Chapter 1 Section 1 Study Guide/ Notes
Organism- a living thing
Habitats- the environment that provides the things that the organism needs to live, grow, and
reproduce. All organisms have different habitats based on their requirements to survive.
Biotic Factors- the living parts of an organism’s habitat.
Abiotic Factors- the nonliving parts of an organism’s habitat.
Water- all living organisms require water to carry out their life processes. Your body is about
65% water. Plants require water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide in order to photosynthesize.
Sunlight- is important to most living organisms and is required by plants to photosynthesize.
However not all organisms need sunlight to survive.
Oxygen- most living organisms require oxygen to carry out life processes. Humans can only
survive for a few minutes without oxygen. Fish and other water organisms obtain dissolved
oxygen from the water in which they live.
Temperature- the temperatures that are typical of an area determine they types of organisms
that can live there. Some animals have the ability to slightly alter the temperature of their
environment, such as burrowing to cool down, creating a nest, or creating a den.
Soil- is a mixture of rock fragments, nutrients, air, water, and decaying remains of living
organisms. Soil differs in different areas and will contain different amounts of these materials
accordingly and will also determine what types of plants can live there. There are billions of
microscopic bacteria that live in the soil.
Levels of Organization- organisms do not live alone in their habitat. Instead, organisms live together in
populations and communities, and with abiotic factors in their ecosystem.
Populations- all the members of one species, or single kind, of an organism. A species is a group
of organisms that are physically similar and can mate with each other and produce offspring that
can also mate and reproduce.
Communities- A particular area usually contains more than one species of organism. All the
different populations that live together in an area make up the community. The different
populations must live close enough together to interact.
Ecosystems- the community of organisms in an area along with the nonliving surroundings.
Ecology is the study of living organisms and how they interact with each other and their
environment. Organisms belong to populations, populations belong to communities, and
communities belong to ecosystems.