Essential Vocabulary List
1. Scientific Method Notes
2. Bio-Life
3. Biotic—living parts of an ecosystem even
if they are dead, they are still biotic
4. Abiotic—nonliving parts of an ecosystem;
Dead does not equal abiotic
5. Organism-any living thing
6. Habitat—place an organism lives…has
four components—food, water, shelter,
and space.
7. Producer—an organism that makes its own
food—plant —uses photosynthesis to
make its food.
8. Consumer—an organism that eats other
organisms.
9. Primary Consumer—An organism that
eats only producers—plant eater.
10.
Secondary Consumer—An organism
that eats both producers and consumers.
11.
Tertiary Consumer-An organism that
eats both producers and consumers and
has no natural predators.
12.
Decomposer—An organism that eats
dead or decaying organisms.
13.
Scavenger—An animal that hunts
dead animals.
14.
Food chain—the transfer of energy
from one organism to another along
ONE pathway.
15.
Food Web—the transfer of energy
from organism to organism along MORE
THAN ONE overlapping pathway.
16.
Autotroph—an organism that makes
its own food. (Producer)
17.
Heterotroph—an organism that does
not make its own food. (consumers)
18.
Symbiosis—A relationship between
two organisms. There are three types of
symbiotic relationships—parasitism,
commensalism, and mutualism.
19.
Parasitism—a relationship in which one
organism benefits, but the other organism
is harmed. The harmed organism is called
the host. The organism that harms the
host is the parasite!
20.
Commensalism—a relationship in which
one organism benefits and the other, the
host organism, is not harmed.
21.
Mutualism—a relationship where both
organisms benefit and neither is harmed.
22.
Limiting Factors—things that control
the number of organisms in a particular
population found in a habitat. (Food,
Water, Shelter, Space, Predators, etc.)
23.
Carrying Capacity—the maximum
number of organisms that can live in
particular population within a habitat.
(EX. How many bears can live in a
particular forest?)
24.
Adaptation—a structure or behavior
that helps an organism survive in its
habitat. Two types of adaptations:
structural or behavioral.