Characteristics of living things
All living things need this source of energy to survive, either directly or indirectly.
What is the Sun?
The place where an organism lives is called this.
What is a habitat?
A sequence showing who eats whom in an ecosystem.
What is a food chain?
This process allows plants to make their own food using sunlight.
What is photosynthesis?
Plants release this gas into the atmosphere that humans need to breathe.
What is oxygen?
This process allows living things to produce offspring.
What is reproduction?
A pond containing fish, plants, insects, water, and rocks is an example of this.
What is an ecosystem?
An organism that makes its own food using sunlight.
What is a producer?
During photosynthesis, plants take in this gas from the air.
What is carbon dioxide?
Many of the foods humans eat come directly or indirectly from these organisms.
What are plants?
Name the seven characteristics that all living things share.
They grow, reproduce, respond to stimuli, need energy, are made of cells, produce waste, and interact with their environment.
These non-living parts of an ecosystem include sunlight, water, and soil.
What are abiotic factors?
A rabbit eats grass and a fox eats the rabbit. What type of relationship is this?
What is a predator-prey relationship?
This green substance in plant leaves absorbs sunlight for photosynthesis.
What is chlorophyll?
Name two products humans use every day that come from plants.
Possible answers: paper, wood, cotton, fruits, vegetables, medicines, rubber, etc.
This is the smallest unit of life.
What is a cell?
These living parts of an ecosystem include plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria.
What are biotic factors?
A diagram showing many connected food chains.
What is a food web?
Name the three things plants need to carry out photosynthesis.
What are sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide?
Besides providing food and oxygen, explain one other way plants help humans.
They reduce erosion, clean the air, provide habitats, regulate temperature, provide medicine, or store carbon dioxide.
Explain why a seed is considered a living thing even when it appears inactive.
It contains living cells and can grow, reproduce, and respond to environmental conditions.
Explain how a drought might affect both living and non-living parts of an ecosystem.
Less water affects abiotic conditions and may reduce plant growth, animal populations, and biodiversity.
If wolves were removed from an ecosystem, predict one possible effect on the food web.
Deer populations may increase, leading to overgrazing and changes throughout the ecosystem.
Explain what products are made during photosynthesis and why they are important.
Plants produce glucose (sugar) for energy and oxygen. Glucose helps the plant grow, and oxygen is needed by many living things for respiration.
Imagine all plants disappeared from Earth. Describe two major effects this would have on human life.
Oxygen levels would decrease, food chains would collapse, food supplies would disappear, biodiversity would decline, and ecosystems would fail.