click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
HMChapter1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Biosphere | All organisms and the part of Earth where they exist |
| Biodiversity | Variety of life within an area |
| Species | Group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring |
| Biology | Scientific study of all forms of life |
| Organism | Any individual living thing |
| Cell | Basic unit of life |
| Metabolism | All chemical processes that synthesize or break down materials within an organism |
| DNA | Deoxyribonucleic Acid; molecule that stores genetic information in all organisms |
| System | Changing, organized group of related parts that interact to form a whole |
| Ecosystem | Collection of organisms and nonliving things, such as climate, soil, water, and rocks, in an area |
| Science | Knowledge obtained by observing natural events and conditions in order to discover facts and formulate laws or principles that can be verified or tested |
| Homeostasis | Maintenance of constant internal conditions in an organism |
| Evolution | change in living things over time |
| Adaptation | Inherited trait that gives an advantage to individual organisms and is passed on to future generations |
| Observation | Using out senses to study world, using tools to collect measurements: examining pervious research results |
| Data | Observations and measurements recorded during an experiment |
| Hypothesis | Proposed explanation or answer to a scientific question |
| Experiments | Process that tests a hypothesis by collecting information under controlled conditions |
| Independent variable | Condition or factor that is manipulated by a scientist during an experiment |
| Dependent variable | Experimental data collected through observation and measurement |
| Constant | Condition that is controlled so that it does not change during an experiment |
| Theory | Proposed explanation for a wide variety of observations and experimental results |
| Measurements | A 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 | Tool that provides an enlarged image on an object |
| Gene | Region of DNA that codes for a particular protein |
| Molecular genetics | Study of DNA structure and function on the molecular level |
| Genomics | Study and comparison of genomes within a single or among different species |
| Biotechnology | Use an application of living things and biological processes |
| Transgenic | Organisms whose genome has been altered to contain one or more genes from another organism or species |