LIFE SCIENCE VOCABULARY ORGANISMS AND ENERGY TRANSFER

DEFINITION Process in which plants make food by using water from the soil, carbon dioxide from the air, and energy from sunlight.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

DEFINITION The loss of water from a leaf through the stomata.

TRANSPIRATION

DEFINITION The small openings in the leaves of plants.

STOMATA (STOMA)

DEFINITION A green pigment in leaves that allows a plant to absorb the sun’s light energy.

CHLOROPHYLL

DEFINITION A community of organisms and the environment (things like air, water, and soil) in which they live.

ECOSYSTEM

DEFINITION A living thing

ORGANISM

DEFINITION An organism, such as a plant, that makes its own food.

PRODUCER

DEFINITION An organism that eats plants and/or other animals to get energy (does not make its own food)

CONSUMER

DEFINITION An organism that eats only producers (plants)

HERBIVORE

DEFINITION An organism that eats other animals.

CARNIVORE

DEFINITION An organism that eats plants and other animals

OMNIVORE

DEFINITION A consumer that obtains food energy by breaking down the remains of dead plants and animals.

DECOMPOSER

DEFINITION The path by which energy is transferred or passed from one living thing to another in an ecosystem.

FOOD CHAIN

DEFINITION A diagram that shows the relationship of the combined food chains in a ecosystem.

FOOD WEB