1. Ecosystem All the living and nonliving things in an area. Ecosystems may be small (drop of water) or cover large areas of countries or continents.

2. Abiotic and Biotic Factors All of the Nonliving parts of an ecosystem / including the nonliving things that living things need in order to survive I.e. essential abiotic factors= water, minerals, sunlight, air, climate, and soil. Living parts of an ecosystem Include: animals, plants, fungi, protists and bacteria.

3. Population All the organisms of a single species living in an area

4. Ecology The study of how all things in an ecosystem interact

5. Community All the populations living in an area.

6. Habitat Place where an organism lives

7. Niche the role of an organism within its natural environment that determines its relations with other organisms and ensures its survival. Includes: the organism's life history, habitat, and place in the food chainlife historyhabitatfood chain

8. Food Chain The path energy takes from producers to consumers to decomposers-describes the feeding relationship in an ecosystem

9. Food Web Shows energy’s relationships between all of the species in a community-map of overlapping food chains

10. Herbivores Organisms that only eat producers (plants). Both on land and in water: elephant, cow, sheep, llama, some fish

11. Carnivores Animals that only eat other animals. Wolves, sharks, seals, dolphins and whales -sharp toothed animals

12. Omnivores Animals that eats both plants and animals. Bears & people are examples

13. Predator and Prey Hunts other living things for food. (Predator) Hunted for food (Prey)

14. Scavenger Organisms that feed on the remains of dead animals

15. Producers Any of the plants and algae that use the sun’s energy to produce oxygen and food that animals need.

16. Consumers Organisms that cannot make their own food- get energy from the other organisms

17. Decomposers Organisms and other living things that break down dead matter into substances that can be used by producers. Every food chain/food web ends with decomposers. Includes mushrooms, beetles, bacteria, fungi and worms.