Ecology - Matter and Energy Flow in Ecosystems- Middle School

If you want a solid understanding of matter and energy flow in ecosystems, review this vocabulary list. Learn about food chains and food webs, autotrophs and heterotrophs, the carbon cycle and the water cycle, and much more. Just go with the flow!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. aerobic
    depending on free oxygen or air
  2. algae
    primitive chlorophyll-containing aquatic organisms
  3. anaerobic
    not using or dependent on oxygen
  4. atmosphere
    the mass of air surrounding the Earth
  5. atom
    the smallest component of an element
  6. autotroph
    an organism capable of synthesizing its own food
  7. bacteria
    single-celled organisms that can cause disease
  8. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  9. biomass
    the total amount of living matter in a given unit area
  10. biosphere
    the regions of the Earth where living organisms exist
  11. biotic
    of or relating to living organisms
  12. carbon
    an abundant nonmetallic element in all organic compounds
  13. carbon cycle
    the organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again
  14. carnivore
    a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal
  15. cellular respiration
    the metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic molecules; processes that take place in the cells and tissues during which energy is released and carbon dioxide is produced and absorbed by the blood to be transported to the lungs
  16. chemical energy
    that part of the energy in a substance that can be released by a chemical reaction
  17. chemical reaction
    a process in which substances are changed into others
  18. condensation
    atmospheric moisture that has changed from a gas
  19. cycle
    a periodically repeated sequence of events
  20. decay
    the organic phenomenon of rotting
  21. denitrify
    remove nitrogen from
  22. energy
    any source of usable power
  23. environment
    the area in which something exists or lives
  24. evaporation
    the process of becoming a suspension of particles in the air
  25. food chain
    community of organisms where each member is eaten by another
  26. food web
    community of organisms with several interrelated food chains
  27. fungus
    a spore-producing organism that lacks chlorophyll
  28. gas
    state of matter distinguished from solid and liquid states
  29. geosphere
    the solid part of the Earth
  30. greenhouse effect
    warming due to solar radiation trapped by the atmosphere
  31. herbivore
    any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants
  32. heterotroph
    an organism that cannot make its own food supply
  33. hydrogen
    a colorless, odorless gas; the lightest chemical element
  34. hydrosphere
    the watery layer of the earth's surface
  35. interdependence
    a relation between entities that rely on each other
  36. law of conservation of energy
    the fundamental principle of physics that the total energy of an isolated system is constant despite internal changes
  37. law of conservation of matter
    a fundamental principle of classical physics that matter cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system
  38. liquid
    fluid matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume
  39. matter
    that which has mass and occupies space
  40. microbe
    a minute life form, especially one that causes disease
  41. microorganism
    any living thing that is too small to be seen with the naked eye
  42. molecule
    the simplest structural unit of an element or compound
  43. nitrogen
    a common nonmetallic element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless inert diatomic gas; constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living tissues
  44. nitrogen cycle
    the circulation of nitrogen
  45. nitrogen fixation
    the assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use on the death of the bacteria
  46. nutrient
    any substance that can be metabolized to give energy
  47. omnivore
    an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances
  48. organism
    a living thing that can act or function independently
  49. oxygen
    a colorless, odorless gas that is essential for respiration
  50. photosynthesis
    formation of compounds in plants aided by radiant energy
  51. phytoplankton
    photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton
  52. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  53. predator
    any animal that lives by preying on other animals
  54. prey
    animal hunted or caught for food
  55. recycle
    use again after processing
  56. runoff
    the occurrence of surplus liquid exceeding capacity
  57. scavenger
    any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying matter
  58. solid
    matter with definite shape at room temperature and pressure
  59. species
    taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
  60. state of matter
    (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container)
  61. succession
    the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem
  62. waste
    any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
Created on Thu Feb 09 11:59:41 EST 2017 (updated Thu Apr 06 12:14:27 EDT 2017)

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