Download Ecology Notes - Jessamine County Schools

What makes something alive?
 It is made up of at least one cell
 It uses homeostasis to maintain a balance in its body
(temperature, heart beat/pressure)
 It can adapt to its environment
 It uses energy
 It reproduces/grows
Review of terms from field study
What is the difference between a habitat and a niche?
What is the difference between abiotic and biotic?
Species
 Similar organisms that can reproduce and make fertile
offspring
Population
 A group of organisms of a single species together at the
same time and place
Community
 Group of different species living together
Ecosystem
 All the biotic and abiotic things in an area
Biosphere
 Where all living things on Earth exist
Food Chain
 A diagram that shows one pathway of energy and
who eats who.
 The arrows represent which way the energy is
flowing.
 It always starts with a producer!
 GrassAntBirdSnake
 The grass is a producer because it produces its own
food by using the sun’s energy.
 Another word for producer is autotroph.
 GrassAntBirdSnake
 The ant, bird and snake are called consumers
because they have to consume other organisms for
energy.
 Another name for a consumer is a heterotroph.
 Primary consumer-eats the producer (ant)
 Secondary consumer-eats the primary consumer
(bird)
 Tertiary consumer- eats the secondary consumer
(snake)
Practice
 1. Who is the secondary
consumer? How do you
know?
 2. Who is the autotroph?
How do you know?
 3. Name the heterotrophs in
the food chain.
Food Webs
 More complex than a food chain and shows multiple
pathways of energy
Practice
1. Who are the primary consumers in the food web?
2. Who are the secondary consumers?
Decomposers