Ecosystems & Biomes Vocabulary

1. Ecosystems & Biomes Vocabulary

2. Biome- A large region on earth that has certain types of organisms and a certain climate • Climate- The weather conditions that are usually found in an area • Weather- The conditions in the atmosphere at a particular time • Ecosystem- A community of living things and the environment in which they live

3. Ecosystem -- • A Community of living things and the environment in which they live • The Individual isapart of the Population which is apart of theCommunity whichmakes up the Ecosystem Source: Deer Image from Google

4. Questions • Can you tell me … • If the deer is the individual, what is in the deer’s ecosystem? • What is the population? • What is the community? • What kind of ecosystem might you find the deer in? • What other populations might exist in this ecosystem?

5. Habitat -- • A Habitat is the place where a plant or animal lives or grows naturally • Food • Water • Shelter • Space A Population of Deer Source: Microsoft Images

6. Adaptive Characteristics • Adaptive – to change something to fit different conditions • Characteristics – a special quality or appearance that makes something different from others

7. Example • Seed – is transported and sets in soil Seeds are all scattered in different ways- • Some coast along the currents of the wind • Some are transported by water • Transported by animals- • Attachment to fur (humans – shoe strings, pant legs, etc…) • Stomach (Scat) • Burying, carrying, etc… • What Adaptive Characteristics do Seeds have?

8. Example of Adaptive Characteristics • Sea turtles lay 1800 eggs which is an adaptive characteristic against predators like Raccoons who eat the eggs. • Only 400 will hatch • Only 2 to 3 will become adult • From Page B42 Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles Source: National Geographic

9. Niche • Niche – The function or position of an organism or a population within an ecosystem • Example of a Niche: Great Horned Owls & the Golden Eagle. Both Eat Great Horned Owl Golden Eagle Mice Source: Google Images

10. Food Chain/Food Web • Food Chain- A chain or series of living things which eat each other for energy • Food Web- Interrelated food chains in an ecosystem

11. Consumers, Producers, & Decomposers • Consumer – an organism in a community that must eat to get the energy it needs • Producer – green plants that make their own food through photosynthesis; producers form the base of any food web. Without producers, energy form the sun would not be able to enter the food web • Decompose – to rot or decay

12. Types of Consumers • Herbivore- An animal whose only food is plants • Carnivore- An animal that eats meat • Omnivore - an animal that eats both animals and plants.

13. Basic Food Chain Sun Plants Rabbit Hawk • Can you think of another food chain? • Draw the food chain in your journal.

14. Food Chain Sun Plants Rabbit Hawk Herbivore Carnivore ProducersConsumers (photosynthesis) • Now label your food chain with the terms Producers, Consumers, Herbivores, and Carnivores.

15. Food Chain # 2 Sun Plants Butterfly/Caterpillar Turkey Bobcat Herbivore Omnivore Carnivore ProducersConsumers (photosynthesis)

16. Carbon Dioxide/Oxygen Cycle Oxygen (O2) Sun Plants Rabbit Hawk Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Draw this cycle in your journal and label it Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is an odorless gas in the air which is made out of carbon and oxygen.

17. Nitrogen Cycle • The nitrogen cycle is a cycle in which nitrogen passes from air, to the soil, to living things, and finally back into the air. Sun Rabbit Hawk Plants Draw this cycle in your journal and label it Decomposers pictures from Google search

18. Food Chain Producers SunPlants (photosynthesis) Animals & Insects Consumers