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Chapter 1 Lesson 1
What is Life?
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Cell | The basic unit of structure and function in living things. |
Organism | A living thing. |
Unicellular | Made of a single cell. |
Multicellular | Consisiting of many cells. |
Metabolism | The combination of chemical reactions through which an organism builds up or breaks down materials. |
Stimulus | Any change or signal in the environment that can make an organism react in some way. |
Response | An action or change in behavior that occurs as a result of stimulus. |
Development | The process of change that occurs during an organism's life to produce a more complex organism. |
Asexual reproduction | A reproductive process that involves only one parent and produces offspring that are genetically identical to the parent. |
Sexual reproduction | A reproductive process that involves two parents that combine their genetic material to produce a new organism which differs from both parents. |
Spontaneous generation | The mistaken idea that living things arise from nonliving sources. |
Heterotroph | An organism that cannot make its own food and gets food by consuming other living things. |
Autotroph | An organism that is able to capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food. |
Homeostasis | The condition in which an organism's internal environment is kept stable in spite of changes on the external environment. |