the list (sym-, bio-, -troph, -vore, post-) and explain its meaning in one sentence.
Example created word: biotroph — “an organism that obtains nourishment in a specific way"