Science Test Review
1. What is an ecosystem?
A community of organisms and their non-living environment. (Living and non-living)
2. What is the difference between a food web and a food chain?
A food web is all of the food chains in a community; A food chain is the path of energy
from one feeding to another (will not include all organisms found in the community.)
3. What are some features found in an ecosystem that will make them different from each
other?
The amount of water, the amount of sunlight, and they type of soil.
4. What causes ecosystems to change?
Drought, fire, disease, over population
5. What is a population?
A group of individuals of the same species living in the same place
6. What is a community?
A group of interacting populations of different species.
7. What is the difference between a niche and a habitat?
A habitat is a specific environment that meets an animal’s needs.
8. What are some abiotic and biotic things that you could find in our ecosystem? (Hint:
Think about what you saw when we did our nature walk!)
(Abiotic: non-living; Biotic-living)
9. Be able to give examples of a producer, consumer, and decomposer.
10. What is photosynthesis?
Is a chemical process that turns carbon dioxide into sugars using sunlight.
11. Where does all of life’s energy come from?
The sun
12. What is symbiosis?
A long-term relationship between two species.
13. Be able to define and give examples for parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism.
Parasitism: one organism lives in or on, feeds upon, and harms another organism.
Commensalism: species benefits, while the other species seems to be unaffected.
Mutualism: all species that take part benefit from the relationship.
14. Be able to define and give an example of a trait.
An observable feature (characteristics of an organism); ex: hair, eye and skin color
15. What is the difference between learned behaviors and inherited traits?
An inherited trait is something that you are born with while a learned behavior is
something that you were not born knowing, but that you have learned.
16. What do we mean by the phrase, “survival of the fittest?”
Organisms with the most beneficial traits (fastest, strongest, ability to camouflage, etc)
will survive and thrive.
17. What is an adaptation? Give an example.
Adaptations are changes made by organisms in response to their environment. Ex: big
teeth, camouflage, large ears, etc)
18. Be able to name the six kingdoms.
Kingdom Archaebacteria, Kingdom Eubacteria, Kingdom Protista, Kingdom Fungi,
Kingdom Plantae, Kingdom Animalia
19. What are the three Domains?
Domain Archaea (prokaryotes that can live in extreme conditions), Domain
Bacteria(prokaryotes that cannot live in extreme conditions), Domain Eukarya (any
eukaryote)
20. Know the difference between autotrophic and heterotrophic.
Autotrophic organisms can make their own food; heterotrophic organisms cannot make
their own food.
21. What is the difference between asexual and sexual reproduction?
Asexual reproduction only requires one parent. The offspring will be identical to the
parent. Bacteria reproduce this way, usually by the parent cell pinching off and creating
another cell.
Sexual reproduction requires two parents. The offspring will not be identical to either
parent, but instead, will have traits from both parents. Most organisms in the animal
kingdom reproduce in this way.
22. What is a cell?
A cell is the building block of all living things, smallest unit of life.
23. What are the differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes cells?
Prokaryotes are single celled organisms with no nucleus, Eukaryotes are multi-celled
organisms and their cells contain a nucleus.
24. What are the differences between plant and animal cells?
Plant Cells
Animal Cells
- Are square
- Are round
- Have a large vacuole
-Have small vacuole
- Have a cell wall
-Do not have a cell wall
- Contain chloroplast
-No chloroplast
25. What is DNA?
Genetic material
26. What organelle can DNA be found in?
nucleus
27. What living things are made up of prokaryotic cells?
bacteria
28. What living things are made up of eukaryotic cells?
Plants, animals
29. What are some similarities between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
Both have DNA, both have ribosomes, they both divide in order to create another cell
30. What is cell theory?
1. All living things are made of cells
2. The cell is the most basic unit of life
3. All cells come from existing cells
31. Know what these organelles do: mitochondria, nucleus, chloroplast, cell wall, vacuole,
and cell membrane.
Mitochondria-“power house” of the cell, creates energy for the cell
Nucleus-contains DNA, “command center” of the cell
Chloroplast- Where photosynthesis (food is made) takes place in plant cells
Cell wall- provides structure and support for the plant cell
Vacuole- where water is stored in the cell
Cell Membrane- keeps all organelles contained inside of the cell
32. Who was Robert Hooke?
The first person to describe a cell
33. Who was Anton Van Leeuwenhoek?
Studied protists (pond scum), and blood cells.