Study Guide – Interdependency, Food Webs, Environment Changes,
Carbon Dioxide and the Oxygen Cycle
Interdependency (5.9A)
1. Ecosystem – a community of living and nonliving things that interact with each other in their natural environment
2. Living element – a part of an ecosystem like a plant or animal that requires energy to survive and has basic needs
that must be met
3. Nonliving element – a part of an ecosystem that is not living, such as sunlight, air (includes oxygen and carbon
dioxide), water, rocks, and soil
4. Organism – a living thing
5. Adaptation – an inherited trait or learned behavior that helps an organism survive in its surroundings.
6. Producer – an organism that uses sunlight to make its own food for energy
7. Consumer – an organism that gets energy by eating other organisms
8. Carnivore – an animal that gets energy by eating only other animals
9. Herbivore – an animal that gets energy by eating only plants
10. Omnivore – an animal that gets energy by eating both plants animals
11. Decomposer – an organism that get energy by eating dead organisms, nonliving materials or waste
Student Expectation - The student is expected to observe the way organisms live and survive in their ecosystem by interacting with the
living and nonliving elements.
Vocabulary - Ecosystem, Living Element, Nonliving Element, Organism, Adaptation, Producer, Consumer, Carnivore, Herbivore,
Omnivore, Decomposer
Key Concepts
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Key Concept 1: Organisms interact with both living and nonliving things to survive in their ecosystems.
Key Concept 2: Plants interact with living things such as animals and other plants in complex ways that also require nonliving
things, such as carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight.
Key Concept 3: Animals depend on other living things, such as plants and other animals, and nonliving things, such as air and
water, to survive.
Fundamental Questions
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What is an ecosystem? What are the different parts of an ecosystem?
How do the living components in an ecosystem support the other components?
How do the nonliving components in an ecosystem support the other components?
Food Webs (5.9B)
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Producer – an organism that uses sunlight to make its own food for energy
Consumer – an organism that gets its energy from eating other consumers or organisms
Decomposer – an organism that gets energy by eating dead organisms, nonliving materials, or waste
Energy - what is needed to do work or cause change
Sun – a typical star that is a source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
Predator – an organism that hunts and feeds on another organism
Nocturnal – active at night
Food chain – the path of food energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem.
Food web - a connection of food chains with many food energy paths in an ecosystem
Student Expectation - The student is expected to describe how the flow of energy derived from the Sun, used by producers to create their
own food, is transferred through a food chain and food web to consumers and decomposers.
Vocabulary - Producer, Consumer, Decomposer, Energy, Sun, Food Chain, Food Web, Predator, Nocturnal
Key Concepts
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Key Concept 1: All energy transferred through food chains and webs is derived from the Sun.
Key Concept 2: Producers use the Sun's energy to create their own food through photosynthesis.
Key Concept 3: Consumers and decomposers get their energy from producers or other consumers.
Key Concept 4: The different parts of a food web are producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Fundamental Questions
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From what source do all food chains and food webs get their energy?
What are the different parts of a food web?
How does the energy flow from one organism to the next in a food chain or web?
Environmental Changes (5.9C)
Student Expectation - The student is expected to predict the effects of changes in ecosystems caused by living organisms including
humans, such as overpopulation of grazers or the building of highways.
Vocabulary - Change, Environment, Organism, Impact, Carrying Capacity, Population
Key Concepts
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Key Concept 1: Living organisms, including humans, can change their environment.
Key Concept 2: Changes to the environment made by organisms can affect other organisms.
Key Concept 3: We can predict the effects of changes to the environment caused by organisms.
Fundamental Questions
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How can living organisms, such as humans, change their environment?
What happens to organisms if their environment changes? Can you think of good and bad changes?
How might highways or bridges affect an environment and the organisms that live there?
Change – to go from one state or condition to another; to make or become different
Environment – the living or nonliving things that are around an organism
Organism – a living thing
Impact – direct effect or change on
Carrying Capacity – the population size an environment can feed and support
Effects – the results or consequences of events on an ecosystem
Population – all the living things that belong to the same group and live in the same area
Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen Cycle (5.9D)
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Carbon Cycle – the movement of carbon on Earth by the processes of respiration and photosynthesis
Photosynthesis – the process by which plants use the Sun’s energy to reproduce sugar, water, and oxygen
Oxygen – a gas produced by plants during photosynthesis, and used by animals during respiration
Carbon dioxide – a gas produced by animals during respiration, and used by plants to make food, water, and
oxygen
Respiration – a process by which animals use oxygen and food to make energy and carbon dioxide.
Elodea – an aquatic plant
Bubble – gas or air in a liquid
Student Expectation - The student is expected to identify the significance of the carbon dioxide/oxygen cycle to the survival of plants
and animals.
Vocabulary - Carbon Cycle, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Respiration, Photosynthesis, Elodea, Bubble
Key Concepts
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Key Concept 1: People and animals exhale carbon dioxide during respiration.
Key Concept 2: Plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to produce their own food, releasing oxygen as a waste product.
Key Concept 3: In order to survive, people and animals inhale the oxygen released by plants.
Fundamental Questions
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How are plants and animals involved in the cycling of carbon dioxide and oxygen?
What is the relationship between plants and animals? Where is oxygen produced? Where is carbon dioxide produced?
What is the significance of this cycle to the survival of plants and animals?