Ecology Vocabulary 7th Grade

Ecology the study of the responses and interactions of living things with their environment. The word ecology comes from the Greek word ecos, which means home.

Habitat The habitat, or home, where an organism lives must contain resources to provide energy, water and gases for survival.

Levels of Organization in Ecology Organism Population Community Ecosystem Biosphere

Organism- an individual http://people.uvawise.edu/cte/documents/Science%20Resources/Principles%20of%20Ecology.pdf

Population -a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time. http://people.uvawise.edu/cte/documents/Science%20Resources/Principles%20of%20Ecology.pdf

Community- a collection of interacting populations http://people.uvawise.edu/cte/documents/Science%20Resources/Principles%20of%20Ecology.pdf

Ecosystem- interactions of living and nonliving things in the community

Biosphere- the interactions between all ecosystems in the world

Producers can make own food usually use energy from the sun (photosynthesis) 6CO2 + 12H2O  C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O

Consumers must eat other organisms cannot make own food

There are different types of Consumers Herbivore Carnivore Omnivore Decomposer Scavenger

Herbivore eat only plants

Carnivore eat only animals

Omnivore eat both plants and animals

Decomposer break down and absorb nutrients of dead plants and animals

Scavenger eat rotting flesh (like road kill)

Food Chain Shows how the energy in food is passed from one organism to another in an ecosystem. Arrows indicate flow of energy

Food Web Made up of many food chains Shows all possible feeding relationships in a community More realistic than a food chain, because most animals eat more than one thing.