Words | Definition |
Metabolism | The sum total of all processes in an organism which convert energy and matter from outside sources and use that energy and matter to sustain the organism’s life functions. |
Anabolism | The sum total of all processes in an organism which use energy and simple chemical building blocks to produce large chemicals and structures necessary for life. |
Catabolism | The sum total of all processes in an organism which break down chemicals to produce energy and simple chemical building blocks. |
Photosynthesis | The process by which green plants and some other organisms use the energy if sunlight and simple chemicals to produce their own food. |
Herbivores | Organisms that eat only plants. |
Carnivores | Organisms that eat only organisms other than plants. |
Omnivores | Organisms that eat both plants and other organisms. |
Classification | Taking a great deal of data and trying to organize it into a fairly simple system. |
Producers | Organisms that produce their own food. |
Consumers | Organisms that eat living producers and/or other consumers for food. |
Decomposers | Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms. |
Autotrophs | Organisms that are able to make their own food. |
Heterotrophs | Organisms that depend on other organisms for their food. |
Asexual reproduction | Reproduction accomplished by a single organism. |
Sexual reproduction | Reproduction that requires two organisms. |
Inheritance | The process by which physical and biological characteristics are transmitted from the parent ( or parents ) to the offspring. |
Mutations | An abrupt and marked change in the DNA of an organism compared to that of its parents. |
Hypothesis | An educated guess that attempts to explain an observation or answer a question. |
Theory | A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data. |
Scientific law | A theory that has been tested by and is consistent with generations of data. |
Microorganisms | Living creatures that are too small to see with the naked eye. |
Abiogenesis | The ideo that long ago, very simple life forms spontaneously appeared through chemical reactions. |
Prokaryotic cell | A cell that has no distinct, membrane-bounded organelles. |
Eukaryotic cell | A cell with distinct, membrane-bounded organelles. |
Species | A unit of one or more populations of individuals that can reproduce under normal conditions, produce fertile offspring, and are reproductively isolated from other such units. |
Taxonomy | The science of classifying organisms. |
Binomial nomenclature | Naming an organism with its genus and species name. |