1. Ecology Vocabulary
7th Grade

2. 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.

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

4. Levels of Organization in Ecology
Organism Population Community Ecosystem Biosphere

5. Organism- an individual

6. Population -a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time.

7. Community- a collection of interacting populations

8. Ecosystem- interactions of living and nonliving things in the community

9. Biosphere- the interactions between all ecosystems in the world

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

11. Consumers
must eat other organisms
cannot make own food

12. There are different types of Consumers
Herbivore Carnivore Omnivore Decomposer Scavenger

13. Herbivore
eat only plants

14. Carnivore
eat only animals

15. Omnivore
eat both plants and animals

16. Decomposer
break down and absorb nutrients of dead plants and animals

17. Scavenger
eat rotting flesh (like road kill)

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

19. 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.