Name:

Abiotic vs. Biotic Factors

Refresh your memory…
⇒ What is the difference between a biotic factor and an abiotic factor?

Review the list of items below – place them into the Venn diagram below based on how you would categorize them (either
as a biotic factor or an abiotic factor. In the center, place what contains BOTH abiotic and biotic factors.

• Whale • Clouds • Glass

• Mushroom • Snail • Soil
• Hair • Strawberries
• Snow
• Pine tree • Rainforest
• Paper
• Steak • Oil
• Desert • Salad • Flu virus
• Temperature • Ocean • Grass
• Coral • Lynx • Plastic
• Sunlight • Coal • Tundra

ABIOTIC BIOTIC

Questions to Think About…

All biotic and abiotic factors are interrelated. In nature, you will find that if one factor is changed or removed, it impacts the
availability of other resources within the system. Knowing this, give an example of what might happen given the situations
described below. ***In the areas with the open space, place either an A for abiotic or B for biotic to identify what the
object is.

1) If all of the rocks ( ) are removed from a desert ecosystem, what would happen to the population of rock
dwelling lizards ( ) and in turn the animals which eat them?

2) A ten mile are of trees ( ) is removed from the tropical rainforest. Hypothesize how this will affect the amount of
oxygen ( ) in the area?

3) A grassland does not receive enough rain ( ) to support trees, so the dominant plant in the area is, of course,
grass ( ). What would happen to this ecosystem if there were a drought?

Modified from: https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/RB0qjZgPHvzEMg/classifying-something-is-classifie-as-biotic-or-abiotic