Unit 6 Study Guide
Ecology
Name_______________________________
Date
Class
1. What is ecology?
2. What is the difference between an abiotic factor and a biotic factor?
3. What is a population?
4. What is a species?
5. What is a community?
6. An
nonliving, environment.
7. A
is a community of organisms and their abiotic, or
is the place where an organism usually lives.
8. What is a niche?
9. An organism that can make its own food by using energy from its surroundings is a
.
10. What is a decomposer?
11. A
is an organism that eats other organisms.
12. Give an example of an herbivore and describe what it is.
13. Give an example of a carnivore and describe what it is.
14. Give an example of an omnivore and describe what it is.
15. What is a food chain?
16. What is a food web?
17. Be able to look at various food chains and food webs and interpret them. (producer,
primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, decomposer, predator/prey,
etc.)
18. What is a predator? What is a prey?
19. A close long-term relationship between different species in a community is called
.
20. Name and describe the three types of symbiotic relationships.
21.
resource.
occurs when organisms fight for the same limited
22. What is photosynthesis?
23. What are the starting materials and products of photosynthesis?
24.
the sun for photosynthesis.
is a green pigment that captures light energy from
25. What is cellular respiration?
26. What are the starting materials and products of cellular respiration?
27. How are photosynthesis and cellular respiration connected?
28. Sunlight and chlorophyll play major roles in photosynthesis. What happens when sunlight
strikes a plant’s leaves?
A. Chlorophyll captures oxygen.
B. Chlorophyll captures light energy.
C. Chlorophyll releases light energy.
D. Chlorophyll releases carbon dioxide.
29. In a relationship between two organisms, sometimes one organism is predator and the other is
prey. Which of the following is the best description of prey?
A. an organism that eats another organism
B. an organism that is eaten by another organism
C. an organism that is harmed by another organism
D. an organism that another organism benefits from
30. Green plants use energy from the sun to produce food during the process of photosynthesis.
This food provides energy to an entire food chain. What starting materials do the plants use to
make this food?
A. soil and water
B. water and oxygen
C. carbon dioxide and water
D. water, phosphorus, and nitrogen
31. Organisms all perform activities that allow them to survive. Which of these activities is a way
that organisms get the energy they need to grow, breathe, and move?
A. exercise
B. consume other organisms
C. generate body heat
D. flee from predators
32. What do animals do with the carbon dioxide produced in their cells during cellular
respiration?
A. reuse it during photosynthesis
B. combine it with water to make sugar
C. exhale it in the breathing process
D. store it for later use
33.
Scientists study predator-prey relationships in a habitat. The diagram below shows the
feeding relationships among organisms that a scientist may find in a certain environment.
Which animal is both a predator and prey?
A. owl
B. plant
C. snake
D. cricket
34. From which molecules do organisms get energy to perform daily activities?
A. molecules of ATP
B. molecules of water
C. molecules of oxygen
D. molecules of carbon dioxide
35. Rainfall is an abiotic factor. If rainfall in an ecosystem decreases, what happens to the
amount of vegetation?
A. The amount of vegetation increases.
B. The amount of vegetation decreases.
C. The amount of vegetation stays the same.
D. The amount of vegetation first decreases and then increases.
Identify one organism in this community. ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Is the organism a biotic factor or an abiotic factor? ____________________
Describe the organism’s niche in the community.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Explain what would happen to the squirrel population if above-average rainfall increased the
supply of acorns.
37. What are the products of photosynthesis?
A. sugar and oxygen
B. carbon dioxide and water
C. chlorophyll and chloroplasts
D. chlorophyll and sugar
38. This image shows the process of photosynthesis.
How do plants obtain the water, carbon dioxide, and energy they use for this process?
A. Carbon dioxide is absorbed from the soil, water is taken in by the stems, and energy
comes from sugars stored in the plant.
B. Carbon dioxide enters through the leaves, water enters through roots, and light energy is
captured by the chlorophyll in plant cells.
C. Water enters as rain falls on the stems, carbon dioxide is absorbed from fertilizer, and
energy comes from sunlight heating soil around the plant’s roots.
D. Carbon dioxide and chemical energy are absorbed through the roots and the leaves absorb
water from the air.
39. What happens to glucose inside a cell during cellular respiration?
A. The cell uses ATP to break down glucose.
B. The cell uses water to break down glucose.
C. The cell uses oxygen to break down glucose.
D. The cell uses nitrogen to break down glucose.
40. Some consumers, such as many flying insects, need large amounts of energy to grow and
move from one place to another. How do consumers get energy to function?
A. Consumers obtain all of their energy by eating other organisms.
B. Consumers obtain some energy from other organisms and some from sunlight.
C. Consumers obtain most of their energy by absorbing it from their environments.
D. Consumers get light energy from the sun and convert it into chemical energy stored in
food.