Unit 1 Episode 2 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the Unit 1 Episode 2 Student Packet.

autotroph (producer)

A living thing that makes its own food, such as algae, eelgrass, and plants.

heterotroph (consumer)

A living thing that gets food by eating other living things, such as clams, fish, and birds.

decomposer

Bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms and wastes and return nutrients to the soil and water.

nitrogen (N)

An element all living things need to build proteins and DNA. One of the six elements in CHNOPS.

nitrate ($NO_3$)

A form of nitrogen that plants and algae can take in from soil and water.

nitrogen fixation

Bacteria change nitrogen gas ($N_2$) from the air into forms that living things can use.

runoff

Rain water that flows over land into streams, rivers, and the Sound. It carries fertilizer, wastes, and dirt with it.

algae bloom

A fast, huge increase in the number of algae in the water.

dissolved oxygen (DO)

Oxygen gas mixed into water. Fish and other organisms breathe it. It is measured in $mg/L$.

hypoxia

Dangerously low dissolved oxygen. In the Sound, scientists call water below $3\,mg/L$ hypoxic.