Super Science Review Life Science 43-50

43. Traits that organisms get from their parents are called inherited traits. Both plants and animals inherit traits. Examples of inherited traits are: fur color, flower shape, gills, etc. You are born with inherited traits. An injured leg is NOT an inherited trait (not born with it).

44. Instincts are behaviors that you are born with. You do not have to learn these behaviors. For example, a spider is born with the instinct to spin a web. It does not have to learn to do this.

45. Learned behaviors must be taught. An example of a learned behavior is a raccoon that lives in the city learns to open a garbage can to get food. You are not born with good table manners –you must learn them! Wolves learn how to hunt in packs from their mother.

46. Animals also have adaptations, which are special features that allow them to SURVIVE in their environment. Examples of adaptations include: sharp teeth to tear meat; bright colored flowers to attract honeybees; webbed feet to swim easier; or large eyes to see at night.

47. An ecosystem is made up of living and nonliving things interacting. A population is all the members of one species. A community is all the populations of organisms in the ecosystem. An organism’s niche is its special role within the ecosystem. It’s habitat is where it lives. Ecosystems are balanced –when one part gets out of balance, it affects the rest of the ecosystem. What will happen to the rabbits and the grass if the coyotes are killed by hunters? The rabbit population will increase and overgrazing may occur.

48. Organisms in ecosystems can be classified by how they get food. Producers, or plants, make their own energy from the Sun. Consumers eat their food. There are different types of consumers. Herbivores eat only plants. Carnivores eat only meat. Omnivores eat both plants and meat. Scavengers eat only dead organisms. Decomposers break down dead organisms and return nutrients to the soil.

49. A food chain shows the transfer of energy from one organism to another. Food chains always start with producers. As each animal eats, energy gets transferred. A food web shows all of the overlapping food chains. In food chains and food webs, the arrow always points in the direction that the energy is moving. Example: Sun  plant  mouse  hawk

50. The Earth is divided into several major life zones, called biomes, which have different temperatures and amount of precipitation. Organisms have special adaptations that allow them to live in their biome. Biomes include: rainforest (hot/wet); desert (hot/dry); deciduous forest (mild/wet); grassland (mild/dry); taiga (cold/wet); and tundra (cold/dry).