Habitats and Ecosystems — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Why do arctic foxes turn white in winter?
A) To attract mates in the snow.
B) To blend in with snow and hide from predators.
C) To reflect heat and stay warm.
D) To scare away polar bears.
An arctic fox's white fur is a camouflage adaptation that helps it blend in with the snowy tundra to hide from predators.
2. Which food chain is in the correct order?
A) hawk → mouse → grass → sun
B) sun → grass → mouse → hawk
C) mouse → sun → hawk → grass
D) grass → sun → mouse → hawk
A food chain starts with the sun, then a producer (grass), then a primary consumer (mouse), then a secondary consumer (hawk).
3. A bear eats berries, fish, and honey. What type of consumer is it?
A) herbivore
B) carnivore
C) omnivore
D) decomposer
An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and animals, such as bears, raccoons, and humans.
4. What would happen to hawks if the mouse population suddenly dropped?
A) Hawks would have more food.
B) Hawks would have less food and their numbers could drop.
C) Hawks would move to the ocean.
D) Nothing would change for hawks.
If mice disappeared, hawks would lose a food source, so their population could decrease due to less available prey.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The place where a specific animal lives within a habitat is its niche.
A niche is the specific role or job an organism has within its ecosystem, including what it eats and where it lives.
2. Camels have long eyelashes to keep sand out of their eyes.
Camels have wide, flat feet that help them walk on sand without sinking in the desert.
3. In a pond ecosystem, tadpoles are consumers that eat tiny water plants.
Consumers are organisms that eat other organisms for energy, and they include herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.
4. A food web shows many connected food chains in an ecosystem.
A food web is a diagram that shows how multiple food chains are connected in an ecosystem.
5. Polar bears have black skin under white fur to absorb heat.
Frogs have smooth, moist skin that allows them to absorb water and oxygen directly through it.