Untitled Flashcards Set

🌱 Adaptation

• An adaptation is a helpful trait that makes an organism better at surviving and having babies.

• Example: A rabbit in the snow has white fur to hide from predators.

🔄 How Do Things Evolve?

• Evolution is when a group of living things (a population) changes over time.

• Happens because of natural selection—nature "chooses" traits that help survival.

• Important: Individuals DO NOT evolve, only populations do!

🌍 Sustainability

• Using natural resources wisely so they last for future generations.

• Example: Planting new trees when cutting old ones down.

⚖ Social Justice

• Making sure everyone is treated fairly and has equal rights.

• Example: Making clean water available to all people, not just the rich.

⚠ Precautionary Principle

• "Better safe than sorry!"

• If something might harm people or the environment, we should be careful even if we don’t have full proof yet.

• Example: Not using a new chemical if scientists think it could be dangerous.

🌳 Natural Resources

• Things from nature that humans use.

• Examples:

  • Renewable: Sunlight, wind, water 🌞💨💧

  • Non-renewable: Oil, coal, natural gas ⛽

👀 Worldviews

• How people see and understand the world.

• Examples:

  • Some people think humans should protect nature 🌱

  • Others think we should use nature however we want 🏗

🔬 Scientific Methods

1. Ask a question 🤔

2. Do research 📚

3. Make a hypothesis (an educated guess) ✍

4. Test with an experiment 🧪

5. Look at results 📊

6. Share findings 📢

⚡ Energy Flow & Mass

• Energy moves through an ecosystem.

• Mass stays the same (matter can’t be created or destroyed).

🧪 Early Chemistry

• Atoms are the smallest part of matter.

• Elements make up everything (Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, etc.).

• Compounds = two or more elements together (Water = H₂O).

🍽 Trophic Levels (Who Eats Who?)

1. Producers 🌱 - Make their own food (plants).

2. Primary Consumers 🐰 - Eat plants (herbivores).

3. Secondary Consumers 🦊 - Eat herbivores (small carnivores).

4. Tertiary Consumers 🐺 - Eat secondary consumers (big carnivores).

5. Quaternary Consumers 🦅 - Top of the food chain (humans, hawks).

♻ Matter Cycles

• Carbon Cycle 🌿 → CO₂ in air → Used by plants → Eaten by animals → Breathed out as CO₂.

• Water Cycle 💧 → Evaporation → Clouds → Rain → Rivers & oceans.

• Nitrogen Cycle 🌱 → In air → Plants use it → Animals eat plants → Back into air.

• Phosphorus Cycle 🪨 → From rocks → Into soil & water → Used by plants & animals.

🦊 Functional Roles & Niches

• Functional Role = What a species does in an ecosystem.

• Niche = How a species survives (what it eats, where it lives, how it interacts).

• Example: Bees pollinate flowers 🐝🌸

👥 Populations & Biomes

• Population = A group of the same species in one place.

• Biome = A large area with the same climate & types of life (desert, forest, tundra).

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