Name: _________________________________________________
Ecosystem Vocabulary Words – Grade 5
#
Word
Meaning
1
ecosystem
A community that includes all the living and nonliving
things found in a certain area.
2
ecology
The science concerned with the relationships among
living things and their environment.
3
adapt
To change in order to fit a new situation or use.
4
interdependent
relationships
When things depend upon each other.
Example: plants depend on animals and animals
depend on plants (each depend on the other)
5
independent
relationships
When one thing doesn’t depend on anything else.
Example: rocks, sun.
6
dependent
relationships
When something depends on something else.
Example: Plants depend on the sun, but the sun
doesn’t depend on the plants.
Name: _________________________________________________
7
biosphere
Includes all living organisms on earth, together with
the dead organic matter produced by them.
8
classify
To group things together because they share one or
more properties.
9
photosynthesis
The process by which green plants and blue-green
algae, in the presence of light, make food out of
carbon dioxide and water.
10 producer
An organism that can make its own food through the
process of photosynthesis (plants).
11 consumer
An organism that feeds on other organisms or organic
matter because it cannot make its own food (animals).
12 scavengers
Organisms that eat dead or decaying organic matter,
such as rats and mice and isopods.
13 decomposers
Organisms that eat dead or decaying organic matter,
such as fungi; break down matter into chemical
components, such as nitrogen, carbon and other
nutrients that can then be used again by plants and
animals.
Name: _________________________________________________
14 environment
Everything that surrounds an organism and influences
it.
15 respiration
The processes by which an organism takes in and
processes oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
16 habitat
A place that is natural for an organism to live.
17 aquarium
A water-filled container where organisms can live and
be observed.
18 aquatic
Living in water.
19 terrestrial
Of or related to the land
20 terrarium
A closed container where organisms can live and be
observed.
Name: _________________________________________________
21 gastropod
Animals with soft bodies and a muscular foot (used for
moving) and usually a shell, such as a snail.
22 radula
A tongue-like organ with tiny teeth that break down an
animal’s food into bits. Snails have a radula.
23 fry
A young fish.
24 gravid spot
Black spot on the side of the body of a female fish that
is carrying offspring within her body.
25 lateral line
A dark line running the length of a fish that sense
pressure in the water.
26 exoskeleton
Hard supporting or protective structure on the outside
of the body of an insect or other animal.
27 molt
When an animal sheds its exoskeleton in order as it
grows.
Name: _________________________________________________
28 abdomen
The back segment of an insect.
29 thorax
The middle segment of an insect.
30 nymph
For some insects, it is the young stage before
becoming an adult.
31 pH scale
The scale that identifies the chemical condition of a
material 0-14 acidic to basic.
32 acid
Below 7 on the pH scale.
33 base
Above 7 on pH scale.
34 neutral
7 on pH scale.
Name: _________________________________________________
35 variable
An element in an experiment that can be changed.
36 germination
The process by which seeds swell up and begin to
sprout and develop roots.
37 embryo
The first stage in the development of an organism –
animal or plant.
38 cotyledon
(cot-a-lee-din)
The first leaves of a new plant. They store food until
the plant can make its own.
39 fertilizers
Special food for plants that is rich in nutrients to help
plants grow; can be chemical or organic.
40 watershed
An area of land that is drained by a stream or a river
and its branches.
41 algae bloom
Overfed algae that can choke waterways and turn the
water a bright green.
Name: _________________________________________________
42 sediment
Small pieces of rock, plant, and animal material that
are carried by water, wind or ice.
43 trade-off
The act of giving up one thing in order to get another.
44 pollutant
Anything that spreads harmful or unpleasant
substances in the air, water, or ground.
45 pollution
The condition that results when pollutants interact with
the environment.
46 acid rain
Rain that is contaminated with pollutants; can fall in
the form of rain, snow, sleet, fog, hail.
47 fossil fuel
Fuels formed from plant or animal remains; coal, gas,
or oil.
48 agriculture
Farming.
Name: _________________________________________________
49 road salt
A special salt that is laid on the ground to keep people
from slipping in icy/snowy weather.