All flashcards
Flashcard 1: What is the name for many connected food chains showing matter movement in an ecosystem?
Answer: Food web. Shows complex feeding relationships and matter flow.
Flashcard 2: What is the name for a sequence that shows who eats whom and how matter moves in an ecosystem?
Answer: Food chain. Shows linear transfer of matter through eating relationships.
Flashcard 3: Identify the correct order in the carbon cycle: photosynthesis then respiration, or respiration then photosynthesis?
Answer: Photosynthesis then respiration. Plants first capture carbon, then organisms release it.
Flashcard 4: Which statement best describes matter in ecosystems: is it recycled or used up permanently?
Answer: Matter is recycled through ecosystems. Same atoms are reused; matter is never destroyed.
Flashcard 5: What is the term for water changing from liquid to gas and entering the atmosphere?
Answer: Evaporation. Heat energy transforms liquid water to water vapor.
Flashcard 6: What is the term for plants releasing water vapor from leaves into the air?
Answer: Transpiration. Plants lose water through tiny pores called stomata.
Flashcard 7: Which term describes water soaking into the ground to become groundwater?
Answer: Infiltration. Water seeps through soil layers into underground storage.
Flashcard 8: Which term describes water moving over land into streams, rivers, lakes, or oceans?
Answer: Runoff. Surface water flows downhill following gravity.
Flashcard 9: Identify the correct arrow direction: grass is eaten by a rabbit. Which way does the arrow point?
Answer: Grass → rabbit. Arrow points from food source to consumer.
Flashcard 10: Identify the correct arrow direction: a hawk eats a snake. Which way does the arrow point?
Answer: Snake → hawk. Arrow points from prey (snake) to predator (hawk).
Flashcard 11: Which process returns matter to the soil when fungi break down a dead log into simpler substances?
Answer: Decomposition. Fungi break complex molecules into simple nutrients.
Flashcard 12: What is the term for organisms that make their own food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide?
Answer: Producers (autotrophs). They convert light energy into chemical energy in food.
Flashcard 13: What are the two main products released by cellular respiration that return matter to the environment?
Answer: Carbon dioxide and water. These byproducts are recycled for photosynthesis.
Flashcard 14: Which process moves carbon dioxide from the air into plants to build sugars?
Answer: Photosynthesis. Plants use CO₂, water, and sunlight to make glucose.
Flashcard 15: What do the arrows in a food chain or food web represent?
Answer: Direction matter and energy move (from food to eater). Arrows point from eaten to eater, showing flow of matter.
Flashcard 16: What is the term for many connected food chains that show multiple feeding relationships?
Answer: Food web. Shows complex, interconnected feeding relationships in ecosystems.
Flashcard 17: What is the term for the path matter takes as organisms eat and are eaten in an ecosystem?
Answer: Food chain. Shows linear transfer of matter through eating relationships.
Flashcard 18: What is the term for organisms that break down dead organisms and wastes into simpler substances?
Answer: Decomposers. They recycle nutrients back to soil and environment.
Flashcard 19: What is the term for organisms that must get matter and energy by eating other organisms?
Answer: Consumers (heterotrophs). They cannot produce their own food through photosynthesis.
Flashcard 20: Which water-cycle process moves water into the ground to become groundwater?
Answer: Infiltration. Water seeps through soil to underground storage.
Flashcard 21: What is the term for water falling from clouds to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail?
Answer: Precipitation. Gravity pulls water from clouds back to Earth's surface.
Flashcard 22: What is the term for water vapor cooling and changing into liquid droplets in the atmosphere?
Answer: Condensation. Water vapor loses energy and forms liquid droplets.
Flashcard 23: What do decomposers return to the soil when they break down dead plants and animals?
Answer: Nutrients (minerals and compounds) for reuse by plants. Decomposition releases essential elements back to soil.
Flashcard 24: Which group of organisms is most responsible for recycling matter by decomposition?
Answer: Decomposers (bacteria and fungi). These organisms break down dead matter to recycle nutrients.
Flashcard 25: What is the process in which decomposers break down dead organisms and wastes into simpler substances?
Answer: Decomposition. Breaks complex organic matter into simple nutrients.
Flashcard 26: What is the main way plants take in carbon from the environment to build sugars?
Answer: They absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis. Plants use CO2 to make glucose during photosynthesis.
Flashcard 27: What is the main way animals return carbon to the environment during cellular respiration?
Answer: They release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air. Cellular respiration breaks down glucose, releasing CO2 as waste.
Flashcard 28: What is the term for water changing from liquid to gas and moving into the air?
Answer: Evaporation. Liquid water gains energy and becomes water vapor.
Flashcard 29: Identify the direction matter moves in a food chain: producer → consumer or consumer → producer?
Answer: Producer → consumer. Matter flows from those who make food to those who eat it.
Flashcard 30: What is a consumer, in terms of how matter moves through a food chain?
Answer: An organism that gets matter by eating other organisms. Obtains organic matter by consuming other organisms.