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| The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment is called ___. | ecology |
| The combined parts of the Earth that contain life is called ____. | the biosphere |
| If two animals can breed together and produce fertile offspring, they are members of the same ___. | species |
| Members of the same species must be able to mate and produce ____ offspring. | fertile |
| A group of organisms that belong to the same species and live in the same general area is called a(n) ____. | population |
| A group made up of all the different species living in the same area is called a(n) ___. | community |
| The living and non-living things that interact in a certain area is called a(n) ____. | ecosystem |
| A group of ecosystems that have the same climate and rainfall patterns is called a(n) ___. | biome |
| What are the three basic methods that ecologists use to study the environment? | 1) observing 2) experimenting 3) mathematical models |
| Which of the three basic methods that ecologists use to study the environment involves the use of computer simulations? | mathematical models |
Which of the three basic methods that ecologists use to study the environment involves the use of flowcharts like the one below?,  | mathematical models, |
| For two organisms to be considered members of the same species, they must be able to mate and produce ____ offspring. | fertile |
| What are two names that describe organisms that can make their own food? | Producers, Autotrophs |
| What are two processes that autotrophs use to produce their own food? | Photosynthesis, Chemosynthesis |
| What do you call organisms that can produce their own food without light? | chemosynthesizers |
| Most chemosynthesizers are _______. | bacteria |
| Autotrophs use either light energy or chemical energy to produce ___. | carbohydrates |
| During photosynthesis, light energy is used to convert _____ and _____ into ____ and _____. | carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen |
| Another word for consumer is ____. | heterotroph |
| What are two words to describe organisms that must rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply? | Consumers, Heterotrophs |
| What do you call organisms that feed only on plants? | Herbivores |
| What do you call organisms that only feed on other animals? | Carnivores |
| What do you call organisms that feed on both plants and animals? | Omnivores |
| What do you call organisms that feed on the decaying remains of dead animals and plants? | Detrivores |
| What do you call organisms that get energy by breaking down organic matter left over from dead organisms? | Decomposers |
| Describe how energy in an ecosystem moves? | It moves in a one-way path, from the sun or inorganic compounds, to producers and then consumers. |
| Describe how matter moves in an ecosystem? | Matter cycles through an ecosystem, going from producers to the consumers who eat the producers and eventually to decomposers who change the matter into forms the producers can use, to start the cycle all over again. |
| True or false? "Matter is used up in an ecosystem." | False, it keeps cycling from one type of organism to another. |
| True or False? "Energy is used up in an ecosystem." | True, energy travels in a one way direction, and is eventually lost as heat from the different organisms as it travels up the food chain. |
| A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating or being eaten is called a ___. | food chain |
| _______ show the one-way flow of energy through an ecosystem. | Food chains |
| Which way do arrows point in a food chain? | They point from the organism that is being eaten towards the organism that eats them. They show which way energy is being passed along in an ecosystem. |
| A ______ describes the complex feeding relationships among all organisms in an ecosystem, including the decomposers. | food web |
The picture below depicts a ____.,  | food chain, |
The picture below depicts a ____.,  | food web, |
| Each step in a food chain or ecological pyramid is called a ____. | trophic level |
| The first trophic level in a food chain or ecological pyramid is made up of ____. | producers (autotrophs) |
| The second trophic level in a food chain or ecological pyramid is made up of ____. | first level consumers (remember, the first, or bottom level was made of producers) |
| The third trophic level in a food chain or ecological pyramid is made up of ____. | second level consumers (remember, the first level was producers and the second level was first level consumers) |
| If all the plants in a field were determined to contain 10,000 calories of energy, how much energy would you expect to get by eating all the animals that feed on those plants in the field? | 1000 calories (remember the 10% rule) |
| If all the herbivores in an ecosystem had a biomass of 50,000 kg, what would you expect all of the carnivores at the next trophic level to weigh all together? | 5,000 kg (remember the 10% rule) |
