Ecology
Georgia High School Graduation Test:
Science Review
Mrs. Kirby
Introduction
 From the key vocabulary, circle
the words that you can already
define or use in a sentence.
 Write down two or three things
that you think are important for
you to know today.
Biomes
 Biome = a large area
characterized by a certain
climate and types of plants
and animals
 6 major biomes on Earth
Biome Characteristics
Name
Characteristics
Tundra
permanently frozen subsoil
Taiga
Temperate Forest
long severe winters;
summers with thawing subsoil
moderate precipitation; cold winters;
warm summers
Tropical Forest
heavy rainfall; constant warmth
Grassland
variability in rainfall and temperature;
strong winds
Desert
sparse rainfall; extreme daily
temperature fluctuations
Biomes of the Earth
Ecosystem Vocabulary
 Ecosystem = a part of the environment
with its organisms, their interactions, and
the physical and chemical factors that
affect them
 Community = populations of different
species that interact in an ecosystem
 Population = all the individuals of the
same species living in a community
Members of an Ecosystem
 Producers = organisms that can
make their own food; autotrophs;
examples: bacteria, protists,
plants
 Consumers = organisms that eat
other organisms to get energy;
heterotrophs; examples: fungi and
animals
Consumer Classification
 Herbivore = primary consumer who only eats
plants; example: cow
 Carnivore = secondary consumer who only eats
other animals; examples: shark and tiger
 Omnivore = consumer that eats both plants and
animals; example: most humans
 Scavengers = animals that find dead plants or
animals and eat them; examples: flies, wasps,
cockroaches, earthworms
 Decomposers = break down dead organisms to
receive energy; examples: fungi and bacteria
Predator versus Prey
 All animals must eat to survive. Animals
can be either predators or prey.
 Predators hunt prey.
 With predators always on the lookout for a
meal, prey must constantly avoid being
eaten.
 Any adaptation the prey uses adds to the
chances of survival for the species.
 Some adaptations are defense
mechanisms which can give the prey an
advantage against enemies.
Survival Defense Mechanisms
 speed
 You can’t eat what you can’t catch!
 physical or chemical features
 physical examples: quills on a porcupine or
hard shell of a turtle
 chemical examples: stink of a skunk; poisons
of a dart frog
 camouflage
 allows the animal to blend in with its
environment to avoid being detected
 used by both predators and prey
Parasite versus Host
 A parasite is an animal or plant that
lives in or on a host (another animal
or plant)
 Parasites obtain nourishment from
the host without benefiting or killing
the host
 Examples: canine heartworms,
malaria, hookworms, pinworms,
tapeworm
Food Chain
 a diagram that shows
the way energy is
transferred from one
organism to another
 each step in a food
chain is called a
trophic level
 begins with
producers and ends
with decomposers
Food
Web
 complex,
interconnect
ing food
chains in a
community
 more
accurate
than food
chain
Pyramids of
Biomass/Energy
Sample Question
 Read and complete the
sample question on page 10.
We will discuss the answers
as a class.
Discussion
 An ecosystem is like the community
that you live in. What are important
factors in your community? How is
waste handled? Who are the
consumers and producers in your
community? Are there any parasites
within your community?
Lesson Summarized
 Write a sentence that explains
the flow of energy in an
ecosystem.
 Draw a graphic organizer that
shows the relationships between
the various groups in a
ecosystem.
Short Quiz Answers
1. See table summarizing characteristics.
2. The answer is b. Because there are few
macroinvertebrates in the stream and
macroinvertebrates die in the presence
of heavy pollution, one can conclude that
there is a great deal of pollution in the
observed stream.
3. The answer is a. The sun is the original
source of energy because producers
receive energy from the sun.