Ecology

Questions
Multiple Choice

The natural world that surrounds an

organism is called the organism’s:
a. energy
b. environment
c. lodgings
d. nutrients
Multiple Choice

The study of how living things

interact is called:
a. ecosystems
b. abiotic factors
c. ecology
d. the energy pyramid
Multiple Choice

1. The source of energy for

almost all life on Earth is:
a. fungi
b. animals
c. water
d. sunlight
Multiple Choice

2. An example of a biotic factor in a

forest ecosystem is:
a. waterfall
b. cliff
c. a tree
d. a rock
Multiple Choice

3. An ecosystem is made up of:

a. biotic only
b. Abiotic factors only
c. biotic and the abiotic factors
d. biotic and decaying matter
only
Multiple Choice

1. In a food chain, the bottom

level represents:
a. consumers
b. producers
c. scavengers
d. decomposers
Multiple Choice

2. An example of a consumer in a
pond ecosystem is:
a. a water lily
b. algae
c. cattails
d. a frog
Multiple Choice

3. Which of these food chains is in the correct

order?
a. caterpillar, cattail, frog, water snake
b. cattail, caterpillar, frog, water snake
c. water snake, frog, caterpillar, cattail
d. cattail, frog, caterpillar, water snake
Multiple Choice

Ecology is the study of how:

a. the physical environment changes
over time
b. biotic factors change over time
c. matter interacts with energy in our
environment
d. living things interact with each other
and their environment
Multiple Choice

1. An example of a biotic factor in

a pond ecosystem is:
a. temperature
b. water
c. fish
d. sunlight
Multiple Choice

2. An example of a producer is
a:
a. fungus
b. caterpillar
c. bird
d. moss
Multiple Choice

3. Both consumers and producers

are a source of food for:
a. scavengers
b. decomposers
c. carnivores
d. herbivores
Multiple Choice

1. In an energy pyramid, the lowest level

has:
a. less energy than the top level
b. less energy than the second level
c. more energy than the top level
d. the same amount of energy as
the second level
Multiple Choice

2. A scientist who studies the

interactions of plants and animals is
called:
a. a physicist
b. a botanist
c. a geologist
d. an ecologist
Multiple Choice

3. A food chain shows:

a. one possible pathway for energy
b. many possible pathways for energy
c. the amount of energy available to a
producer
d. the amount of energy available to a
consumer
Multiple Choice

1. Decomposers are important to ecosystems

because they:
a. are at the highest level of the energy
pyramid
b. change simple compounds into more
complex ones
c. make nutrients available for producers to
reuse
d. convert light energy into sugars through
photosynthesis
Multiple Choice

2. Which of the following factors

in an ecosystem is biotic?
a. insects
b. soil
c. water
d. sunlight
Multiple Choice

3. Two abiotic factors that affect

an ecosystem are:
a. temperature and animals
b. plants and animals
c. water and bacteria
d. soil and water
Multiple Choice

1. Two examples of decomposers

are:
a. fungi and bacteria
b. algae and marine mammals
c. carnivores and herbivores
d. ferns and mosses
Multiple Choice

2. A caterpillar eats a leaf, and a bird

eats the caterpillar. In this
interaction, the bird is a:
a. producer
b. herbivore
c. primary consumer
d. secondary consumer
Multiple Choice

3. How is a food web model different from a food

chain?
a. In a web, energy moves from an
organism to only one other.
b. In a web, energy may move to many
organisms from one.
c. In a web, an organism gets energy from
one source.
d. In a web, an organism receives less
energy than in a chain.
Multiple Choice

1. When a rabbit population in a

meadow cannot grow any larger, it
has reached the:
a. climax community
b. carrying capacity
c. limiting factor
d. minimum size
Multiple Choice

2. An unusually cold winter causes the

squirrel population to decrease. This
is an example of temperature as a:
a. carrying capacity
b. limiting factor
c. climax community
d. pattern in space
Multiple Choice

