Term | Definition |
Cell Membrane | made of lipids and proteins; allows things to move in and out of the cell = gate keeper!
made of lipids and proteins; selective permeability – that is only some molecules can pass through it |
Cell Wall | Only found in plant cells; provides the cell with it's shape and protection |
Nucleus | The control center of the cell; contains the DNA or genetic code |
Chloroplast | Only found in plant cells. This organelles capture sunlight and changes it into food by the process of photosynthesis |
Cytoplasm | The jelly-like substance that holds all the organelles in place |
Ribosomes | This is where proteins are made. |
Vacuole | store waste and water |
Mitochondria | The power house of the cell. This is where ATP or energy is made. |
Golgi Apparatus | packs and ships molecules like proteins and lipids (fats). Think packaging plant! |
Endoplasmic Reticulum | Follows instructions from the nucleus to make proteins. Think of it as a large factory! |
Lysosomes | break down waste. Think of them as a garbage truck or recycling center! |
Observation | What is seen or measured. |
Inference | A conclusion based on observation or evidence. |
Hypothesis | An untested prediction written using an "If.. then" statement |
Controlled Experiment | Compares the results of an experiment between two (or more)
groups. |
Experimental Group | Group being tested or receiving treatment. (ex: new drug) |
Control Group | “Normal” group. Should be identical to experimental group in every way except one: it does not receive the treatment |
Independent Variable | Variable that is being tested (ex: new drug). In a graph the independent variable is always plotted on the X axis. |
Dependent Variable | Variable that is measured at the end of an experiment; the results (ex: does patient get better?) The dependent variable is always plotted on the Y axis. |
Objective Observation | an observation based on fact |
Subjective Observation | an observation based on opinion |
Constants | factors in an experiment that are kept the same and not allowed to change |
Quantitative Data | data consisting of numbers |
Qualitative Data | data consisting of verbal descriptions or information gathered using scales without numbers |
Opinion | A personal belief that may be biased |
Nutrition | Autotrophs make their own food, while heterotrophs eat other organisms. |
Excretion | removal of cells' waste ( sweat, urine, breathing out CO2) |
Transport | Materials moving throughout our bodies |
Respiration | Organisms get energy by breaking the bonds of sugar molecules. The released energy is used to make a molecule of ATP, which gives all organisms their energy. |
Growth | Increase in size, change in shape/ function |
Synthesis | Building or making simple things into complex things |
Regulation | coordination and control of other life functions. |
Reproduction | Making more of your type of organism |
Homeostasis | is the ability of an organism to maintain a stable internal balanced environment. |
Metabolism | How fast your body can do all eight life processes |
Protein | made from amino acids and make hormones
Example: meat |
Carbohydrate | made from simple sugars (like glucose) and they supply energy
Example: fruit |
Lipid | made from fatty acids and glycerol and store energy
Example: oil |
Nucleic Acids | made of nucleotides; DNA and RNA |
Enzymes | are catalysts – they affect the rates of chemical reactions. |
pH | a measure of the amount of acid or base present |
Lock and Key Model | the shape of the active site on the enzyme matches up with the shape of the substrates |
Diffusion | movement of molecules from high concentrations to low concentrations.
