Air, soil, water, and sunlight are some _________ things in an ecosystem.

Organisms that live in an ecosystem must meet their needs there, or they will not survive.

Many organisms that live in an ecosystem could not survive in another ecosystem.

Tropical rainforests are wet, warm ecosystems with ____ layers.

The first layer of a tropical forest is known as the __________.

Many different species of organisms live in rainforests, and each layer also houses different types of living things.

Beetles, snakes, lizards, monkeys, and parrots are examples of _____________ in the rainforests.

Many organisms live in ponds and interact with each other to meet their _______.

Duckweed, water lilies, frogs, fish, turtles, and herons are some _________ organisms.

Scientists who study the environment are called ____________.

__________ are organisms in an ecosystem that make their own food.

Most producers use sunlight as energy, and most producers are __________.

They use the sun's energy to turn matter in their environment into food.

Most producers get matter for their growth from the __________ components of their ecosystem.

______________ is the process that most plants use to make their own food.

Plants use energy from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air to make _______, which they use as food.

Most food from photosynthesis is stored for use at a later time.

Plants store food for when they cannot perform photosynthesis.

Plants produce more oxygen than they need, the excess oxygen is called ________.

_____________ are the organisms in an ecosystem that eat other organisms.

Like producers, most consumers can make their own food.

_______ provides consumers with the energy and matter they need for growth, repair, movement, and everything else they do.

When consumers eat food, their bodies must break it down before they can use it.

Many consumers store food as fat in their blood for short periods of time.

Animals like _____ use fat reserves during migration.

A consumer can digest all parts of its food, so no solid wastes are left behind.

Consumers produce waste gases like carbon dioxide.

Wastes (solid and gases) are deposited into the environment and become nonliving parts of their ecosystems.

Humans are considered _____________.

______________ are organisms in ecosystems that get energy and matter by breaking down dead organisms.

Many kinds of fungi and bacteria are _____________.

Worms, flies and beetles are considered ___________, because they eat dead organisms.

When decomposers break down dead organisms, they return their matter to the _________.

Decomposers get the matter that they need to survive from other organisms' wastes, but they also produce wastes of their own.

Waste substances from decomposers can be nutrients that plants need to grow.

Humans can build compost piles to help decompose _______________.