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| part of the Earth that supports life, including the top portion of Earth's crust, the atmosphere, and all the water on Earth's surface |
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| all the living organisms that live in an area and the nonliving features of their environment |
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| study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment |
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| all the organisms that belong to the same species living in a community |
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| all the populations of different species that live in an ecosystem |
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| place where an organism lives and that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture, and temperature needed for survival |
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| anything that can restrict the size of a population, including living and nonliving features of an ecosystem, such as predators or drought |
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| largest number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support over time |
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| features of the environment that are alive or were once alive |
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| nonliving, physical features of the environment, including air, water, sunlight, soil, temperature, and climate |
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| air surrounding Earth; it is made up of gases, including 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 0.03 percent carbon dioxide |
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| mixture of mineral and rock particles, the remains of dead organisms, air, and water that forms the topmost layer of Earth's crust and supports plant growth |
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| average weather conditions of an area over time, including wind, temperature, and rainfall or other types of precipitation such as snow or sleet |
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| everything, such as climate, soil, and living things, that surrounds and affects an organism |
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| process that takes place when a liquid changes to a gas |
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| process that takes place when a gas changes to a liquid |
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| model describing how water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back again through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation |
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| process in which some types of bacteria in the soil change nitrogen gas into a form of nitrogen that plants can use |
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| model describing how nitrogen moves from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and then back to the atmosphere |
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| model describing how carbon molecules move between the living and nonliving world |
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