3. An animal that eats only plants is a:

a. primary consumer
b. secondary consumer
c. tertiary consumer
d. primary producer
Multiple Choice

All the living things in a meadow and the physical environment around
them make up the meadow’s:
a. community
b. population
c. ecosystem
d. niche
Multiple Choice

Which list of terms is in the correct order, from

simplest to most complex?
a. organism, community, population,
ecosystem, biome
b. organism, population, community, biome,
ecosystem
c. organism, population, community,
ecosystem, biome
d. organism, community, ecosystem,
population, biome
Multiple Choice

A population of rabbits is at its carrying capacity when the population:

a. reproduces
b. becomes extinct
c. stops growing
d. can’t survive
Multiple Choice

A crab lives on a beach where it gets food, shelter, and space to live.
The beach is the crab’s:
a. niche
b. community
c. habitat
d. home
Multiple Choice

All the leopard frogs in a pond make up the pond’s leopard frog:
a. population
b. niche
c. habitat
d. ecosystem
Multiple Choice

Biodiversity is a measure of the:

a. variety of nonliving things within an ecosystem
b. amount of resources shared by the human
population.
c. Variety of species within an ecosystem.
d. Amount of renewable resources within an
ecosystem.
Multiple Choice

Biotic factors in an ecosystem may include:

a. bacteria, soil, and water
b. plants, animals, and bacteria
c. temperature, water, and soil
d. animals, fungi, and temperature
Multiple Choice

An example of a biotic factor is:

a. soil
b. a rock
c. water
d. a tree
Multiple Choice

A snake that eats an insect-eating frog is a:

a. primary consumer
b. secondary consumer
c. tertiary consumer
d. primary producer
Fill in the Blank

A(n) ___________________________ is made up of both living things

and the physical environment.
An ecosystem is made up of both living things and the physical
environment.
Fill in the Blank

__________________________ is the study of how living things

interact with each other and their environment.
Ecology is the study of how living things interact with each other and
their environment.
Fill in the Blank

Living things in an ecosystem are ________________________ factors.

Living things in an ecosystem are biotoic factors.
Fill in the Blank

Nonliving things in an ecosystem are __________________________

factors.
Nonliving things in an ecosystem are abiotioc factors.
Fill in the Blank

The __________________________ of an environment is the

maximum population that it can support.
The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population
that it can support.
True or False?

Organisms in soil are an example of abiotic factors.

FALSE
True or False?

The amount of light available in an ecosystem affects the types and

amount of plant life that will grow there.

TRUE
True or False?

Plants use energy to make sugars through photosynthesis.

TRUE
True or False?

An ecosystem is composed of biotic factors.

FALSE

Biotic factors AND abiotic factors.

True or False?

In a species, the organisms’ offspring must be able to breed.

TRUE
True or False?

The same niche in a habitat may be occupied by more than one

species.

TRUE
Matching

_____ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

_____Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy
into chemical energy
_____Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred
up the food chain
_____Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating
plants or animals
_____Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships
between a producer and several
consumers
_____Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants
and animals into simpler compounds
Matching

__B__ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

_____Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy
into chemical energy
_____Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred
up the food chain
_____Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating
plants or animals
_____Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships
between a producer and several
consumers
_____Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants
and animals into simpler compounds

A producer is an organism that converts heat or light energy into chemical

energy.
Matching

__B__ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

__D__ Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy
into chemical energy
_____ Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred
up the food chain
_____ Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating
plants or animals
_____ Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships
between a producer and several
consumers
_____ Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants
and animals into simpler compounds

A consumer is an organism that gets its energy by eating plants or

animals.
Matching

__B__ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

__D__ Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy
into chemical energy
__F__ Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred
up the food chain
_____ Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating
plants or animals
_____ Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships
between a producer and several
consumers
_____ Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants
and animals into simpler compounds

A decomposer is an organism that breaks down dead plants and animals

into simpler compounds.
Matching

__B__ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

__D__ Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy
into chemical energy
__F__ Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred
up the food chain
__E__ Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating
plants or animals
_____ Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships
between a producer and several
consumers
_____ Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants
and animals into simpler compounds

A food chain shows one set of feeding relationships between a producer

and several consumers.
.
Matching

__B__ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

__D__ Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy
into chemical energy
__F__ Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred
up the food chain
__E__ Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating
plants or animals
__A__ Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships
between a producer and several
consumers
_____ Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants
and animals into simpler compounds

A food web is made up of many overlapping food chains.

