Ecosystems & Habitats
Explain what an ecosystem is using your own words.
An ecosystem is a place where living things (plants and animals) and nonliving things (water, soil, air) interact.
What does habitat mean? Give an example.
A habitat is an organism’s home.
Example: A frog’s habitat is a pond.Energy moves from one organism to another when one living thing eats another.
What is an energy pyramid?
A model that shows how energy moves through trophic levels.
What is a producer?
An organism that makes its own food (like plants)
Compare a habitat and an ecosystem. How are they different?
A habitat is the home of one organism, but an ecosystem includes many organisms and their environment.
Explain the word ecosystem and how it is different from habitat.
An ecosystem includes all living and nonliving things interacting together.
A habitat is just the home of one organism.
What is a wetland? Give some examples of types of wetlands.
A wetland is a place with very wet soil, like a swamp or marsh.
Why is the bottom widest?
Because producers have the most energy.
What is a consumer?
An organism that gets energy by eating plants or animals.
How do nonliving things affect living things?
Nonliving things like water, soil, and climate affect where organisms can live and how they survive.
What is a tier? Give an example that is NOT about food chains.
A tier is a level.
Example: A cake has tiers, or a stadium has tiers.
What is a canopy, and why is it important in the rainforest?
The canopy is the top layer of tree branches.
It is important because it provides homes, shade, and protection for many animals.
Why is there less energy at the top?
Energy is lost at each level when organisms use energy to live.
What is a decomposer?
An organism that breaks down dead plants and animals and returns nutrients to the soil.
What is an energy pyramid and what does it show?
An energy pyramid is a model that shows how energy moves through levels.
It shows that producers have the most energy and there is less energy at the top.
The rainforest is very diverse. What does diverse mean, and why is that important?
Diverse means having many different kinds of living things.
It is important because it creates more food chain possibilities and makes the ecosystem stronger.
Why fewer animals at the top?
Because there is less energy available to support many animals.
How do they depend on each other?