1. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY Ecology is the study of the relationships between
plants, animals and their environment.
A habitat is the area where a plant or animal lives (this chapter highlights a grassland habitat)

2. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY Producers are plants that make their own food.
Consumers are animals that get their food from plants or other animals.
A herbivore is an animal that only eats plants.
A carnivore is an animal that only eats other animals.
An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and animals.
Decomposers are organisms that feed on dead plants and animals.

3. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
A food chain is a list of organisms in which each organism is eaten by the next one in the chain.

4. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
An adaptation is a structure or habit that helps an organism to survive in its own habitat.
Competition takes place when two or more organisms require something that is in short supply.

5. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
(H/L)
A food web consists of two or more interconnected food chains.
Interdependence means that living things depend on each other for survival.

6. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
The study of a habitat involves the following five steps:
Draw a simple map of the habitat (or photograph if possible)
Measure and record the environmental (non-living or abiotic) features in the habitat.
Identify and list all the organisms (which are the biotic features) in the habitat.
Collect samples of those organisms that cannot be identified in the habitat.
Estimate the number of each organisms in the habitat.

7. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
Organisms can be named by using a suitable key or by comparing them to drawings or pictures in a book.

8. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY Waste management includes: Composting Recycling
Landfill
Incineration
Effective waste management involves:
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

9. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
A Pooter, a beating tray, a pitfall trap and a sweep net are devices used to collect animals.

10. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
A Quadrat is a square used to estimate the number of plants in a habitat.
A line transect is a rope marked at regular intervals and laid out across a habitat to estimate the number of plants present.

11. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY
Conservation is the protection and wise management of natural resources.
Pollution is any undesirable addition to the environment.

12. CHAPTER 15 ECOLOGY Failure to manage waste properly results in:
Disease
Poisoning
Damage to water & soil quality
Unsightly and unhealthy dumps
Fish kills