Question 1

What is an ecosystem?

Accepted Answer

An ecosystem is a community where living things like plants, animals, and tiny organisms live and interact with each other and their environment, like air and water.

Question 2

Why are ecosystems important?

Accepted Answer

Ecosystems are important because they provide food, water, and shelter for living things. They also help clean the air and water and give humans many resources we use every day.

Question 3

What is a predator?

Accepted Answer

A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals. Lions and hawks, for example, are predators because they catch and eat prey like zebras or rabbits.

Question 4

What is prey?

Accepted Answer

Prey are animals that predators hunt for food. For instance, a mouse is prey for a cat because a cat hunts and eats mice.

Question 5

What does 'interdependence' mean in an ecosystem?

Accepted Answer

Interdependence means that all the living things in an ecosystem rely on each other. For example, plants provide oxygen for animals, and animals provide carbon dioxide for plants.

Question 6

What role do plants play in an ecosystem?

Accepted Answer

Plants make their own food using sunlight, water, and air, and they provide oxygen and food for other living things. They are the base of the food chain.

Question 7

What is a food chain?

Accepted Answer

A food chain shows who eats whom in an ecosystem. It starts with plants and ends with big animals, like how a plant gets eaten by a rabbit, and the rabbit gets eaten by a fox.

Question 8

Can you explain what a food web is?

Accepted Answer

A food web is like many food chains connected together. It shows how plants and animals in an ecosystem are linked through what they eat.

Question 9

What are decomposers?

Accepted Answer

Decomposers are tiny organisms like bacteria and fungi that break down dead plants and animals. They help recycle nutrients back into the soil for plants to use.

Question 10

How do animals contribute to an ecosystem?

Accepted Answer

Animals help spread seeds, pollinate flowers, and provide food for other animals. When they die, they become food for decomposers.

Question 11

What is a habitat?

Accepted Answer

A habitat is a place where a living thing finds everything it needs to live, like food, water, and shelter. A forest, a pond, and an ocean are examples of habitats.

Question 12

How do ecosystems change over time?

Accepted Answer

Ecosystems can change when seasons change, from natural events like fires or floods, or from human activities like building cities. These changes can affect which plants and animals live there.

Question 13

What happens if an animal in the ecosystem disappears?

Accepted Answer

If an animal disappears, it can affect the whole food chain. Animals that depended on it for food may struggle to survive, and the plants or animals it ate may overgrow.

Question 14

What is biodiversity?

Accepted Answer

Biodiversity means having many different kinds of living things in an ecosystem. It's important because it makes the ecosystem stronger and able to survive changes.

Question 15

Why do animals migrate?

Accepted Answer

Animals migrate to find food, breed, or stay warm. Birds often fly to warmer places in the winter so they can survive when it gets cold.

Question 16

What is a niche?

Accepted Answer

A niche is the role or job of a living thing in its habitat. For example, a bee’s niche is to pollinate flowers and make honey.

Question 17

How does pollution affect ecosystems?

Accepted Answer

Pollution can harm ecosystems by making the air, water, and soil dirty and unsafe for plants and animals. It can make it hard for living things to survive.

Question 18

What does 'endangered species' mean?

Accepted Answer

Endangered species are kinds of animals or plants that are at risk of disappearing completely. They don't have enough members left to keep their population safe from extinction.

Question 19

What is a keystone species?

Accepted Answer

A keystone species is really important to an ecosystem because it helps keep everything balanced. If a keystone species disappears, it can change the whole ecosystem.

Question 20

How can we help protect ecosystems?

Accepted Answer

We can help by recycling, saving water, and protecting animal habitats. Planting trees and learning about ecosystems also helps keep them healthy and strong.

The Science of Ecosystem Interactions - 20 FAQs Explained Simply