TCAP ReviewRachel Gokel

Universe Review• All objects in space make up the universe• A star is an object in space that gives off its

own light and heat• A planet is a large ball-shaped object that

moves around a star in a fixed path unlike stars planets do not give off their own light and heat

• A galaxy is a huge family of stars, it may contain millions of stars

• The sun is a really big star

Universe Review• If you look at the night sky regularly during a

year, you will notice small disks that change in brightness and position against the background of other stars. The Greeks called these wandering stars planets. We know that there are 8 official planets in our solar system The inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). The inner planets each orbit the Sun in less than 2 years, but the outer planets take from 12 to 164 years each to orbit the Sun.

Universe Review• The inner planets, also known as the terrestrial

planets, are small, dense, and made of rock. Their orbits are close to the Sun

• The outer planets (also known as the gas giants) are extremely large, cold, and made of gas (hydrogen, helium). Their orbits are farther out and spaced widely apart.

• large groups of stars are called galaxies. • There are 4 major types of galaxies.• Spiral Galaxy, Barred Spiral Galaxy, Elliptical

Galaxy, and Irregular Galaxy

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interdependence• The Sun's energy cycles through ecosystems.

Producers absorb the Sun's energy and pass this to consumers, which eat producers. Finally, decomposers break down producers and consumers and allow the energy to go back into the nutrient pool.

• Producers are organisms that use the Sun's energy to make their own food.

• Consumers are organisms that gain energy by eating producers and/or other consumers.

interdependence• Consumers are organisms that gain

energy by eating producers and/or other consumers.

• Herbivores eat only plants• Carnivores eat only meat• Omnivores eat both plants and meat• Decomposers are organisms that

consume dead plants and animals and release nutrients from those dead organisms into the soil, water, and atmosphere

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producers consumers herbivores carnivores

omnivore

Food chains and webs• A food chain describes the eating relationships and

energy flow between species within an ecosystem.• A food web is a group of interconnected food

chains.• Organisms in a food web can belong to multiple

branches• Producers are the beginning of a food chain

because all of the other organisms in the food chain depend on the food energy that is made by producers. The next organisms in the food chain are primary consumers, which eat producers. Next come secondary consumers, then tertiary consumers, and so forth until the top carnivore is reached. All organisms in the food chain are decomposed by decomposers.

• A trophic level describes the feeding level that an organism belongs to. Producer, decomposer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and tertiary consumer are all trophic levels that can be used to describe an organism’s place in an ecosystem

scavengers• Scavengers are animals that eat

other animals that are already dead.• Scavengers have an important role in

the food chain, because they help to break down dead organisms.

• Some scavenging animals include vultures, hyenas, raccoons, and even bald eagles.

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scavengers food chain

food web