Science test - Wednesday, 11/25
Ecosystem Study Guide
Vocabulary
Organism – a living thing
Adaptation – a characteristic that helps an organism survive in its
environment
Habitat – the natural home of a group of animals and plants
Population – all the organisms of the same species that live in the same
place at the same time
Community – populations that live in the same place at the same time
Ecosystem
All the populations and nonliving things interacting in an environment form
an ecosystem.
Non-living things in an ecosystem:
• Air
• Water
• Sun – the energy for all living things starts with the sun
Living things in an ecosystem:
Producers – organisms that make their own food
Consumers – organisms that get energy by eating other organisms
• Herbivores – eat only plants and plant products
• Carnivores – animals that eat other animals
• Omnivores – animals that eat both plants and animals
• Decomposers – organisms that get energy by feeding on dead materials
and wastes
Getting and using energy:
All organisms require energy to survive. The energy for all living things
starts with the sun. Plants are the only organisms that make their own food.
The process of using the energy in sunlight to produce food for plants is
called photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis:
• Plants get heat, light, and energy from the sun
• Plants take in carbon dioxide through their leaves
• Plants take in water an minerals through their roots
• The green color of plants is chlorophyll.
• Chlorophyll captures energy from the sun
• Chloroplasts use the sun’s energy to combine water and carbon dioxide
to create glucose (the plant’s food)
Food Chains:
A food chain is the path of energy from one organism to another. A food chain
always starts with a producer. The second organism in a food chain is always
a consumer. When organisms die or produce wastes, energy moves to decomposers.
Example:
Grass – grasshopper – mouse – owl - mushrooms
