ch 3 vocab

Question 1

part of earth in which life exists, including land, water, and air or atmosphere

Answer 1

Biosphere

Question 2

Scientific study of interactions among organisms in between their environment

Answer 2

ecology

Question 3

Group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring

Answer 3

Species

Question 4

Group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area

Answer 4

Population

Question 5

assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area

Answer 5

Community

Question 6

All the organisms that live in a place together with their nonliving environment

Answer 6

Ecosystem

Question 7

Any living part of the environment with organisms who might interact

Answer 7

Biotic factors

Question 8

Physical or nonliving factors that shapes an ecosystem

Answer 8

Abiotic factors

Question 9

Thin layers of gases that surround earth

Answer 9

Atmosphere

Question 10

All of the salt, water and freshwater in the form of liquid, ice, or vapor above and below earth surface, and in the atmosphere

Answer 10

Hydrosphere

Question 11

All the rock at and below earth surface

Answer 11

Geosphere

Question 12

Day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere, including temperature, precipitation, and other factors

Answer 12

Weather

Question 13

Average year to year conditions of temperature and precipitation in an area over a long period of time

Answer 13

Climate

Question 14

process in which certain gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapors) trap, sunlight, energy, and earths atmosphere as heat

Answer 14

Greenhouse effect

Question 15

Group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms

Answer 15

Biome

Question 16

Dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rainforest trees

Answer 16

Canopy

Question 17

layer in a rainforest formed underneath the canopy formed by shorter trees

Answer 17

understory

Question 18

A material formed from decaying leaves another organic material

Answer 18

Humus

Question 19

biome with long cold winters, and a few months of warm weather dominated by coniferous evergreens also called boreal forest

Answer 19

taiga

Question 20

A layer of permanently, frozen subsoil

Answer 20

Permafrost

Question 21

as deep as 200 m in tropical seas were photosynthesis can occur but just a few meters in rivers and swamps

Answer 21

photic zone

Question 22

photosynthesis cannot occur in dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone light cannot penetrate

Answer 22

aphotic zone

Question 23

microscopic organisms that live in aquatic environments, including both phytoplankton and zooplankton

Answer 23

Plankton

Question 24

Ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface at least part of the year

Answer 24

Wetland

Question 25

Kind of wetland formed where river meets the ocean

Answer 25

Estuary