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Biology Vocabulary
Biology Vocabulary Words
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Biology | the study of life |
| Cells | Highly organized, tiny structures with thin membrane coverings. The basic unit of biology. |
| Evolution | Change in the inherited traits of species over generations. |
| Reproduction | Process by which organisms make more of their own kind from one generation to the next. |
| Metabolism | The sum of all chemical reactions carried out in an organism. |
| Homeostasis | The maintenance of a stable internal environment. |
| Gene | Sections of chromosomes made of DNA that code for traits. The basic unit of heredity. |
| Heredity | The passing of traits from parent to offspring. |
| Mutation | A change in the DNA of a gene. |
| Species | A group of genetically similar organisms that can produce fertile offspring. |
| Natural Selection | Process in which organisms with favorable genes are more likely to survive to reproduce. |
| Ecology | The branch of biology that studies the interactions of ogranisms with one another and with nonliving part of their environment. |
| Genome | The complete genetic material contained in an individual. |
| HIV | A virus that attacks and destroys the human immune system. |
| Cancer | A growth defect in cells , a breakdown of the mechanism that controls cell division. |
| Cystic Fibrosis | A fatal disorder in which a thick, sticky mucus clogs passages in many of the body's organs. |
| Gene Therapy | The replacement of a defective gene with a normal version. |
| Observation | The act of noting or perceiving objects or events using senses. |
| Hypothesis | An explanation that might be true |
| Prediction | The expected outcome of a test, assuming the hypothesis is correct. |
| pH | A relative measure of the hydrogen ion concentration within a solution. |
| Experiment | A planned procedure to test a hypothesis. |
| Atom | The smallest unit of an element that maintains the properties of that element. |
| Element | A substance that cannot be separated or broken down into simpler substances by chemical means; all atoms of an element have the same atomic number. |
| Compound | A substance made up of atoms of two or more different elements joined by chemical bonds. |
| Molecule | The smallest unit of a substance that keeps all of the physical and chemical properties of that substance; it can consist of one atom or two or more atoms bonded together. |
| Ion | An atom, radical, or molecule that has gained or lost one or more electrons and has a negative or positive charge. |
| Cohesion | The force that holds molecules of a single material together. |
| Adhesion | The attractive force between two bodies of different substances that are in contact with each other. |
| Solution | Homogeneous mixture of two or more substances uniformly dispersed throughout a single phase. |
| Acid | Any compound that increases the number of hydronium ions when dissolved in water; acids turn blue litmus paper red and reacts with bases and some metals to form salts. |
| Base | Any compound that increases the number of hydroxide ions when dissolved in water; bases turn red litmus paper blue and react with acids to form salts. |
| Carbohydrate | Any organic compound that is made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and that provides nutrients to the cells of living things. |
| Monosaccharide | A simple sugar that is the basic subunit of a carbohydrate. |
| Lipid | A type of biochemical that does not dissolve in water, including fats and steroids; lipids store energy and make up cell membranes. |
| Protein | A large molecule formed by linked smaller molecules called amino acids. |
| Amino Acid | The building blocks of proteins. |
| Nucleic Acid | An organix compound, either RNA or DNA, whose molecules are made up of one or two chains of nucleotides and carry genetic information. |
| Nucleotide | In a nucleic-acid chain, a subunit that consists of a sugar, a phosphate, and a nitrogenous base. |
| DNA | deoxyribonucleic acid, the material that contains the information that determines inherited characteristics |
| RNA | ribonucleic acid, a natural polymer that is present in all living cells and that plays a role in protein synthesis |
| ATP | adenosine triphosphate, is a single nucleotide with two extra energy-storing phosphate groups |
| Energy | the capacity to do work. |
| Activation Energy | The minimum amount of energy required to start a chemical reaction. |
| Enzyme | A type of protein that speeds up metabolic rxns in plants and animals without being permanently changed or destroyed. |
| Substrate | A part, substance or element that lies beneath and supports another part, substance, or element; the reactant in rxns catalyzed by enzymes. |
| Active Site | The site on an enzyme that attaches to a substrate. |
| Light Microscope | A microscope that uses a beam of visible light passing through one or more lenses to magnify an object. |
| Electron Microscope | A microscope that fouses a beam of electrons to magnify objects. |
| Magnification | The increase of an object's apparent size by using lenses or mirrors. |
| Resolution | In microscopes, the ability to form images with fine detail. |
| Scanning Tunneling Microscope | A microscope that uses a needle-like probe to measure differences in voltage caused by electrons that leak, or tunnel, from the surgace of the object being viewed. |
| Cell Theory | The theory that states that all living things are made up of cells, that celss are the basic units of organisms, that each cell in a multicellular organism has a specific job, and that cells come only from existing cells. |
| Cell Membrane | A phospholipid layer that covers a cell's surface and acts as a barrier between the inside of a cell and the cell's environment. |
| Cytoplasm | The region of the cell within the membrane that includes the fluid, the cytoskeleton, and all of the organelles except the nucleus. |
| Cytoskeleton | The cytoplasmic network of protein filaments that plays an essential role in cell movement, shape and division. |
| Ribosome | A cell organelle composed of RNA and protein, the site of protein synthesis. |
| Prokaryote | An organism that consists of a single cell that does not have a nucleus or cell organelles; an example is bacterium. |
| Cell Wall | A rigid structure that surrounds the cell membrane and provides support to the cell. |
| Flagellum | A long, hairlike structure that grows out of a cell and enables the cell to move. |
