Across
- 3. In a food chain, each organism eats one other ___________.
- 6. When the beans become more plentiful, bird populations _______ as well.
- 9. Consumers can be either herbivores or _____________..
- 13. _____________ eat plants and animals
- 14. The organisms in an ecosystem rely on each other for their survival. This relationship is called _______________.
- 16. __________now number over 500,000 and there are about 700 black-footed ferrets in the wild.
- 17. When European-American settlers first started exploring the region, there were as many as 50 million bison (commonly called _________).
- 20. In the game, Birds and the Beans, students that collect at least 3 beans “__________.” reproduce In the game, Birds and the Beans, students that collect at least 6 beans not only survive, but also “____________.”
- 21. Species such as pronghorns, prairie dogs, and burrowing owls also declined due to hunting, poisoning and __________ loss.
- 23. The most familiar producers are ________, which get their energy from the Sun. consumers Organisms that rely on other organisms for energy are called _________. Herbivores ______________ are consumers that eat plants,
- 24. When the bird population decreases, the bean populations can _________.
- 27. The prairie will never be the same as it once was, but with attention and care what is left can be ____________.
- 29. Agricultural scientists are finding ways to convert many annual crops such as wheat, sunflowers and sorghum into perennials with deep root systems that will _________ soil loss.
- 31. An _________is a combination of the living and non-living elements of a particular environment.
- 33. The word perennial means “continuing” or “perpetual,” and perennials continue to _________ without being replanted.
- 35. Removing prairie dogs will increase the grass population and decrease the ferret and fox _____________.
Down
- 1. When European-American settlers first started exploring the region, over a billion ______ dogs living on the ____________.
- 2. A habitat is the physical ___________including the landscape, soils, water, and climate.
- 4. Phytoplankton is the producer in an _________ ecosystem.
- 5. When beans are _________, bird populations decrease as well.
- 7. Carnivores eat _________.
- 8. Feeding relationships can be represented by food _________.
- 10. Rich prairie soils are also prime _________ land, and since the late 1800s much of the prairie has been fenced off and converted to farms and ranches.
- 11. The American prairie once stretched from the Rocky Mountains to Indiana, from Texas to central _________.
- 12. In the game, Birds and the Beans, students that collect 2 beans or less “________.”
- 15. Native grasses adapted to frequent __________ by growing deep root systems to extract moisture from the soil.
- 18. The American prairie was once a great _________ stretching from the Rocky Mountains to Indiana, from Texas to central Canada.
- 19. The word annual means yearly, and annuals must be ___________ every year.
- 22. Real ecosystems are much more complex. Food webs are __________ that show how all the food sources for each type of organism.
- 25. Food chains generally begin with producers, organisms that don’t depend on other organisms for their __________.
- 26. Today less than 2% of the original 3.6 million square kilometers (1.4 million square miles) of prairie in North America are ______________.
- 28. During the 1870s the great bison __________ were systematically slaughtered until only an estimated 25 bison remained alive in 1894.
- 30. In the simplified ecosystem, prairie dogs eat grass, __________ eat prairie dogs, and foxes eat ferrets.
- 32. An ecosystem consists of a ____________ – all the living things, or organisms, in the ecosystem.
- 34. Today many prairie species are making a __________.