1. Why do chipmunks in the Great Smoky Mountains survive?
Their needs are met in that environment
They have driven out all the other chipmunks
Humans feed them, which helps them survive
Humans have moved them from cities to the mountains

2. Which describes a balanced ecosystem?
There is enough food for people to exist
One type of animal and plant depend on each other
The food supply, living space, and shelter for animals and plants is plentiful
Humans create shelter and food for animals and plants

3. A meadow has too many rabbits. What would help balance this ecosystem?
More rain that grass needs
More foxes that eat rabbits
Fewer foxes that eat rabbits
More grass for rabbits to eat

4. How do these organisms interactions help balance their ecosystems?
Rabbits make homes in grass
Grass and rabbits both need oxygen
Grass makes oxygen, and animals use it
Grass depends on rabbits to protect it

5. How would an ecosystem change if the rabbits that were the main prey for foxes became sick and died?
The foxes would find new prey
The number of foxes would increase
The number of foxes would decrease
The foxes and rabbits would compete for food

6. What impact does a parasite have in an ecosystem?
Helps the entire ecosystem
Hurts one organism and helps another
Helps both the host organism and parasite
Hurts both the host organism and parasite

7. Which would cause an ecosystem to change quickly?
An earthquake
A lake drying up
A climate change
A lake becoming a marsh

8. What might be the effect on an ecosystem of a climate change from rainy to dry?
No change
A change from plants to animals
A change from a forest to marsh
A change in kinds of plants and animals

9. What could scientists tell from a fish fossil found in a desert?
That fish is now extinct
Fish once had legs to travel
Fish once lived in dry places
The desert was once a sea or lake

10. What might be a reason an animal becomes extinct?
It is a predator
It produces oxygen
Its habitat is destroyed
It adapts to its environment

11. How are a hawk and an owl able to succeed, even though they compete for food?
The hawk eats the owl
The owl changes its diet
One animal moves to a different habitat
One hunts at night, and the other hunts during daytime

12. What is one way people can disturb the balance of ecosystems?
Breathing air
Planting trees
Riding bicycles
Building houses

13. How can damage from strip mines be repaired?
Erosion can fill the hole
Mining companies can replace the soil
Rain can wash the rock away into rivers
Mining companies can go mine in another place

14. Why did the United States establish national parks?
To make money for the national government
To provide Americans with great vacation spots
To preserve nature’s beauty and habitats of plants and animals
To give Americans a chance to see things they’ve never seen before