4th Nine Weeks Science Words
1. life cycle – all the stages of growth and development that an animal goes through during its lifetime
2. metamorphosis – a process of changing form at some stage of growth in an organism’s life
3. larva – the second stage of growth in organisms that go through complete metamorphosis
4. pupa – the third stage of growth in the life cycle of some organisms
5. niche – the ‘job’ of an organism in the ecosystem
6. predator – an animal that lives by hunting and eating other animals
7. prey – the animal that is hunted by a predator
8. scavenger – an animal that feeds on the dead bodies of other animals that have been killed by predators
9. food chain – how food energy is passed from one organism to another
10. food web – a series of overlapping food chains that are diagrammed to follow the path of the sun’s energy in an ecosystem
11. producer – a plant in the food chain
12. consumer – an organism that eats another organism
13. decomposer – an organism that breaks down dead plants and animals and puts the nutrients back into the soil
14. camouflage – the color or pattern of an animal that helps it blend with its surroundings
15. inherited trait – a characteristic that is passed on from parents to children
16. instinct – a behavior that is inherited
17. learned behavior – a behavior that happens when an animal learns to do or not to do something
18. adaptation – a physical feature of behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment
19. vertebrate – an animal that has a backbone
20. invertebrate – an animal that does not have a backbone
21. amphibian – an animal that has a backbone and lives in the water when it is young and on land when it is an adult
22. mammal – an animal that has a backbone and hair or fur
23. reptile – an animal that has a backbone and dry leathery skin or scales
24. nitrogen- a colorless, odorless gas that makes up 78% of our atmosphere
25. oxygen - a colorless, odorless gas that makes up 21% of our atmosphere. It is the gas we breathe in and plants give off.
2. metamorphosis – a process of changing form at some stage of growth in an organism’s life
3. larva – the second stage of growth in organisms that go through complete metamorphosis
4. pupa – the third stage of growth in the life cycle of some organisms
5. niche – the ‘job’ of an organism in the ecosystem
6. predator – an animal that lives by hunting and eating other animals
7. prey – the animal that is hunted by a predator
8. scavenger – an animal that feeds on the dead bodies of other animals that have been killed by predators
9. food chain – how food energy is passed from one organism to another
10. food web – a series of overlapping food chains that are diagrammed to follow the path of the sun’s energy in an ecosystem
11. producer – a plant in the food chain
12. consumer – an organism that eats another organism
13. decomposer – an organism that breaks down dead plants and animals and puts the nutrients back into the soil
14. camouflage – the color or pattern of an animal that helps it blend with its surroundings
15. inherited trait – a characteristic that is passed on from parents to children
16. instinct – a behavior that is inherited
17. learned behavior – a behavior that happens when an animal learns to do or not to do something
18. adaptation – a physical feature of behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment
19. vertebrate – an animal that has a backbone
20. invertebrate – an animal that does not have a backbone
21. amphibian – an animal that has a backbone and lives in the water when it is young and on land when it is an adult
22. mammal – an animal that has a backbone and hair or fur
23. reptile – an animal that has a backbone and dry leathery skin or scales
24. nitrogen- a colorless, odorless gas that makes up 78% of our atmosphere
25. oxygen - a colorless, odorless gas that makes up 21% of our atmosphere. It is the gas we breathe in and plants give off.
