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Bio-Chapter1-Gullett
Biology-Chapter 1 Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
biosphere | all living things and the places they are found on Earth |
population | the total number of organisms of the same species in a given area |
community | all the living things in a given area |
species | a group of organisms that are closely related and can produce fertile offspring |
ecosystem | all the living things in an area and their nonliving environment |
biology | the study of living things and their interactions with each other and the environment |
science | the knowledge obtained by observing natural events and conditions in order to discover facts and formulate laws or principles that can be verified or tested |
organism | an individual living thing |
cell | the basic unit of life |
metabolism | the total of all the chemical processes that occur within an individual organism |
DNA | genetic material found in living things |
system | an organised group of related parts that interact to form a whole |
homeostasis | the maintenance of stable internal conditions in an organism |
evolution | the change over time, specifically in living things |
observation | using tools and senses to document facts, used to make hypothesis and predictions |
data | recorded observations / facts |
hypothesis | a written answer for a scientific question that includes a prediction that is testable |
experiment | a controlled study used to test a hypothesis |
independent variable | the condition or factor that is changed by the scientists, goes on the x-axis of a graph |
dependent variable | data being measured and collected, goes on the y-axis of a graph |
constant | the conditions of an experiment that do not change |
theory | a proposed explanation for a phenomena that is supported by vast amounts of observations and data. |
law | statements, based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. |
accuracy | description of how close a measurement is to the true value |
precision | description of how close multiple measurements of the same thing are to each other |
quantitative data | data for which measurements or counts can be made such as height, weight, numbers of items |
qualitative data | non-numerical and/or descriptive data such as color (red, blue), texture, or smell |
ranked data | data that can be ranked on a scale that represents order such as abundance (abundant, common, rare) or color intensity (pale, medium, dark) |
assumptions | features of an experiment or system that you assume are true but do not or cannot test. |
pie graph | graph used to compare proportions (percentages) in different categories such as water use by consumers |
bar graph | graph used to compare different categories for a continuous variable such as average household water use by county |
histogram | graph used to show how often a set of continuous data occurs such as weight of adults in Ohio |
line graph | graph used to illustrate the data of an independent variable that is collected continuously such as heart rate over time or rate of ice melting |
percentages | calculation often used for comparison of qualitative data |
rates | calculation used to compare a variable over time |
frequencies | calculation used to compare how often something occurs |