#1 Room 504 [Chapter 10] Science Notes

Akshay Aravind 10/5/11

1. Test Questions
45 questions in total.
25 multiple choice
7 true or false questions, 3 are false: parasite, predator, and adaptation
10 fill in the blanks: ecology, emigration, energy pyramid, water cycle, habitat,
community, competition, ecosystem, and adaptation
the last 3 questions are sentence questions
2. Section 1
Organism- a living thing.
Habitat- the place where an organism lives, reproduces, and obtatains all the
things it need to survive.
Biotic Factors- living parts of an organism's habitat includes plants.
Abiotic Factors- nonliving parts of an organism's habitat.
Photosynthesis- The process in which organisms use water along with sunlight and
carbon dioxide to make their own food.
Species- a group of organisms that are physically similar and can mate with each
other and produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce.
Population- all the members of one species in a particular area.
Community- all the different populations that live together in an area.
Ecosystem-the community of organisms that live in a particular area, along with
their nonliving surroundings.
Ecology- the study of how living things interact with each other and their
environment. Ecologists are scientists that study ecology.
Biotic Factors include plants and grass in a Prairie dogs' habitat.
Abiotic Factors include water, oxygen, soil, temperature, and sunlight.
3. Section 2
Birth Rate- the birth rate of a population is the number of births in a population
in a certain time.
Death Rate- the death rate of a population is the number of deaths in a population
in a certain amount of time.
Immigration- moving into a population
Emmigration- leaving a population.
Limiting Factors- an environmental factor that causes the population to stop
growing
Carrying Capacity- the largest population that an area can support
Limiting Factors include water, space, light, soil composition, and weather
conditions.
4. Section 3
Producer- an organism that can make its own food such as plants, algae, and some
bacteria.
Consumer- an organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms.
Herbivore- consumers that only eat plants such as caterpillars and deer.
Carnivore- consumers that only eat animals such as lions and spiders.
Omnivore- consumers that eat both plants and animals include crows, bears, and most
humans.
Scavenger- a carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms which include
catfish and vultures.
Decomposers- break down wastes and dead organisms and return the raw materials to
the ecosystem.
Food Chain- a series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains
energy.
Food Web- consists of the many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
Energy Pyramid- the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another
food web.
5. Section 4
Natural Selection- a characteristic that makes an individual better suited to its
environment may eventually become common in that species.
Adaptations- behaviors and physical characteristics that allow organisms to live
successfully in their environment.
Niche- the role of an organism in its habitat, or how it makes its living.
Competition- the struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the
same limited resource.
Predation- an interaction in which one organism kills another for food.
Predator- an organism that does the killing such as a bear
Prey- the organism that is killed such as a fish.
Symbiosis- is a close relationship between two species that benefits atleast one of
the species.
The three types of symbiotic relationships are mutualism,commensalism, and
parasitism.
Mutualism- a relationship in which both species benefit.
Commensalism- a relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is
neither helped nor harmed.
Parasitism- involves one organism living on or inside another organism and harming
it.
Parasite- the organism that benefits.
Host- the organism it lives on.
6. Section 5
Note:
Water Cycle: The processes of evaporation, condensation, and precepitation make up
the water cycle.
Carbon and Oxygen Cycle: In ecosystems, the processes by which carbon and oxygen
are recycled and linked. Producers, consumers, and decomposers play roles in
recycling carbon and oxygen. Decomposers return carbon dioxide back into
the air. Plants turn carbon dixoide gas into oxygen. Oxygen cycles through
ecosystems.Human activities effect carbon and oxygen cycles. Activities include
selective cutting,
which cuts trees.
Nitrogen Fixation- the process of changing free nitrogen into a usable form of
nitrogen.
Nitrogen Cycle: In the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen moves from the air to the soil,
into living things, and back into the air.
7. Section 6
Succession- the sereies of predictable changes that occur in a community over time.
Primary Succession- the sereies of changes that occur in an area where no soil or
organisms exist. Example: a new island formed by the eruption of an undersea
volcano or an area of rock uncovered by a melting sheet of ice.
Pioneer Species- the first species to populate the area. Example: mosses and
lichens.
Secondary Succession- the series of changes that occur in an area where the
ecosystem has been disturbed, but where soil and organisms still exist.
Note: Unlike primary succession, secondary succession occurs in a place where an
ecosystem currently exists.
Secondary succession occurs more rapidly than primary succession. Natural
disturbances that occur to secondary successions include tornadoes, hurricanes, and
fires.
Natural disasters can make a huge affect in a forest. Disasters include fires,
volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, floods, and many others