Interactions and Interdependence (Key words)

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

Study of interactions between living things and with their physical and chemical environment.

Question 2

What are ecosystems?

Answer 2

All of the living things and non-living things in an environment and the different ways in which they interact with each other.

Question 3

What are protists?

Answer 3

Single celled organisms that may be free living or living in colonies.

Question 4

What is a population?

Answer 4

Group of individuals of the same species living in the same ecosystem at the same time.

Question 5

What is a community?

Answer 5

Different populations that interact with one another in the same ecosystem.

Question 6

What is the biosphere?

Answer 6

All the different ecosystems on Earth.

Question 7

What is a habitat?

Answer 7

Place where organisms live.

Question 8

What are biotic factors?

Answer 8

All the plants and animals in an ecosystem, as well as their interactions.

Question 9

What are abiotic factors?

Answer 9

All the non-living things in an ecosystem.

Question 10

What are producers?

Answer 10

Green plants that can make their own food.

Question 11

What are herbivores?

Answer 11

Animals that eat plants.

Question 12

What are carnivores?

Answer 12

Animals that feed on other animals that are living or dead.

Question 13

What are consumers?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What are predators?

Answer 14

Carnivores that hunt other animals.

Question 15

What are prey?

Answer 15

Animals hunted and eaten by the predator.

Question 16

What are scavengers?

Answer 16

Carnivores that feed on dead animals or decaying meat.

Question 17

What are insectivores?

Answer 17

Carnivores that feed on insects.

Question 18

What are omnivores?

Answer 18

Animals that eat plants and other animals.

Question 19

What are decomposers?

Answer 19

Organisms that break down or decompose the remains of dead plants and animals and their wastes.

Question 20

What are digestive enzymes?

Answer 20

Substances made by an organism that break down food.

Question 21

What is sewage?

Answer 21

Human and domestic waste from people’s homes.

Question 22

What is a food chain?

Answer 22

Number of steps in an ecosystem showing the transfer of energy between organisms.

Question 23

What is a food web?

Answer 23

Group of interconnected food chains.

Question 24

What is a trophic level?

Answer 24

Steps in a food chain or food web.

Question 25

What are disruptions?

Answer 25

Something that interferes with a process.

Question 26

What is pollution?

Answer 26

Harm done to the environment by the release of harmful materials and substances produced by human activities.

Question 27

What are pollutants?

Answer 27

Chemicals or wastes that contaminate the water, air and soil.

Question 28

What are fossil fuels?

Answer 28

Energy containing compound such as coal, oil or natural gas that was formed millions of years ago.

Question 29

What is poaching?

Answer 29

Illegally removing animals or plants from the wild.

Question 30

What is an adaptation?

Answer 30

Characteristic that helps a living thing survive in its environment.

Question 31

What is a variation?

Answer 31

Differences between individuals in a population.

Question 32

What does extinct mean?

Answer 32

There are no more of a species left on Earth.

Question 33

What does camouflage mean?

Answer 33

Colours and shapes help animals blend in well with the environment.

Question 34

What does mimicry mean?

Answer 34

Harmless species copies another poisonous species.

Question 35

What does biodiversity mean?

Answer 35

Total variety of species in an area.

Question 36

What are monocultures?

Answer 36

Single crop species planted over large areas.

Question 37

What are alien species?

Answer 37

Species that is not indigenous to a specific area.

Question 38

What is conservation?

Answer 38

Wise management and use of natural resources that protects habitats and wildlife.

Question 39

What is sustainable use?

Answer 39

Using resources wisely so that they are not depleted.