All types of living organism have adaptations that allow them to survive in a particular environment.  Living things are affected by physical factors in the environment.  Living organisms also affect the physical environment.  The branch of biology that deals with the interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment is called    ecology        .

Explain the difference between abiotic and biotic factors.
· Abiotic is the nonliving world while biotic is the living world
· Some abiotic factors are limiting factors - they control the number and kinds of life on earth.

List some abiotic factors that may affect life.
· Light, temperature, soil, water, minerals

Explain how a population, community, and ecosystem are related.
· Population is all the members of a species living in a given area
· All populations in a given area are a community.
· Ecosystem is the self-contained interdependent system of living and nonliving things. (Community and environment)

What is a biosphere?
· Portion of the earth where all life exists.

What is the difference between autotrophs and heterotrophs?
· Autotrophs synthesize their own food while heterotrophs need to consume other organisms.

Describe the following:
Herbivores:
· Animals that eat plants.
Carnivores:
· Animals that eat meat
Omnivores:
· Animals that eat both plants and animals
Predators:
· Organisms that kill other organisms for food
Scavengers:
· Animals that eat the remains of animals already dead
Saprobes:
· Use dead organic matter for food.  Usually decomposers.

What is a symbiotic relationship?
· Relationship in which two organism live in a close nutritional relationship

Describe and give examples for the following symbiotic relationships.
Mutualism:
· Both organism benefit from relationship
· Ex. Lichen alga and fungus
· Nitrogen fixing bacteria

Commensalism:
· One organism benefits while the other gets nothing
· Remora and shark, barnacle and whale.
Parasitism:
· One benefits the other is harmed
· Athlete's foot fungus, tapeworm

What is the difference between a niche and a habitat?
· A habitat is where an organism lives while a niche is its lives and what role it plays in that habitat.

What is interspecific and intraspecific competition?
· Intraspecific is between the same species while interspecofic is between different species.