Populations and Communities Study Guide Period: ___ 1. Finish this ...

Name: ____________________________
Populations and Communities Study Guide
Period: ___
Pages 10-11 : Describe the characteristics of a living organism; describe the basic things
an organism needs to survive.
1. Finish this statement: A living thing is something that
2. Describe the basic things that an organism needs to live, grow, and reproduce:
Page 11: Define biotic and abiotic; give examples of each.
3. Define “biotic”; give three examples of biotic factors in our school:
4. Define “abiotic”; give three examples of abiotic factors in our school:
Page10: Explain why sunlight, water, oxygen, temperature and soil are important abiotic
factors.
5. Explain why each of the following are important abiotic factors:
water-
sunlight-
oxygen-
temperature and soil-
Pages 12 and 13: Tell how ecologists organize the factors in an environment from the
smallest/simplest level to the largest/most complex level. Describe and give examples of
each level.
6. Define/describe each of the ecological levels:
organism-
population-
community-
ecosystem-
biome-

7. Complete the table below by filling in the blank sections with information that would
be true for a study about coyotes in an urban/desert biome.
Complex Simple
_____________________
Population
____________________
Ecosystem
____________________
Ecological Organization: Coyote
One Coyote
____________________
(List three examples)
____________________
____________________
____________________
All of the above, plus (list 3 examples)
__________________
__________________
__________________
All desert/urban ecosystems found
around the world.
Page 15: Identify the four methods that scientists use to determine the size of a
population. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
8. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each method used by ecologists to find
the size of a population in the wild:
Method Description of Method Advantage Disadvantage
Direct observation
Indirect observation
Sampling
Mark-and-Recapture
Page 15 : Explain how food, water, weather, and shelter act as limiting factors for a
population.
9. Define each of the following terms:
limiting factor-
carrying capacity-
immigration/emigration-
10. Why are food, water, weather, and shelter important limiting factors