Ecology
Comprehension questions
Pages 26-27, 32-33, 36-37, 58-63
Answer the following questions in complete sentences (where necessary) on lined paper.
Skip two lines between questions so that you can make any necessary corrections when we
go over them.
Pages 26-27 – Ecological Niche
1. The environment where an organism lives is its habitat. How would you describe an
organism’s niche?
2. Why is it necessary for most organisms to “occupy different ecological niches”?
3. Why are the 3 types of finches on page 26 able to survive in the same habitat?
4. How does the example of the panda demonstrate why this is important?
5. What is an adaptation? Use the example of the deer and the kangaroo to explain
your answer.
Pages 32-33 – Family Strategies
6. There is only a limited amount of space and resources available for any particular
species in a habitat. What are the two principle survival strategies by which plants
and animals use the available resources (food and space) for the species to succeed?
7. Give an example of a species for each of the strategies.
8. Which strategy group do you think spiders belong to? Why?
Pages 36-37 – Ecology and Evolution
9. What does evolution mean?
10. What is the habitat of the grass called Yorkshire fog? How was this grass able to
survive and grow in this habitat?
11. How has evolution created the “super rat”?
Pages 58-59 – Human Ecology
12. What single development has made human beings ecologically different from all
other species? Why?
13. Why was the discovery of how to make fire important in human ecology?
14. In the past, diseases like the black plague have helped to control human population.
Why is disease becoming less of a factor in human ecology?
Pages 60-61 – Human Impact
15. Name 2 ways human development has hurt the environment.
16. Why are plastics and other complex chemicals a problem for the environment?
17. What kinds of problems have arisen because of the use of pesticides?
18. Why was the pesticide DDT such a problem?
Pages 62-63 –Ecology Today
19. Name 5 ways human activity has changed the environment.
20. How can studying ecology help to stop human destruction of the environment? Use
the Partula snail as an example to explain your answer.
21. Explain the Gaia Theory of life on Earth.
22. How did ecology help solve the problem of malaria carrying mosquitoes without using
pesticides which are harmful to the environment?
23. Why is reforestation an important step in helping the environment?