Final Flashcards
Energy pyramid
An energy pyramid is a graphical model of energy flow in a community. The different levels represent different groups of organisms that might compose a food chain. From the bottom-up, they are as follows: Producers — bring energy from nonliving sources into the community.
Food chain
A food chain shows how each living thing gets food, and how nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature. Food chains begin with plant-life, and end with animal-life. Some animals eat plants, some animals eat other animals. A simple food chain could start with grass, which is eaten by rabbits.
Food web
A food web is similar to a food chain but larger. The diagram combines many food chains into one picture. The diagram uses arrows to show the energy relationships among organisms. Food webs show how plants and animals are connected in many ways. … A food web (or food cycle) is a natural interconnection of food chains.
Producer
producer. An autotrophic organism that serves as a source of food for other organisms in a food chain. Producers include green plants, which produce food through photosynthesis, and certain bacteria that are capable of converting inorganic substances into food through chemosynthesis.
Consumer
Primary consumers are animals that eat primary producers; they are also called herbivores (plant-eaters). Secondary consumers eat primary consumers. They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants).
Biome
A biome is a community of plants and animals that have common characteristics for the environment they exist in. They can be found over a range of continents. Biomes are distinct biological communities that have formed in response to a shared physical climate.
Ecology
Animal - Ecology and habitats: Animals evolved in the seas but moved into fresh water and onto land in the Ordovician Period, after plants became available as a food source. A simple history of animal ecology
Nitrogen cycle
The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among atmosphere, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. The conversion of nitrogen can be carried out through both biological and physical processes.
Water cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrological cycle or the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.
Carbon cycle
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component of many minerals such as limestone.
Biotic factors
Biotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem. Examples of biotic components include animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Abiotic components are non-living components that influence an ecosystem. Examples of abiotic factors are temperature, air currents, and minerals.
Abiotic factors
In biology and ecology, abiotic components or abiotic factors are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. Abiotic factors and the phenomena associated with them underpin all biology.
Predator
an animal that lives by killing and eating other animals : an animal that preys on other animals. : a person who looks for other people in order to use, control, or harm them in some way. See the full definition for predator in the English Language Learners Dictionary. predator. noun.
Prey
Prey is an animal hunted for food. If you’re a delicious-looking deer during hunting season, watch your back! You’re the prey for all those guys in orange jackets carrying rifles. Prey can also mean the human subject of an attack, or ridicule, by another person.
Metric system
metric system. A system of measurement in which the basic units are the meter, the second, and the kilogram. In this system, the ratios between units of measurement are multiples of ten. For example, a kilogram is a thousand grams, and a centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter.
Levels of organization
These parts are divided into levels of organization. There are five levels: cells, tissue, organs, organ systems, and organisms. All living things are made up of cells. … Cells are the simplest level of organization.
Succession
succession. [sreplacement of one type of ecological community by another in the same area, involving a series of orderly changes, especially in the dominant vegetation. Succession is usually initiated by a significant disturbance of an existing community.
Lab safety rules
Lab safety rules for students. Report all accidents, injuries, and breakage of glass or equipment to instructor immediately. Keep pathways clear by placing extra items (books, bags, etc.) on the shelves or under the work tables. … Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes when heating substances, dissecting, etc.
Metric system
the decimal measuring system based on the meter, liter, and gram as units of length, capacity, and weight or mass. The system was first proposed by the French astronomer and mathematician Gabriel Mouton (1618–94) in 1670 and was standardized in France under the Republican government in the 1790s.
Dependent variable
A dependent variable is what you measure in the experiment and what is affected during the experiment. The dependent variable responds to the independent variable. It is called dependent because it “depends” on the independent variable.
Independent variable
Independent Variable Definition. An independent variable is defines as the variable that is changed or controlled in a scientific experiment. It represents the cause or reason for an outcome. Independent variables are the variables that the experimenter changes to test their dependent variable
Constant variable
It is the control variable, also known as the constant variable. As the name suggests, it is the variable that the scientist wants to remain the same. Often, there is more than one control or constant variable in a scientific experiment.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories.
