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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. |