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chapter 1
vocab terms
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| biosphere | all living things on earth and where they are found |
| biodiversity | the variety of organisms in a given area |
| species | a group of organisms that are closely related and produce offspring |
| biology | scientific study of living things and their interactions with the environment |
| science | the knowledge obtained by observing natural events and conditions to discover facts and formulate laws or principles that ca be verified or tested |
| organism | any individual living thing |
| cell | the basic unit of life |
| metabolism | all of the chemical processes that build up or break down materials |
| DNA | the genetic material that contains the information that determines inherited characteristics |
| system | an organized group of related parts that interact to form a whole |
| ecosystem | a community of organisms and their physical environment |
| homeostasis | the maintenance of constant internal conditions in an organism |
| evolution | the change in living things over time |
| adaptation | an inherited trait that gives an advantage to individual organisms and is passed on to future generations |
| observation | using our senses to study the world, also involving other tools |
| data | observations and measurements recorded in an experiment |
| hypothesis | a proposed answer for a scientific question |
| experiments | allow scientists to test hypotheses and find out how something happens |
| independent variable | a condition that is manipulated by a scientist |
| dependent variable | depends on the outcome/manipulation of the independent variable |
| constant | the conditions that do not change in an experiment |
| theory | a proposed explanation for a wide range of observations and experimental results that is supported by a wide range of evidence |
| measurement | the determination of the dimensions of something using a standard unit |
| accuracy | a description of how close a measurement is to the true value of the quantity measured |
| precision | the exactness of a measurement |
| microscope | provides an enlarged image of an object |
| gene | a segment of DNA that stores genetic information |
| molecular genetics | the study and manipulation of DNA on a molecular level |
| genomics | the study and comparison of genomes both within and across species |
| biotechnology | the use and application of living things and biological processes |
| transgenic | organisms that have genes from more than one species or altered copies of their own genes |