1. Science Knowledge Organiser –
Summer half term 2: Ecosystems and Feeding relationships. Key concepts 1
Carnivore
An animal that eats meat or flesh only. 2
Community
All the populations of different organisms that live together in a habitat. 3
Consumer
An organism that obtains its energy by eating other organisms. 4
Ecosystem
A community of animals, plants and microorganisms, together with the habitat where they live. 5
Environment
All the conditions that surround a living organism. 6
Food chain
A sequence (usually shown as a diagram) of feeding relationships between organisms, showing which organisms eat what and the movement of energy through trophic levels. 7
Food web
A network of food chains, showing how they all link together. 8
Habitat
The place where an organism lives. 9
Herbivore
An animal that feeds only on plants. 10
Omnivore
An animal that eats both plants and meat. 11
Photosynthesis
A chemical process used by plants to make glucose and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water, using light energy. Oxygen is produced. 12
Population
All of the members of a single species that live within a geographical area. 13
Predator
An animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals for food. 14
Prey
Organisms that predators kill for food. 15
Primary consumer
The name given to an organism that eats a producer. A herbivore. 16
Producer
Plants that begin food chains by making energy from carbon dioxide and water. 17
Pyramid of numbers
A diagram that shows the relative numbers of organisms at each stage in a food chain. 18
Secondary consumer
An organism that obtains its energy by eating the primary consumer. 19
Species
A type of organism that is the basic unit of classification. Individuals of different species are not able to interbreed successfully. 20
Tertiary consumer
An organism that obtains its energy by eating the secondary consumer 21
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is a measure of how many different species live in an ecosystem. 22
Sampling
Sampling basically means selecting people/objects from a population in order to test the population for something. 23
Quadrats
A quadrat is usually a square made of wire. The organisms underneath, usually plants, can be identified and counted. 24
Pooters
A pooter is a small jar used for collecting insects. It has two tubes - one goes into your mouth so you can apply suction, and the other goes over the insect so that is sucked into the jar. 25
Pitfall traps
A pitfall trap is often used to get a sample of small invertebrates living on the ground, such as beetles, spiders and slugs. It consists of a container, such as a yoghurt carton, buried in the ground. 26
Abiotic factor
Abiotic factors are non-living. They include light intensity, temperature and moisture levels. 27
Biotic factor
Biotic factors are interactions associated with living organisms. They can also influence the distribution of organisms in an ecosystem. E.g. disease. 28
Data logger
Data logging is a collection of data over time. It is often used in scientific experiments and can monitor a process using sensors linked to a computer