chapter 3 sec 1 vocab

Question 1

biosphere

Answer 1

contains the combined portions of the planet in which all life exists including land, water, and air, or atmosphere

Question 2

species

Answer 2

a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring

Question 3

population

Answer 3

belong to the same species and live in the same area

Question 4

community

Answer 4

assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area

Question 5

ecosystem

Answer 5

a collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving or physical environment

Question 6

biome

Answer 6

a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities

Question 7

autotroph

Answer 7

make their own food

Question 8

producers

Answer 8

make their own food

Question 9

photosynthesis

Answer 9

plants make their own food by using the suns energy

Question 10

chemosynthesis

Answer 10

when organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates

Question 11

heterotroph and consumer

Answer 11

organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply

Question 12

herbivore

Answer 12

eat plants

Question 13

carnivore

Answer 13

eat meat

Question 14

detritivores

Answer 14

eat eat animal remains or other dead matter

Question 15

decomposers

Answer 15

breaks down organic matter

Question 16

food chain

Answer 16

a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten

Question 17

food web

Answer 17

links all the food chains together

Question 18

trophic level

Answer 18

each step in a food web or food chain

Question 19

ecological pyramid

Answer 19

a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web

Question 20

biomass

Answer 20

the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level

Question 21

evaporation

Answer 21

the process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas

Question 22

transpiration

Answer 22

water can also enter the atmosphere by evaporating from the leaves of plants

Question 23

nutrient

Answer 23

all the chemical substances that an organism needs to sustain life

Question 24

ecology

Answer 24

the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment or surroundings

Question 25

nitrogen fixation

Answer 25

the process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia

Question 26

denitrification

Answer 26

the conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas

Question 27

primary productivity

Answer 27

the rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem

Question 28

limiting nutrient

Answer 28

a single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth as organisms and ecosystem

Question 29

algal bloom

Answer 29

an immediate increase in the amount of algae and other produces that result from a large input of limiting nutrient

Question 30

omnivore

Answer 30

plants and meat

Question 30

• **essay question about the cycles - maybe a paragraph and questions -water, nutrient, phosphorus
• explain the food chain and web difference
• the ecological methods - observing, experimenting etc..

Answer 30

John