Earth Science - Ecosystems Crossword Puzzle

QUESTIONS LIST:

• trophic level : each step in the transfer of energy and matter within a food web.
• heterotroph : an organism that cannot make its own food.
• matter : must always be recycled in the ecosystem.
• ecology : the study of organisms and their interaction with each other and the environment.
• lightning : a cool way for nitrogen to get into water so plants can use it.
• community : all the different species in an area.
• closed system : only energy can move in and out. mater must stay in.
• omnivore : a bear, because it will eat plants or animals.
• food web : all the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
• fossil fuels : a place where carbon is stored and out of the atmosphere.
• carbon cycle : the repeated movement of carbon into earth's atmosphere and back to plants and animals.
• open system : matter and energy can move in and out.
• nitrogen : form of matter that all plants and animals need, but they cannot get it from the atmosphere.
• ten percent : the amount of energy that moves from one trophic level to the next.
• herbivore : a cow, because they only eat plants.
• sun : the original source of almost all energy in the ecosystem.
• algae : at the beginning of many different food chains because they are producers.
• carnivore : a lion, because it only eats meat.
• energy : flows in one direction and is never recycled.
• consumer : these organisms must eat something in order to get their energy.
• producer : things that make food for themselves and other things that eat them.
• autotroph : organism that produces its own food.
• water cycle : the repeated movement of water from earth's surface to the atmosphere and back.
• population : all the members of a particular species in a particular area.
• biosphere : all the places on earth where things live.