The Living World
The "Sphere of Life" that goes from the ocean to the sky.
Biosphere
This is the one-way path energy takes, starting from the Sun.
Energy Flow
The top layer of trees that blocks sunlight from the floor.
Canopy
The coldest biome near the North Pole with no trees.
Tundra
When people cut down trees to build farms or roads.
Deforestation
Any living part of an ecosystem, like plants or bacteria.
Biotic
Unlike energy, these "chemical elements" move in a circle.
Nutrient Cycle
When heavy rain washes nutrients too deep for roots to reach.
Leaching
A biome with mostly grass and very few trees.
Grasslands
A way to farm that works with nature instead of hurting it.
Sustainable Agriculture
Non-living parts of an ecosystem, like air and sunlight.
Abiotic
The process plants use to turn sun-light into energy.
Photosynthesis
These organisms break down dead stuff to help the cycle.
Decomposers
Productivity is highest in places close to this middle line of Earth.
The Equator
When soil gets so hard it feels like a brick and plants can't grow.
Laterite
A community where living and non-living things interact.
Ecosystem
A plant captures its own energy.
Producer
The term for different kinds of plants and animals in an area.
Biodiversity
A cold forest full of evergreen trees like pine and spruce
Boreal Forest
Cutting, drying, and burning plants to help the soil grow crops.
Slash-and-Burn
Another name for the "Nutrient Cycle".
Biogeochemical Cycle
Any living plant or organism that stores chemical energy.
Biomass
Tropical rainforests have the highest amount of this.
Net Primary Production (NPP)
This tells you how far North or South you are from the Equator
Moving to a new farm plot so the old one can grow back.
Land Rotation