Why do chipmunks in the Great Smoky Mountains survive?

1. Why do chipmunks in the Great Smoky Mountains survive? • Their needs are met in that environment • They have driven out all the other chipmunks • Humans feed them, which helps them survive • Humans have moved them from cities to the mountains

2. Which describes a balanced ecosystem? • There is enough food for people to exist • One type of animal and plant depend on each other • The food supply, living space, and shelter for animals and plants is plentiful • Humans create shelter and food for animals and plants

3. A meadow has too many rabbits.What would help balance this ecosystem? • More rain that grass needs • More foxes that eat rabbits • Fewer foxes that eat rabbits • More grass for rabbits to eat

4. How do these organisms interactions help balance their ecosystems? • Rabbits make homes in grass • Grass and rabbits both need oxygen • Grass makes oxygen, and animals use it • Grass depends on rabbits to protect it

5. How would an ecosystem change if the rabbits that were the main prey for foxes became sick and died? • The foxes would find new prey • The number of foxes would increase • The number of foxes would decrease • The foxes and rabbits would compete for food

6. What impact does a parasite have in an ecosystem? • Helps the entire ecosystem • Hurts one organism and helps another • Helps both the host organism and parasite • Hurts both the host organism and parasite

7. Which would cause an ecosystem to change quickly? • An earthquake • A lake drying up • A climate change • A lake becoming a marsh

8. What might be the effect on an ecosystem of a climate change from rainy to dry? • No change • A change from plants to animals • A change from a forest to marsh • A change in kinds of plants and animals

9. What could scientists tell from a fish fossil found in a desert? • That fish is now extinct • Fish once had legs to travel • Fish once lived in dry places • The desert was once a sea or lake

10. What might be a reason an animal becomes extinct? • It is a predator • It produces oxygen • Its habitat is destroyed • It adapts to its environment

11. How are a hawk and an owl able to succeed, even though they compete for food? • The hawk eats the owl • The owl changes its diet • One animal moves to a different habitat • One hunts at night, and the other hunts during daytime

12. What is one way people can disturb the balance of ecosystems? • Breathing air • Planting trees • Riding bicycles • Building houses

13. How can damage from strip mines be repaired? • Erosion can fill the hole • Mining companies can replace the soil • Rain can wash the rock away into rivers • Mining companies can go mine in another place

14. Why did the United States establish national parks? • To make money for the national government • To provide Americans with great vacation spots • To preserve nature’s beauty and habitats of plants and animals • To give Americans a chance to see things they’ve never seen before