Chapter 4- The Organization of Life

I. Ecosystems: Everything is Connected Defining an Ecosystem 1. An ecosystem is all of the organisms living in an area together with their physical environment.

Fresh water ecosystem

2. Things move from one ecosystem into another. 3. There are no boundaries.

The Components of an Ecosystem 1. An ecosystem is made up of both living and non living things. 2. Biotic factors are the living and once living parts of an ecosystem, including all plants and animals.

3. Abiotic factors are the nonliving parts of an ecosystem. 4. Include: air, water, rocks, sand, light and temperature.

Scientists organize living things into levels. 6. An organism is an individual living thing. 7. A species is a group of organisms that can mate to produce fertile offspring.

8. A population is all the members of the same species that live in the same place at the same time. 9. Every population is part of a community, a group of various species that live in the same place and interact with each other.

ORGANISM

SPECIES

POPULATIONS

COMMUNITY

Habitat 1. The place an organism lives is called its habitat. 2. Organisms tend to be very well suited to their natural habitats.

II. Evolution Evolution by Natural Selection 1. Darwin used the term natural selection to describe the survival and reproduction of organsisms with particular traits.

2. A change in the genetic characteristics of a population from one generation to the next is called evolution.

3. Adaptation is an inherited trait that increases an organism’s chance of survival and reproduction in a certain environment.

4. The process of two species evolving in response to long-term interactions with each other is called coevolution.

5. The selective breeding of organisms by humans for specific characteristics is called artificial selection.

6. Sometimes humans cause populations of organisms to evolve unwanted adaptations. 7. Resistance is the ability of one or more organisms to tolerate a particular chemical designed to kill it.

III. The Diversity of Living Things There are six Kingdoms 1. archaebacteria 2. eubacteria 3. fungi 4. protists 5. plants 6. animals

B. Archaebacteria and Eubacteria 1. Archaebacteria are found in extreme places. 2. Eubacteria are common and can be found in soil and animal bodies.

C. Fungi 1. A fungus is an organisms whose cells nuclei and cell walls and they break down dead and decaying matter.

D. Protists 1. Protists are a diverse group of one-celled organisms and they many-celled relatives.

E. Plants 1. Gymnosperms are woody plants that produce seeds, but their seeds are not enclosed in fruits.

2. Angiosperms are flowering plants that produce seeds in fruit.

F. Animals 1. Animals that lack backbones are invertebrates.

2. Vertebrates are animals with a backbone.

THE END