Shared Flashcard Set

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Chapters 1-2
Environmental Science Book E Prentice Hall
33
Environmental Studies
8th Grade
09/22/2011

Additional Environmental Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Natural Selection
Definition
The changes that an organism goes through to make it better suited to it's environment. Ex. Girraffe with a long neck to reach plant life to eat high up in trees.
Term
Adaptions
Definition

Changes in behavior or physical characteristics that allows the organsim to live in their environment.

EX. Hunting at night instead of the day when there is more competition for food.

Term
Competition
Definition
The struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources (food, water, shelter)
Term
Predator
Definition
The organism that does the killing.
Term
Prey
Definition
The organism that is killed.
Term
Predation
Definition
When one organism kills another and eats it.
Term
Symbiosis
Definition
A close relationship between two organisms where at least one benefits from the interaction.  There are 3 types (mutualism, commensalism, parasitism)
Term
Mutualism
Definition
Relationship where both species benefit from the interaction.
Term
Commensalism
Definition
One species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor helped from the relationship.
Term
Parasitism
Definition
One organism benefits from the relationship while the other organism is harmed.
Term
Parasite
Definition
In parasitism it is the organsim that benefits from the relationship.
Term
Host
Definition
In parasitism it is the organsim that the parasite lives on or in.  It causes the host harm.
Term
Ecosystem
Definition
All the living and non-living things in an area create an ecosystem.  Can be as large as an ocean or as small as a drop of water.
Term
Habitat
Definition
A place where an organism lives.  It provides the organism food, water, shelter, grow and reproduce.
Term
Biotic Factors
Definition
The living parts of an ecosystem.
Term
Abiotic Factors
Definition
The non-living parts of an ecosystem.  Including: water, sunlight, oxygen, temperature, and soil.
Term
Photosynthesis
Definition
The way a plant produces glucose to use as food. Using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. It takes place in the plants chloroplast.
Term
Species
Definition
A group of organisms that are similar and can reproduce fertile offspring.
Term
Populations
Definition

All the members of one species in a particular area.  (Only living things) 

Ex. All the dogs.

All the grey wolves.

Term
Communities
Definition

All the different populations living in an area.

Ex. All the plants, mice, snakes, eagles.

Term
Ecology
Definition
The study of how living interact with each other and their environment.
Term
Producers
Definition
An organism that can make its own food.  They do this throught the process called photosynthesis.
Term
Consumer
Definition
An organism that obtains energy by eating other organisms.
Term
Herbivores
Definition
An organism that eats only plants for its energy.
Term
Carnivores
Definition
An organsim that eats only meat for its energy.
Term
Omnivore
Definition
An organism that eats both plants and animals to obtain its energy.
Term
Scavenger
Definition
A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms.
Term
Decomposers
Definition
Organisms that break down wastes and dead organsims and return the raw materials to the environment.
Term
Food Chain
Definition
A series of events in which one organism eats another to obtain energy.
Term
Food Web
Definition
Many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
Term
Limiting Factors
Definition
An environmental factor that stops a population from increasing.  Some examples include lack of food, space, and weather.
Term
Carrying Capacity
Definition
The largest population that an environment can support.
Term
Niche
Definition
A role of the organism.  The job it does in an ecosystem.
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