Animals, Habitats, and Food Chains Study Guide
Science SOL 4.5
Please use this study guide to study daily for your test!
Please keep this study guide in your HOMEWORK FOLDER so that you can use it to study
at HOME AND during opportunities at SCHOOL.
What is a structural adaptation?
A physical attribute (part of its body) that
the animal has that helps it survive
What is a behavioral adaptation?
Activities or actions that an animal DOES to
help it survive.
Given a list of adaptations, you will have to
decide whether each adaptation is structural
or behavioral and how it helps the animal to
survive.
Examples:
Sharp claws--Structural Adapt.--Helps the
eagle pick up its prey.
Playing dead--Behavioral. Adapt.—Helps the
opossum because its predator
thinks it is dead so it won’t eat it.
How ENERGY passes from one living thing to
another living thing
What does a food chain show you?
All food chains begin with energy from the
______.
Sun
The greatest amount of energy in an
ecosystem is found in its _____________.
Producers (plants)
Within a community, animals depend on the
survival of _________________.
Other animals
What is a niche?
A niche is the job that animal performs within
the food web of its community. A niche
includes everything that an animal does
(including what it eats and what eats it) and
needs in its environment.
Niche
No two organisms have the same _________
within a community.
Can an organism’s niche change throughout its
life cycle?
Yes! Think of the frog and butterfly life
cycles for examples!
What is a producer?
What is a consumer?
Something that uses water, air, and sunlight to
make its own food…PLANTS!
Any living thing that eats other living things to
get food energy (remember…plants are living
things too!)
What is a decomposer?
A consumer that eats only dead plants and
animals
What do decomposers do?
They break down dead plants and animals and
return their food energy to the soil, which can
later be used by new producers!!
What are some examples of decomposers?
Worms, mushrooms, bacteria
Illustrate an example of a food web you could
find in Virginia.
Ex.
What is a habitat?
The place where an animal lives
What does an animal’s habitat provide?
Food, water, shelter, and space
The size of an animal’s habitat is determined
by _______________.
The size of the animal
Examples of habitats include _________.
Oceans, streams, ponds, marshes, deserts,
grasslands, and forests.
Describe the life cycle of a frog.
Eggs (in water)ÆEggs hatch into tiny tadpoles
(in water)Ætadpoles slowly grow legs, lose
their tail, and develop lungs (froglet) (water
and land)Æ adult frog
Describe the life cycle of a butterfly.
Egg (on leaf)Æcaterpillar or “larva” (EATS A
LOT!) Æpupa (cocoon or chrysalis) Æadult
butterfly
What are 2 ways that humans harm
ecosystems?
Clearing land (destroying habitats), pollution of
water and air
Why do people clear land (destroy habitats)?
z To grow crops
z To mine nonrenewable resources (coal,
rocks, etc.)
z To build homes and roads
What are 4 ways that humans are beginning to
help ecosystems?
z Recycling (decreases trash and land needed
for landfills)
z Agreements to protect and preserve
endangered animals and their habitats
z Reclaiming and repairing land by turning it
into parks
z Farmers using more natural pest controllers
instead of poisonous pesticides.