Introductory Reading Questions
Chapter 2: Section 1—Do not write on this paper.
Answer the following questions with your group. These are all found in the textbook and they are in
order of the section.
1. What is ecology? pg. # ___
2. What are some questions that ecologists may ask? pg. # ___
3. The portion of earth that supports living things is the _____________. pg. # ___ How far does the
biosphere extend?
4. Living things are affected by both the physical or _________________ environment and by other
_____________ things. pg. # ___
5. What are abiotic factors? Give 3 examples. pg. # ___
6. Why does ecology include the study of nonliving features? pg. # ___
7. What are biotic factors? pg. # ___
8. To help ecologists understand interactions, they have organized the living world into levels. What
are those levels? pg. # ___
9. Figure 2.4 shows the give levels of biological organization. List and describe each of them.
10. What is a habitat? Give one example. pg. # ___
11. What is a niche? pg. # ___
12. Why is it important for different populations to have different niches?
13. What is a predator and how do they eat? pg. # ___
14. What do we call the animals that predators eat? pg. # ___ What is the relationship between these
two organisms called?
15. What is symbiosis? pg. # ___ What does it mean?
16. There are three types of symbiotic relationships. Describe each type and give an example of each.
Introductory Reading Questions
Chapter 2: Section 1—Do not write on this paper.
Answer the following questions with your group. These are all found in the textbook and they are in
order of the section.
1. What is ecology? pg. # ___
2. What are some questions that ecologists may ask? pg. # ___
3. The portion of earth that supports living things is the _____________. pg. # ___ How far does the
biosphere extend?
4. Living things are affected by both the physical or _________________ environment and by other
_____________ things. pg. # ___
5. What are abiotic factors? Give 3 examples. pg. # ___
6. Why does ecology include the study of nonliving features? pg. # ___
7. What are biotic factors? pg. # ___
8. To help ecologists understand interactions, they have organized the living world into levels. What
are those levels? pg. # ___
9. Figure 2.4 shows the give levels of biological organization. List and describe each of them.
10. What is a habitat? Give one example. pg. # ___
11. What is a niche? pg. # ___
12. Why is it important for different populations to have different niches?
13. What is a predator and how do they eat? pg. # ___
14. What do we call the animals that predators eat? pg. # ___ What is the relationship between these
two organisms called?
15. What is symbiosis? pg. # ___ What does it mean?
16. There are three types of symbiotic relationships. Describe each type and give an example of each.