Study Cards
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🤝 The three symbioses — score them like a game
Mutualism: win–win (bee & flower). Commensalism: win–nothing (barnacle riding a whale). Parasitism: win–lose (tick on a dog).
Win-win · Win-meh · Win-lose📈 Carrying capacity in one line
The largest population an environment can SUPPORT long-term. Set by limiting factors: food, water, space, shelter. Populations climb, then level off near it.
The environment sets the guest limit.⚠️ Traps the test loves
- Predators are GOOD for ecosystems — remove them and prey overpopulate, overgraze, and crash.
- Carrying capacity is not fixed — drought lowers it, a wet year raises it.
- Competition happens WITHIN a species too — two oak seedlings fight for the same light.
- A disturbed ecosystem isn’t ruined forever — succession rebuilds it over time.
- Biodiversity isn’t about cuteness — more species = more backups = more resilience.
🌋 Succession — two flavors
- Primary: starts from BARE ROCK (new volcanic island). Lichens and mosses build the first soil. Very slow.
- Secondary: starts from SOIL that survived (after fire, flood, abandoned farm). Much faster.
- Key question: “Is there soil left?” Soil = secondary.
🎯 How the test will ask
- A population graph over time — explain rises, falls, and the flat line (carrying capacity) using resources.
- “Name the relationship” — decide who benefits, who’s harmed, who’s unaffected.
- A disruption question — one change, then trace effects through the web with evidence.
✅ Before the test, can you…
- Score all three symbioses with an example each?
- Read a population graph and point at carrying capacity?
- Tell primary from secondary succession with the soil question?
- Explain what a keystone species is and what happens when it’s removed?
- Give three ecosystem services humans depend on?
| Term | Meaning in 10 words or less |
|---|---|
| Competition | Organisms struggling for the same limited resource. |
| Predation | One organism hunting and eating another. |
| Mutualism | Both species benefit (win–win). |
| Commensalism | One benefits; the other is unaffected. |
| Parasitism | One benefits by harming the other. |
| Limiting factor | Anything that caps population growth. |
| Carrying capacity | Largest population the environment can support. |
| Invasive species | Outsider species that spreads and causes harm. |
| Succession | The predictable rebuilding of an ecosystem over time. |
| Pioneer species | First to move in (lichens, mosses); makes soil. |
| Resilience | An ecosystem’s ability to bounce back. |
| Biodiversity | The variety of species in an ecosystem. |
| Keystone species | A species whose removal collapses the system. |
| Ecosystem services | Free benefits ecosystems give people. |
Pick your level
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
For the teacher — this device only
One practice row, built from what happened on this screen. Independent means right on the first tap; supported means right after the explain-and-retry, or a self-marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed model answer. Both are real evidence and neither is a grade.
- Date
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- Topic
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- Independent
- 0 of 0
- Supported
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- Hints used
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- Cards studied
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- Confidence
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The key prints only from this drawer, for the unit on screen. The student print button prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.