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Biology Vocab Ch 1
Biology chapter 1 Vocab 1.1-1.2-1.3
| 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 |
| 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 | Any individual living thing |
| Cell | Basic unit of life |
| Metabolism | All chemical processes that synthesize or break down materials within an organism |
| DNA | 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 |
| Homeostasis | Regulation and maintenance of constant internal conditions in an organism |
| Evolution | change in a species over time; process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors |
| Adaptation | Inherited trait that is selected for over time because it allows organisms to better survive in their environment |
| Observation | Using the senses to study the world;using tools to collect measurements; examining previous research results |
| Data | Observations and measurements recorded during an experiment |
| Hypothesis | Proposed explanation or answer to a scientific question |
| Experiment | 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 |