| Why do ecological pyramids rarely have more than 4 trophic levels? | Energy usually runs out by the 4th trophic level because 90% is used up at each level and only 10% gets passed on. |
| The original source of energy that flows through an ecosystem comes from ____. | the sun |
| The total amount of living tissue in an ecosystem, expressed in kilograms, is called ____. | biomass |
| The changing of water from gas form (water vapor) to liquid form is called ____. | condensation |
| The changing of water from liquid form to gas form (water vapor) at temperatures below boiling is called ___. | evaporation |
| Evaporation from the surface of plant leaves is called ____. | Transpiration |
| When water condenses and then starts to fall as either rain or snow, these two forms of water can both be called ______. | precipitation |
| When organisms burn their food in the presence of oxygen, the two waste products are carbon dioxide and ___. | water vapor |
| Water that ends up deep below the ground is called ___. | ground water |
| Unlike energy, matter gets _______ within and between ecosystesms. | recycled |
| Matter gets recycled within and between ecosystems through ____ cycles | biogeochemical cycles (bio=living, geo refers to geology and chemical refers to chemistry) |
| The chemical substances that an organism requires to live are called ___. | nutrients |
| Producers require nitrogen to be turned into ____ and ____, which are used to make _____. | nitrates and nitrites, used to make proteins |
| _______ is required by plants in order to make molecules like DNA and RNA plus an energy carrying molecule called ATP. | Phosphorus |
| Which two types of elements are the key ingredients in fertilizer, because plants need them to grow. | Nitrogen and phosphorus |
| The process by which bacteria convert nitrogen gas (N2) into ammonia (NH3) is called ____. | nitrogen fixation |
| The conversion of nitrogen from one form to another in the nitrogen cycle is carried out primarily by ___. | bacteria |
| Which type of plants help make soil more fertile because they can fix nitrogen out of the air and convert it into useable forms? | Legumes (they include peas, beans, lentils, peanuts, alfalfa. Legumes actually don't do the converting themselves, but have bacteria that grow in their root nodules that can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and turn it into fertilizer) |
| A lake that receives a large input of a limiting nutrient, like nitrogen or phosphorus, can develop a(n) ____. | algal bloom |
| The rate at which producers create organic matter (by growing) in an ecosystem is called ____. | primary productivity |
| What is most likely to be a limiting nutrient in a freshwater pond? | phosphorus |
| If a nutrient is in such a short supply in an ecosystem that it affects the growth of organisms, it is called a(n) ___. | limiting nutrient |
| Aquatic ecosystems are most likely to receive heavy doses of limiting nutrients that can cause algal blooms from the runoff from ___. | fertilized fields (like farmland or golf courses) |
| Which gas is given off by decomposers as they decompose dead organisms? | carbon dioxide (because they are getting energy from the dead organisms through cellular respiration) |
| Which two gases are given off when organisms burn food for energy through the process of cellular respiration? | carbon dioxide and water vapor |
| Which two substances are required by producers in order to conduct photosynthesis? | carbon dioxide and water (which are converted to food and oxygen during photosynthesis) |
| Carbon dioxide and water are ____ during photosynthesis. | required |
| Carbon dioxide and water are ___ during cellular respiration. | produced |
| Photosynthesis is pretty much the exact opposite process of ___. | cellular respiration (photosynthesis requires energy to make food from carbon dioxide and water while cellular respiration burns food using oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water along with energy) |
| Where in the carbon cycle is carbon stored in a process that took millions of years to build up? | Carbon took millions of years to build up underground as fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Unfortunately, it is now being released back into the atmosphere quickly over the last two hundred years as we've started burning the fossil fuels for energy) |
| What is the process called where nitrogen containing compounds in dead organisms are converted back into nitrogen gas (N2) so that nitrogen can re-enter the atmosphere? | denitrification |
| Ammonia is converted by bacteria into ________ so that it can be used by plants to grow. | nitrates and nitrites (which are also key ingredients in fertilizer) |
| Why is carbon dioxide increasing in the atmosphere? | Fossil fuels containing carbon are being burned for energy (creating CO2) now-a-days. This has was not happening very much until the start of the industrial revolution. |
| What are 3 human activities most responsible for the recent increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? | Burning fossil fuels, clearing forests by burning them, and industrial processes. |
