1. Autotroph
Green plants and other organisms that make their own food using sunlight
Examples:
Plants
Grass

2. Organisms that eat other organisms to get energy
Heterotroph
Organisms that eat other organisms to get energy
Examples:
Bugs, mice, birds, raccoons, foxes, bears, people

3. Another name for Autotrophs
Producer
Another name for Autotrophs
Green plants and other organisms that make their own food using sunlight
Examples:
Green Plants
Grasses

4. Consumer is another name for Heterotroph.
Primary Consumer
Consumer is another name for Heterotroph.
Primary Consumers are the first step up from producers in a food chain.
These organisms eat plants and grass.
Examples of Primary Consumers are:
Bugs
Rabbits
Deer
Cows
Sheep

5. Snakes and other Reptiles Owls, skunks and raccoons Larger Fish
Secondary Consumer
The third step on a food pyramid. These organisms eat primary consumers.
Examples:
Snakes and other Reptiles
Owls, skunks and raccoons
Larger Fish

6. These organisms eat other organisms for energy.
Tertiary Consumer
Often the top level of the food pyramid The third level, or one step up from secondary consumers.
These organisms eat other organisms for energy.
Examples:
Lions
Bears
Large Birds
Very Large Fish

7. Another word for Autotrophs
Herbivore
Another word for Autotrophs
Green plants and other organisms that make their own food using sunlight
Examples:
Plants
Grass

8. A kind of heterotroph that eats meat and plants
Omnivore
A kind of heterotroph that eats meat and plants
Examples:
Raccoons
Bears
People

9. A kind of heterotroph that eats meat
Carnivore
A kind of heterotroph that eats meat
Examples:
Fox
Eagle
Lions

10. Decomposer
A kind of heterotroph that eats dead plants and dead animals and animals’ waste (poop)
Examples:
Mushrooms
Bacteria
Worms

11. A level or tier on the food chain or pyramid
Trophic Level
A level or tier on the food chain or pyramid
Examples:
Producers
Primary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
Tertiary Consumers

12. Biomass
The total mass of living matter at each trophic level in a food pyramid.
The mass is highest at the producer level and lowest at the tertiary level of the pyramid.

13. A factor that limits the size of an organism’s population.
Limiting Factor
A factor that limits the size of an organism’s population.
Factors can be biotic or abiotic/density dependent or density independent.
Examples:
If there are too many predators that eat the same thing, there wont be enough food.
If a fire burns a forest, it will limit the population that lives there.

14. Carrying Capacity
The largest population of a particular organism that a given environment can support without harmful effects.
Carrying capacity is limited by the energy, water, oxygen and nutrients available.