Vocabulary Flashcards
Energy Pyramid
A model that shows the available amount of energy in each trophic layer in an ecosystem
Food Web
A model that shows many different feeding relationships among living things in a giving area
Decomposer
Organisms which carry out the process of decomposition by breaking down dead or decaying organisms
Food Chain
A model that shows one set feeding relationships among living things
Coniferous
Plants that produce reproductive organs called cones
Consumer
An organism that eats other living things to get energy; an organism that does not produce its own food
Biome
A major ecological community such as grassland,tropical rain forest,or desert
Deciduous
A forest containing trees that lose their leaves each year
Ecology
The branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings
Cycle
A process that repeats
Nitrogen cycle
A process in which nitrogen in the atmosphere enters the soil and becomes part of living organisms then eventually return
Biotic factors
Biotic factors are the living components of an ecosystem. They are sorted into three groups: producers or autotrophs, consumers or heterotrophs, and decomposers or detritivores.
Water cycle
The continual movement of water between land,ocean,and the air through predictable physical processes
Abiotic factor
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.
Producer
a person, company, or country that makes, grows, or supplies goods or commodities for sale.
Carbon cycle
the series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, chiefly involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.
Predator
an animal that naturally preys on others.
Prey
an animal that is hunted and killed by another for food.
Succession
a number of people or things sharing a specified characteristic and following one after the other.
Levels of Organization
Levels of organization in ecology include the population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere. An ecosystem is all the living things in an area interacting with all of the abiotic parts of the environment.
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 systems
In the metric system of measurement, designations of multiples and subdivision of any unit may be arrived at by combining with the name of the unit the prefixes deka, hecto, and kilo meaning, respectively, 10, 100, and 1000, and deci, centi, and milli, meaning, respectively, one-tenth, one-hundredth, and one-thousandths
Dependent Variable
A dependent variable is the variable being tested in a scientific experiment. The dependent variable is ‘dependent’ on the independent variable.When you take data in an experiment, the dependent variable is the one being measured.
Independent Variable
An independent variable is exactly what it sounds like. It is a variable that stands alone and isn’t changed by the other variables you are trying to measure.
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 an assumption, an idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true. In the scientific method, the hypothesis is constructed before any applicable research has been done, apart from a basic background review.
