Ecosystems 

Vocabulary

Ecology: An area of science focused on the relationship of living things to each other and their natural environment; a scientist in this area is called an ecologist

Ecosystem: An interconnected community that includes all the living and nonliving things found in a certain area

Environment: Everything that surrounds an organism and influences it

food chain: A graphic which traces energy flow in an ecosystem; for example: sun→plants→fish→racoon

Organism: A living thing

Germination: Process by which seeds swell up and begin to sprout and develop roots

Terrarium: A closed glass or plastic container in which terrestrial organisms can live and be observed

Terrestrial: Having to do with the land or the Earth

Adaptation: A change in order to fit in a new situation or use

Biodiversity: A wide variety of organisms

Carnivore: A consumer which gets its energy by eating only meat/animal flesh

Consumer: An organism that gets it energy by eating other organisms

Fertile: Rich in nutrients; often used to describe soil

Forest:  An area of land densely populated with trees

Grassland: A large, flat area of land which is mostly populated by tall grasses and few trees

Herbivore: A consumer which gets it energy by eating only plants and vegetation

Omnivore: A consumer which gets it energy by eating both plants and meat/animal flesh

Producer: An organism that can make its own food through the process of photosynthesis

Aquatic: Having to do with water

Biodiversity:  A wide variety of organisms

Photosynthesis: The process in which plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to create sugar for themselves for food.

Radiation: A way that energy is transferred from the Sun to Earth

Niche: The specific role an organism plays within its ecosystem.

Abiotic factors: Nonliving things in an ecosystem such as light, air, and soil

Biotic factors: living things in an ecosystem such as plants and animals; organisms depend on biotic factors for survival

Dependent Relationships: Relying on another; for example, plants rely on the sun for its light

Interdependent relationships: Relying on one another; For example, elodea is a producer and provides food for a snail. It also provides shelter for hiding and laying eggs and adds oxygen to the water. The snail eats dead leaves and adds fertilizer in the form of feces. The snail also gives off carbon dioxide, which plants use for photosynthesis.

Pollutant: A harmful or unpleasant substance which can have negative effects on an ecosystem when spread through the air, water, or soil.

Trade-off: The act of giving up one thing in order to get another

Fair test: Altering or changing only one variable in an experiment

Control: In this case, the ecocolumn that is not undergoing pollution, but all other variables (temperature, light, etc) stay the same

Variable: The part of an experiment that is changed or tested; in this case, the variable is the addition of a pollutant (salt, fertilizer, vinegar)

watershed: An area of land whose waters all drain into the same place

Algae blooms: Too many algae crowd the water and block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses; caused by too many nutrients in water from sewer drainage and fertilizer run-off