Ecology study guide

Ecology Study Guide…..Test Tuesday May 29 (Ms. Wetzel’s class) or Thursday May 31 (Ms. Whalen’s class)

What is a food chain? Transfer of energy through producers, consumers and decomposers that creates the balance of nature.

The members of a food chain

Sun: the first step in the food chain- gives energy to producers

Producer (plants): They make their own food from the energy they get from the sun.  (bushes, trees, grass, weeds, veggies, fruits, etc)

Primary Consumer (herbivores): They eat the Producers which gives them energy. (bunnies, squirrels, deer, caterpillars, etc)

Secondary Consumer (Carnivores): They eat the Primary Consumers which transfers the energy to them. (foxes, bears, cats, mountain lions, dogs, wolves, birds, people, etc)

Decomposer (fungi, bacteria, worms): They break down the dead bodies’ of plants and animals which in turn transfers the energy back into the soil.

Things we can do that help the environment

Reduce- use less water, turn off lights or TVs when they are not being used

Reuse- clothing- donate or hand down, water bottles, plastic containers

Recycle- paper, cardboard, steel, aluminum cans, plastic containers, newspapers

Why is it important to have a balance in nature?

It is important to have a balance in nature because when there is more of one resource such as deer and not enough of another such as food, all the food will be eaten up which in turn will cause the deer to die out. It is important to have enough food to feed the deer, wolves to help keep the herd sizes down, which in turn will allow more food to grow.

Other Vocabulary:

Water pollution: To make water dirty from harmful liquids, trash or gas.

Air pollution: To make the air dirty from harmful gases such as exhaust from a car or smoke from a factory.

Land pollution: To make the land dirty from harmful trash not being thrown away properly.

Ecosystem: A specific community of living and nonliving things interacting in an environment.

Environment: The natural surroundings of a living thing

Compost: Adding nutrients back to the soil through old food and grass clippings

Recycle: Use again

Pure Stream: Sorting things so that like things being recycled are together