Adaptations and Ecosystems

• What is a food chain?

  A food chain is a diagram that shows how organisms get energy
• What is the difference between a herbivore and a carnivore?

  Animals that eat plants exclusively are herbivores, and animals that eat only meat are carnivores. Animals that eat both are omnivores.
• What is the difference between a predator or a prey?

  A predator is an animal that eats other animals. The animals that predators eat are called prey. Predators are found at the top of a food chain.
• How does a food web differ from a food chain?

  A food chain shows how organisms get energy. When all the food chains in an ecosystem are joined up they are called food webs. They show how organisms in different food chains interact.
• Define interdependence.

  Interdependence is the way that living organisms depend on each other for survival, reproduction and growth.
• What does the word population mean?

  Population is the number of organisms of the same type that live in the same area.
• What is the difference between a producer and a consumer?

  A producer is an organism that makes its own food, a consumer is an organism that eats other animals or plants.
• What happens to the consumer population if the population of the producer decreases?

  If the producer population decreased, then the consumer population would also decrease as they have lost their food source.
• Define ecosystem.

  An ecosystem is the name given to plants and animals that are found in a particular location.
• Define a niche.

  A niche is a particular place or role that an organism has within an ecosystem.
• Define habitat.

  A habitat is the area in the ecosystem where an organism lives.
• What are the four resources that plants compete for?

  food, water, space and mates (to reproduce)
• Define adaptation.

  Adaptation is the special features that organisms have that help them survive.
• Name three ways that animals adapt to the winter

  Hibernation - animals like bears find a warm place to sleep through winter.

  Migration - animals like birds move somewhere warmer or somewhere with more food.

  Grow thicker fur - animals like sheep are kept warm by their coats.
• Define extinction.

  Extinction is when there are no more individuals of a specific species left anywhere in the world. When a species goes extinct they are gone forever and no new organisms can be created.
• What are some causes of extinction?

  • Changes to the organism's environment
  • Destruction of habitats
  • Outbreak of disease
  • Introduction of a new predator or competitor
• What are some organisms that have become extinct?

  • Dinosaurs
  • Dodo Birds
  • Woolly Mammoth
  • Sabre-toothed tiger
• What is the purpose of a gene bank?

  Gene banks store genetic samples from different species so that in the future they can be used for research or to produce new individuals of that species.