Key Biodiversity Terms for Grade 6

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Ecosystem

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A community of living things (plants and animals) that interact with each other and their non-living environment (like water, air, and soil) in a specific area.

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Habitat

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The natural home or environment where a plant or animal lives and gets everything it needs to survive, like food, water, and shelter.

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Species

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A group of living things that share similar characteristics and can reproduce with each other to create offspring of the same kind (like all tigers are one species).

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Food Web

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A system that shows how different living things in an ecosystem are connected through their feeding relationships, like who eats what and who gets eaten.

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Extinction

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When a species completely dies out and no longer exists anywhere on Earth (like dinosaurs).

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Conservation

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The careful protection and management of natural resources and wildlife to make sure they survive for future generations.

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Adaptation

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A physical characteristic or behavior that helps a living thing survive in its environment (like a bird's beak shape or a bear's thick fur).

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Population

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The total number of one type of organism living in a particular area (like all the deer in a forest).

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Native Species

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Plants or animals that naturally occur in an area and weren't brought there by humans (like maple trees in Canada).

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Invasive Species

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Plants or animals that are brought to a new area where they don't naturally belong and cause problems for the native species (like zebra mussels in the Great Lakes).