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BIO WORDS 1
starting point for learning biology vocabulary
Question | Answer |
---|---|
BIOLOGY | The study of life |
SPECIES | A group of organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of interbreeding to produce offspring |
HOMEOSTASIS | Process that living things use to actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival |
ADAPTATION | A trait that makes an individual successful at gaining resources, surviving, and/or reproducing |
THEORY | A tested and widely accepted model that explains and predicts facts about the natural world |
HYPOTHESIS | A proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence to explain a natural phenomena |
CHEMICAL REACTION | A process in which one or more substances are converted to one or more different substances. |
ELEMENT | A substance that is composed on the same type of atoms and cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical means |
MOLECULE | A group of atoms bonded together representing a chemical compound that can take part in a chemical reaction |
ENZYME | A type of protein produced by living cells that accelerates ( or catalyze) chemical reactions |
MACROMOLECULE | A molecule containing a very large number of atoms, such as a protein, nucleic acid, lipid, or carbohydrate |
SOLUTE | A substance that is dissolved by a liquic, the lesser portion of a solution |
SOLVENT | A substance capable of dissolving another substance, the greater portion of a solution |
POLAR | An asymmetric molecule with positive and negative charges |
CARBOHYDRATE | A large organic molecule that provides fuel and builds structures for living organisms |
LIPID | A large organic molecule that stores energy and regulates the body's metabolic processes. |
PROTEIN | A large organic molecule that provides structural support, storage, transport, cell communication, movement and defense for living organisms. |
NUCLEIC ACID | A large organic molecule that enables organisms to reproduce genetic information from one generation to the next |
EUKARYOTIC CELL | Cells with a nucleus surrounded by a membrane and whose DNA is found in chromosomes. These cells also contain specialized membrane-bound organelles |
PROKARYOTIC CELL | In unicellular organisms, these cells lack membrane-bound nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. DNA is not organized into chromosomes |
PLASMA MEMBRANE | Essential structure found in all cells, made of lipids and proteins enclosing the cytoplasm and having a major role regulating what enters and exits the cells |
CELL | Smallest unit of structure and function in an organism typically microscopic and consisting of cytoplasm, genetic material, and ribosomes ( often called building blocks of life) |
NUCLEUS | Large membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells that contains the genetic material that codes for the vital functions of the cell. |
MITOCHONDRIA | Organelle in eukaryotic cells where cellular respiration occurs to convert glucose into ATP( usable cell energy) |
CHLOROPLAST | Green organelle in photosynthetic eukaryotic cells, the green pigment chlorophyll pigment traps light during photosynthesis |
DIFFUSION | The natural movement of molecules or particles from regions of higher to lower concentration in order to spread out and become evenly mixed |
OSMOSIS | Special type of diffusion ...diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane |
HYPERTONIC SOLUTION | A solution with a HIGHER concentration of solute ( dissolved substance) than some other specified solution. When a cell is bathed in this solution the water will be drawn out of the cell |
HYPOTONIC SOLUTION | A solution with LESS solutes ( a lower concentration) than other solutions to which it is compared. a cell in this solution would cause the water to diffuse into the cell ( build up of osmotic pressure) |
ISOTONIC SOLUTION | A solution with the SAME concentration of solutes as another solution with which it is compared... This allows for the free movement of water across the membrane w/o changing the concentration of solutes on either side |