Name: ______________________________________

Ecosystems
Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Science Answer the following questions based on the
reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the
passage whenever necessary to find or confirm
An ecosystem is all the things that interact in a specific your answers.
area, whether they are living or non-living. Some examples
of non-living things that support life in an ecosystem are
light, air, soil and water. Living things are the plants and 1) What is one example of a non-living thing in an
animals, called organisms, that use those resources. ecosystem?
Each of the specific ecosystems in the world has its own ________________________________
conditions created by the non-living things. These __________________________________________
conditions determine what kinds of living things will be able
to thrive there. Organisms can only thrive where their needs 2) What are three of the life processes that living
are being met. Everything in an organism’s environment organisms do? ______________________________
has an effect on it. One ecosystem that allows many
different kinds of organisms to thrive is a temperate zone. It __________________________________________
is an area where the conditions never become too hot or __________________________________________
too cold.
All the living things in an ecosystem are called a 3) What does population mean in a community?
community. All of one specific kind of organism living in a
__________________________________________
community is called a population. All the tree frogs in a
rainforest community are one population within the __________________________________________
community. All the white birch trees are another
population within the same community. All the jaguars are 4) When does an organism thrive?
yet another rainforest community population.
__________________________________________
All living organisms perform certain life processes. They
take in nutrients like air, sunlight, water, and food. They use __________________________________________
energy from those nutrients to grow and develop. They
release energy by doing work and moving. They release 5) Why does a temperate zone support many
waste products. They react to things in their environment. varieties of organisms? _______________________
They reproduce, producing offspring, or babies, that are __________________________________________
similar to themselves.
Cross-Curricular Reading Comprehension Worksheets: D-2 of 36

Copyright ©2012 K12Reader -

http://www.k12reader.com
 Name:
Ecosystems Key
Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Science ______________________________________
Answer the following questions based on the
An ecosystem is all the things that interact in a specifi c reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the
area, whether they are living or non-living. Some examples passage whenever necessary to fi nd or confi rm
of non-living things that support life in an ecosystem are your answers.
light, air, soil and water. Living things are the plants and Actual wording may vary.
animals, called organisms, that use those resources. 1) What is one example of a non-living thing in an
Each of the specifi c ecosystems in the world has its ecosystem?
own conditions created by the non-living things. These ________________________________light, air,
conditions determine what kinds of living things will be able water or soil
to thrive there. Organisms can only thrive where their needs
are being met. Everything in an organism’s environment __________________________________________
has an effect on it. One ecosystem that allows many
2) What are three of the life processes that living
different kinds of organisms to thrive is a temperate zone. It
is an area where the conditions never become too hot or organisms do? take in nutrients, use
too cold. energy to ______________________________
All the living things in an ecosystem are called a
community. All of one specifi c kind of organism living in __________________________________________gr
a community is called a population. All the tree frogs in a
rainforest community are one population within the ow, release energy, release waste, react to
community. All the white birch trees are another
__________________________________________t
population within the same community. All the jaguars are
yet another rainforest community population. heir environment or reproduce.
All living organisms perform certain life processes. They 3) What does population mean in a community?
take in nutrients like air, sunlight, water, and food. They use
energy from those nutrients to grow and develop. They __________________________________________
release energy by doing work and moving. They release one specifi c type of organism living in a
waste products. They react to things in their environment.
They reproduce, producing offspring, or babies, that are __________________________________________
similar to themselves. community
Cross-Curricular Reading Comprehension Worksheets: D-2 of 36
4) When does an organism thrive?r.
__________________________________________when its varieties of organisms?
needs are met because the conditions
_______________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
5) Why does a temperate zone support many are not too hot and not too cold
Copyright ©2012 K12Reader -
http://www.k12reader.com