Module 5 and Module 6 Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary terms and definitions covering Module 5 (Energy) and Module 6 (Ecology).

Energy

The ability to do work or cause change.

Power

The rate at which energy is transferred or work is done.

Electromagnetic radiation

Energy that travels through space as waves.

Potential energy

Stored energy due to an object's position or condition.

Chemical energy

Energy stored in chemical bonds.

Kinetic energy

Energy of motion.

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or changed.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Energy transfers increase disorder and some energy becomes unusable heat.

Energy efficiency

The percentage of input energy converted into useful output.

Open system

A system that exchanges energy and matter with its surroundings.

Closed system

A system that exchanges energy but not matter with its surroundings.

Input

Energy or matter entering a system.

Output

Energy or matter leaving a system.

Steady state

When inputs and outputs are balanced, keeping a system relatively stable.

Negative feedback

A response that reduces or reverses a change.

Positive feedback

A response that increases or strengthens a change.

Biosphere

All parts of Earth where life exists.

Producer/Autotroph

An organism that makes its own food, usually using sunlight.

Photosynthesis

Process where plants use sunlight to make food from $CO_2$ and water.

Cellular respiration

Process that releases usable energy from food.

Consumer/Heterotroph

An organism that gets energy by eating other organisms.

Herbivore

An animal that eats plants.

Primary consumer

An organism that eats producers.

Secondary consumer

An organism that eats primary consumers.

Carnivore

An animal that mainly eats other animals.

Omnivore

An animal that eats both plants and animals.

Tertiary consumer

An organism that eats secondary consumers.

Trophic level

An organism's position in a food chain or food web.

Food chain

A single pathway showing how energy moves through organisms.

Food web

Multiple connected food chains in an ecosystem.

Scavenger

An organism that eats already-dead animals.

Detritivore

An organism that eats dead organic matter and waste.

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down dead matter and recycles nutrients.

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

Total energy producers capture through photosynthesis.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

Energy left for consumers after producers use some for respiration.

Biomass

The total amount of living organic matter in an area.

Ecological efficiency

The percentage of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next.

Trophic pyramid

A diagram showing energy, biomass, or organisms at each trophic level.

Eating at a lower trophic level

Getting energy by eating organisms lower on the food chain, which provides more available energy.