Term | Definition |
organism | a living thing |
cell | the basic unit of structure and function in an organism |
unicelluar | made of a single cell |
multicellular | crossing of many cells |
stimulus | a change in an organism's surroundings that causes the organism to react |
response | an action or behavior that occurs as result of the stimulus |
development | the process of change that occurs during an organism's life to produce a complex organism |
Spontaneous Generation | the mistaken idea that living things can arise from non-living sources |
Controlled Experiment | an experiment in which all factors are identical except one |
autotroph | an organism that makes its own food |
heterotroph | an organism that cannot make its own food |
homeostasis | the maintenance of stable internal conditions |
classification | the process of grouping things based on their similarities |
taxonomy | the scientific study of how living things are classified |
binomial nomenclature | the system for naming organisms in which each organism is given an unique, two part scientific name indicating its genus and species |
genus | a classification grouping that consists of a number of similar, closely related species |
species | a group of similar organisms that can mate with each other and produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce |
evolution | the process by which species gradually change over time |
prokaryote | organisms whose cells lack a nucleus |
eukaryote | organisms with cells that contain nuclei |
nucleus | a dense area in the cell that contains nucleic acids- the chemical instructions that direct a cell's activities |