Matching

__B__ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

__D__ Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy
into chemical energy
__F__ Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred
up the food chain
__E__ Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating
plants or animals
__A__ Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships
between a producer and several
consumers
__C__ Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants
and animals into simpler compounds

An energy pyramid shows how energy is lost as it is transferred up the

food chain.
Matching

_____ It surrounds all living things

_____All living organisms need it
_____It gives Earth most of its energy

a. organism
b. Energy
c. The ocean
d. Environment
e. The Sun
Matching

__D__ It surrounds all living things

_____All living organisms need it
_____It gives Earth most of its energy

a. organism
b. Energy
c. The ocean
d. Environment
e. The Sun
Matching

__D__ It surrounds all living things

__B__All living organisms need it
_____It gives Earth most of its energy

a. organism
b. Energy
c. The ocean
d. Environment
e. The Sun
Matching

__D__ It surrounds all living things

__B__All living organisms need it
__E__It gives Earth most of its energy

a. organism
b. Energy
c. The ocean
d. Environment
e. The Sun
Matching

_____ Two organisms try to get the same thing in

a relation
_____ Two organisms benefit in a relationship
_____ The role a species fills in a habitat

a. niche
b. habitat
c. parasitism
d. competition
e. mutualism
Matching

__D__ Two organisms try to get the same thing in

a relation
_____ Two organisms benefit in a relationship
_____ The role a species fills in a habitat

a. niche
b. habitat
c. parasitism
d. competition
e. mutualism
Matching

__D__ Two organisms try to get the same thing in

a relation
__E__ Two organisms benefit in a relationship
_____ The role a species fills in a habitat

a. niche
b. habitat
c. parasitism
d. competition
e. mutualism
Matching

__D__ Two organisms try to get the same thing in

a relation
__E__ Two organisms benefit in a relationship
__A__ The role a species fills in a habitat

a. niche
b. habitat
c. parasitism
d. competition
e. mutualism
Matching

_____ Something from the environment that

humans use
_____ Number of people in a given area
_____ The variety of life in an ecosystem

a. pollution
b. population density
c. natural resource
d. Invasive species
e. biodiversity
Matching

__C__ Something from the environment that

humans use
_____ Number of people in a given area
_____ The variety of life in an ecosystem

a. pollution
b. population density
c. natural resource
d. Invasive species
e. biodiversity
Matching

__C__ Something from the environment that

humans use
__B__ Number of people in a given area
_____ The variety of life in an ecosystem

a. pollution
b. population density
c. natural resource
d. Invasive species
e. biodiversity
Matching

__C__ Something from the environment that

humans use
__B__ Number of people in a given area
__E__ The variety of life in an ecosystem

a. pollution
b. population density
c. natural resource
d. Invasive species
e. biodiversity
What do the arrows in the food web represent?

The flow of energy within the food web.

List two producers and three consumers in the food web.

Producers = rosebush, oak tree, grass

Consumers = deer, wolf, rabbit, squirrel caterpillar, frog,
sparrow, snake, hawk
Draw one food chain that includes the sparrow.

rose bush –> caterpillar –> sparrow -> hawk

rose bush -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> snake
oak tree -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> hawk
oak tree -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> snake
grass -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> hawk
grass -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> snake
Good Luck
on the Test!
Remember
to
Study!
•How important is your role as a
human being in the natural world?
• Why is it important to interact and
depend on each other for survival?
•How can you differentiate asexual
reproduction from sexual
reproduction of organism?
• Why do people need to resort to
natural and artificial reproductive
methods to propagate plants?