Term | Definition |
Biology | The study of living things. |
Abiotic | Nonliving factors in an environment. |
Biotic | Living factors in an environment. |
Independent Variable | What is being tested; the variable that is manipulated. |
Dependent Variable | The responding variable; responds to the changes made to the independent |
Contant | Stays the same throughout the experiment. |
Control Group | The group that acts as the standard for comparison. The “normal” group. |
pH | Measurement of how acidic of basic a solution is. |
Acidic | Has a pH below 7 |
Basic | Has a pH above 7 |
Neutral | Has a pH of 7 (pure water) |
Organic Molecules | Have the element Carbon in them. |
Inorganic Molecules | Do not have the element Carbon in them. |
Carbohydrates | Also known as saccharides. Main source of energy (short term). Subunits: monosaccharides. |
Cellulose | Complex carbohydrate found in within the cell walls of plants. Used for structural purposes. |
Glycogen | Carbohydrate found in animal cell muscles and liver. Used for energy storage. (short term) |
Lipds | Used for long term energy storage, some structure, insulation. Found in cell membrane. No real subunits, but made of glycerol and fatty acids. |
Proteins | Used for everything. Subunit: Amino Acids. |
Metabolism | The sum of all chemical reactions in an organism. |
Catabolism | Breaking down of molecules. |
Anabolism | Building up of molecules. |
Enyzme | Protein that speeds of chemical reactions by lowering the amount of energy (activation energy) required for the reaction to take place. |
Catalyst | Another name for enzyme. |
Substrate | Molecule that enzymes work on |
Products | What the enzyme helps produce in the reaction |
Active Site | Part of the enzyme the substrate molecule fits in to. |
Denature | Changing the shape of a protein (enzyme), mostly by temperature or pH. |
Amino Acids | Building blocks of proteins |
Nucleic Acids | Transmit hereditary and genetic information. Subunits: Nucleotides |
Universal Solvent | Water. It is said to be a universal solvent because it dissolves more substances than anything else. |
Solvent | A substance that dissolves other things. |
Solute | A substance that is dissolved. |
Solution | Mixture of both a solvent and a solute. |
Bi | Two |
Bio | Life |
Co | With, together |
Di | Two |
Homeo | Same |
Logy | Study of |
Tri | Three |
Uni | One, single |
Amyl | Starch |
Ana | Up |
Ase | Enzyme |
Cata | Down |
Gluc | Sugar |
Gylc | Sugar |
Hydr | Water |
Iso | Same |
Lip | Fat |
Lysis | Break down |
Macro | Large |
Mono | One |
Ose | Sugar |
Poly | Many |
Sacchr | Sugar |
Syn | With, together |