| Eukaryote | An organism made up of cells that have a nucleus enclosed by a membrane, multiple chromosones, and a miotic cycle; eukaryotes include animals, plants and fungi but not bacteria or cyanobacteria. |
| Nucleus | In a eukaryotic cell, biology, a membrane-bound organelle that contains the cell's DNA and that has a role in processes such as growth, metabolism and reproduction. |
| Organelle | One of the small bodies that are found in the cytoplasm of a cell and that are specialized to perfrom body functions. |
| Cilium | A hairlike structure arranged in tightly packed rows that projects from the surface of some cells. |
| Phospholipid | A lipid that contains phosphorus and that is a structural component in cell membranes. |
| Lipid Bilayer | The basic structure of a biological membrane, composed of two layers of phospholipids. |
| Endoplasmic Reticulum | A system of membranses that is found in a cell's cytoplasm and that assists in the production, processing, and transport of proteins and in the production of lipids. |
| Vesicle | A small cavity or sac that contains materials in a eukaryotic cell; forms when part of the cell membrane surrounds the materials to be taken into the cell or transported within the cell. |
| Golgi Apparatus | Cell organelle that helps make and package materials to be transported out of the cell. |
| Lysosome | A cell organelle that contains digestive enzymes. |
| Mitochondrion | In eukaryotic cells, the cell organelle that is surrounded by two membranes and that is the site of cellular respiration, which produces ATP. |
| Chloroplast | An organelle found in plant and algae cells where photosynthesis occurs. |
| Central Vacuole | A large cavity or sac that is found in plants or protozoans and that contains air or partially digested food. |
| Passive Transport | The movement of substances across a cell membrane without the use of energy by the cell. |
| Concentration Gradient | A difference in the concentration of a substance across a distance. |
| Equilibrium | In chemistry, the state in which a chemical reaction and the reverse chemical reaction occur at the same rate such that the concentrations of reactancts and products do not change. |
| Diffusion | The movement of particles from regions of higher density to regions of lower density. |
| Osmosis | The diffusion of water or another solvent from a more dilute solution (of a solute) to a more concentrated solution (of the solute) through a membrane that is permeable to the solvent. |
| Hypertonic Solution | A solution that causes a cell to shrink because of osmosis. |
| Hypotonic Solution | A solution that causes a cell to swell because of osmosis. |
| Isotonic Solution | A solution whose solute concentration is equal to the solute concentration inside a cell. |
| Ion Channel | A pore in a cell membrane through which ions can pass. |
| Carrier Protein | A protein that transports substances across a cell membrane. |
| Facilitated Diffusion | The transport of substances through a cell membrane along a concentration gradient with the aid of carrier proteins. |
| Active Transport | The movement of chemical substances, usually across the cell membrane, against a concentration gradient; requires cells to use energy. |
| Sodium-Potassium Pump | A carrier protein that uses ATP to actively transport sodium ions out of a cell and potassium ions into the cell. |
| Endocytosis | The process by which a cell membrane surrounds a particle and encloses the particle in a vesicle to bring the particle into the cell. |
| Exocytosis | The process by which a substance is released from the cell through a vesivle that transports the cell through a vesicle that transports the substance to the cell surface and then fuses with the membrane to let the substance out. |
| Receptor Protein | A protein that binds specific signal molecules, which causes the cell to respond. |
| Second Messenger | A molecule that is generated when a specific substance attaches to a receptor on the outside of a cell membrane, which produces a change in cellular function. |
| Photosynthesis | The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen. |
| Autotroph | An organism that produces its own nutrients from inorganic substances or from the environment instead of cosuming other organisms. |
| Heterotroph | An organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their by products and that cannot synthesize organic compounds from inorganic materials. |
| Cellular Respiration | The process by which cells produce energy from carbohydrates; atmospheric oxygen combines with glucose to form water and carbon dioxide. |
| Pigment | A substance that gives another substance or mixture its color. |
| Chlorophyll | A green pigment that is present in most plant cells, that gives plants their characteistic green color, and that reacts with sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to form carbohydrates. |
| Carotenoid | A class of pigments that are present mostly in plants and that aid in photosynthesis. |
| Thylakoid | A membrane system found within chloroplasts that contains the components for photosynthesis. |
| Electron Transport Chain | A series of molecules found in the inner membranes of mitochondria and chloroplasts, through which electrons pass in a process that causes protons to build up on one side of the membrane. |
| NADPH | An electron carrier that provides the high-energy electrons needed to make carbon-hydrogen bonds in the third stage of photosynthesis. |
| Carbon Dioxide Fixation | The synthesis of organic compounds from carbon dioxide, such as in photosynthesis. |
| Calvin Cycle | A biochemical pathway of photosynthesis in which carbon dioxide is converted into glucose using ATP. |
| Aerobic | Describes a process that requires oxygen. |
| Anaerobic | Describes a process that does not require oxygen. |
| Glycolysis | The anaerobic breakdown of glucose pyruvic acid, which makes a small amount of energy available to cells in the form of ATP. |
| NADH | the electron carrier formed as glucose is broken down, some of its hydrogen atoms are transferred to an electron called NAD+. |
| Krebs Cycle | A series of biochemical reactions that convert pyruvic acid into carbon dioxide and water; it is the major pathway of oxidation in animal, bacterial and plant cells and it releases energy. |
| FADH2 | Electrons are transferred to an electron acceptor called FAD, making a molecule of this. |
| Fermentation | The breakdown of carbohydrates by enzymes, bacteria, yeasts, or mold in the absence of oxygen. |
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stefanseul
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