Vocabulary for Standard 2 Objective 2, Biotic and Abiotic Factors of Ecosystems
Organism—a living thing
Ecosystem—all the living organisms in an area and the non-living things that affect
them.
Biotic factors—the living organisms in an ecosystem
Examples—plants, animals, insects, bacteria, fungi, worms
Abiotic factors—the non-living conditions of the ecosystem that affect the living things
Examples—temperature, light levels, oxygen levels, nutrients, moisture levels, pH
Photosynthesis—plants take light energy from the sun and change it to chemical (food)
energy. Energy enters the vast majority of all Earth’s ecosystems through
photosynthesis.
pH—“P” “H”—a measure of how acidic or basic something is. The pH scale goes from 0
to 14. Battery acid has a pH near 0 and is very acidic. Oven cleaner has a pH near 13
and is very basic. Pure water has a pH of 7 and is neutral.
Qualitative Data—the data are in the form of words
Quantitative Data—the data are in the form of numbers
Comparison of Pond Water to River Water
Temperature
pH
Turbidity
Pond
15 C
7.9
High
turbidity
(cloudy)
River
12 C
8.1
Low
turbidity
(clear)
Dissolved
Oxygen
5
7
Observations
Shallow,
water doesn’t
seem to be
moving
Slow moving
water. No
rapids
1. Which columns show qualitative data? Turbidity and observations
2. Which columns show quantitative data?
Temp., pH, dissolved oxygen
3. Does the table above give information about biotic or abiotic factors?
(there are no data related to living organisms)
Abiotic