QUIZ BEE SCIENCE G9

• Ecosystem


  The network of interactions that link together the living and nonliving parts of an environment
• Population


  The totality of a closely related number of individual organisms that belong to the same species and live in the same geographical area and interact with each other through sexual (or asexual for bacteria) reproduction
• Migration


  When living organisms move from one biome to another. It can also describe geographic population shifts within nations and across borders
• Renewable resources


  Supplies of biological organisms that can be replaced after harvesting by regrowth or reproduction of the removed species, such as seafood or timber
• Non-renewable


  Something that cannot be replaced once it is used or that may take many hundreds of years to be replaced
• Fossil fuels


  Fuel formed over millions of years from compression of the decayed remains of living matter. Coal, oil, and natural gas are fossil fuels
• Equilibrium


  A condition where structures or systems are in complete balance. A state of rest or balance, in which all opposing forces are equal
• Life cycle


  All the stages in the life of a plant or animal organism, between life and death
• Consumption


  The amount of resources or energy used by a household
• Conservation


  Preserving and carefully managing natural resources so that they can be used by present and future generations. We conserve resources by using them more efficiently, with minimum waste
• Biodegradable


  Material that is able to be broken down or decomposed by natural processes into simpler compounds. Natural processes include exposure to sun, water, and air
• Food chain


  A method for describing how food energy passes from organism to organism. The description establishes a hierarchy of organisms where each feeds on those below and is the source of food for those above
• Food web


  A network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem
• Trophic level


  A feeding level within a food web
• Herbivores


  An animal that eats only plants
• Detrivore


  An organism that feeds on large bits of dead and decaying plant and animal matter. For example, earthworms, dung beetles, and wolverines are detrivores
• Carnivore


  A consumer that eats other animals. For example, wolves and orca are carnivores
• Decomposer


  An organism that breaks down (decomposes) dead or waste materials, such as rotting wood, dead animals, or animal waste and returns important nutrients to the environment
• Consumer


  An organism, such as an animal, that must obtain its food by eating other organisms in its environment; can be a herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore
• Scavenger


  Any animal that preys on food predators have killed, or food recently discarded
• Producer


  An organism that creates its own food rather than eating other organisms to obtain food; for example, a plant
• Prey


  An organism that is hunted by a predator
• Predator


  An organism that hunts another living thing for food
• Omnivore


  An animal that eats both plants and animals
• Niche


  The way that an organism fits into an ecosystem, in terms of where it lives, how it obtains its food, and how it interacts with other organisms
• Biomes


  Large regions of Earth where temperature and precipitation are distinct and certain types of plants and animals are found
• Habitat


  The place where an animal or a plant naturally lives or grows and that provides it with everything it needs to grow
• Estuary


  The region where a river flows into the ocean and fresh river water mixes with saltwater
• Local environment


  All the influences and conditions in which organisms live, including the actual place, circumstances, soil, water, air, and climate that surround and affect plants and animals in a particular area, and which determine their form and survival
• Adaptation


  The physical characteristic, or behaviour trait that helps an organism survive in its local environment
• Succession


  A fundamental concept in ecology that refers to the more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community
• Biomass


  An ecology term for the total mass of living organisms in a certain area
• Cell


  A microscopic structure that is the basic unit of all living things. Organisms can be made of as little as one cell (some types of bacteria) or as many as several trillion cells (human beings)
• Photosynthesis


  A process in green plants and some bacteria during which light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll-containing molecules and converted to chemical energy (the light reaction). During the process, carbon dioxide is reduced and combined with other chemical elements to provide the organic intermediates that form plant biomass (the dark reaction). Green plants release molecular oxygen (O2), which they derive from water during the light reaction
• Chlorophyll


  A green pigment found in chloroplasts that gives plants green colour. It captures the sunlight used for photosynthesis
• Chloroplast


  A plant cell structure containing chlorophyll, found in all green plant
• Invertebrate


  An animal that does not have a backbone or spinal column. Examples of invertebrates include insects, worms, and crabs
• Amphibian


  A class of vertebrates that is born in water and lives both in water and on land. Amphibians begin life in water with gills; later, they develop lungs and legs so they can walk on land as adults. Examples include frogs, toads, and salamanders
• Colouration


  An adaptation of an organism's colour to help it survive in its environment. Mimicry and camouflage are examples of coloration
• Camouflage


  The colouring of an animal that allows it to blend into its environment to survive better