A trait that helps a plant, animal, or other living thing deal with a challenge in its environment.

Capable of being broken down into tiny pieces by living organisms.

The thick fat under a mammal’s skin that helps keep it warm.

A color or pattern that helps an animal blend in with its surroundings.

The general weather conditions that usually occur in an area or ecosystem.

A long-term change in the normal weather of an area or ecosystem.

When two or more plants or animals require the same limited resource (like food or space).

Tiny ocean-dwelling animals with hard outer skeletons that form coral reefs.

Very different from each other.

All the living and non-living things that interact with each other in a particular environment.

A place where freshwater from a river mixes with saltwater from the ocean, like at the mouth of a river.

To change over a long period of time.

When a group of plants or animals disappear from the planet forever (go extinct).

To search for food.

A body part that helps water-dwelling animals breathe, since they have no lungs.

The type of environment where a species or group of species usually lives.

To travel a long distance regularly, usually each year and in a large group.

Living or growing naturally in a particular place.

Any living thing, such as an animal, plant, fungus, or bacteria.

The coldest regions on earth: the Arctic Ocean in the North, and Antarctica in the South.

Transferring pollen from one flower (or flower part) to another, in order for plants to reproduce.

An animal that hunts and eats other animals.

An animal that is hunted and eaten by a predator.

A group of animals, plants or other living things that all share common characteristics and can reproduce with each other.