Term | Definition |
specialization | studying or working in only one part of a subject |
organism | any living thing |
characteristic | quality or property that defines or classifies something |
cell | basic unit of structure and function in living things |
response | reaction to a change |
autotroph | organism that can make its own food |
heterotroph | organism that cannot make its own food |
homeostasis | process of keeping conditions inside a body constant, no matter the conditions outside the body |
nutrient | chemical substance that is needed to carry out life processes |
ingestion | process of taking in food |
digestion | process of breaking down food so that it can be used by living things |
cellular respiration | process by which a cell releases energy from food molecules |
byproduct | something produced in addition to the main product |
excretion | process of getting rid of wastes |
transport | process of moving nutrients and wastes in a living thing |
stimulus (stimuli) | change that causes a response |
behavior | way in which living things respond to stimuli |
migration | seasonal movement of animals from one place to another and back |
hibernation | inactive state of some animals during winter months |
spontaneous generation | idea that living thing come from nonliving things |
reproduction | process by which living things produce new organisms like themselves |
offspring | new organism produced by living thing |
asexual reproduction | reproduction needing only one parent |
sexual reproduction | reproduction needing two parents |