Requires no energy (passive transport). |
Active Transport | requires the use of energy, usually moving molecules from a low
concentration to a high concentration (against the flow of diffusion). |
Osmosis | the diffusion of water into or out of the cell. If water diffuses into the cell, the
cell swells (get larger) and may burst. If it loses water (being put in salt water for example) it
will shrivel up. |
Glucose | A monosaccharide which is small enough to cross the cell membrane; made of only one sugar |
Starch | A polysaccharide which is too large to cross the cell membrane; made of many sugars |
Asexual Reproduction | a method of reproduction in which all the genes passed on to the offspring come from a single individual or parent |
Birth | The time in which the fetus is born |
Cancer | uncontrolled cell growth |
Cleavage | splitting or dividing a cell |
Cloning | a technique used to make identical organisms |
Development | the changes that occur from the fertilized egg to a complete individual; occurs by mitosis and differentiation of cells |
Amniocentesis | removing some of the cells from the amniotic fluid which
protects the fetus and analyzing their DNA. |
Differentiation | the process that transforms developing cells into specialized cells with different structures and functions |
Egg | A sex cell produced by a female |
Embryo | an organism in the early stages of development (prior to birth) |
Estrogen | a hormone (produced by the ovaries) that controls female sexual development and the reproductive process |
External Fertilization | the process that combines a sperm and an egg cell outside an organism |
Fertilization | the process that combines a sperm and an egg cell |
Fetus | the unborn, developing young of an animal during the later stages of development |
Gametes | Sex cells, sperm and egg |
Growth | The increase in the size and number of cells |
Internal fertilization | the process that combines a sperm and an egg cell inside an organism |
Meiosis | the process that results in the production of sex cells (sperm and egg) |
Mitosis | the process of cell division it which a parent cell divides into two new cells which contain the same genetic information as the parent cell. Used for growth and repair. |
Negative Feedback Loop | controls hormone levels to maintain homeostasis |
Ovaries | the organ of the human female reproductive system that produces and egg cell, the female gamete |
Oviduct | the part of the female reproductive system where the egg cell is fertilized by the sperm |
Placenta | the organ that enables nutrients and oxygen to pass from the mother's blood to the fetus, and waste products to pass from the fetus to the mother's blood |
Progesterone | A hormone associated with sexual development and the reproductive system |
Sex Cells | Sperm and egg |
Sexual Reproduction | a method of reproduction that involves two parents to produce offspring that are genetically different from either parent |
Sperm | male sex cells made in the testes |
Testes | the male reproductive organ that produces sperm and the hormone testosterone |
Testosterone | a hormone associated with male sexual development and reproduction |
Ultrasound | method to see images of a fetus |
Umbilical Cord | connects the embryo to the placenta that carries essential materials to the fetus |
Uterus | the organ, in, females, where the embryo develops into a fetus |
Zygotes | the cell that results from the joining of the egg and sperm |
Heredity | The passing of genetic traits from parent to offspring |
Gregor Mendel | "Father of Genetics" known for his study with pea plants |
Genetics | The study of genes and heredity. |
Trait | A genetically determined characteristic. Ex. Eye color, hair color, hitchhiker’s thumb |
Dominant | The trait that powers over the other. |
Recessive | The trait that is hidden behind the dominant trait. This trait is only expressed when there is one allele from mom and one allele from dad. |
Genes | A portion of your DNA that codes for a specific protein |
Allele | one of two or more versions of a gene |
Homozygous | When the two alleles are the SAME |
Heterozygous | When the two alleles are DIFFERENT |
Genotype | The genetic makeup of a cell or organism; usually referring to a specific characteristic. Written using letters Tt, TT, tt |
Phenotype | The outward appearance of an organism
Ex. Brown eyes, blond hair, freckles etc. |
DNA | The blueprint or the code of life |
Gene | contains hereditary information |
Chromosome | Found in the nucleus and contains the DNA. Each human being has 46 of these. |
Karyotype | a visual map of chromosomes. Can be used to see if the fetus has any chromosomal problems like Down's Syndrome ( 3 copies of chromosome# 21) |
Amino Acid | The building blocks of proteins |
RNA | used for making proteins |
Replicate | to copy |
mRNA | "messenger" takes information from the DNA to the RNA |
tRNA | Makes proteins |
rRNA | moves from the nucleus to the ribosome |
Evolution | is the process by which organisms have changed over time from simple, single celled: complex-single-celled: complex, multi-cellular to complex organisms. |
Natural Selection | nature selects those individuals who are best fit for the environment. |
Overproduction | more offspring are produced than can survive |
Competition | the fight for limited resources |
Variation | differences among organisms in a species (sexually reproducing organisms have more variation than asexually reproducing organisms) |
Adaptive Value (Traits) | Any trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce under a given set of environmental conditions |
Extinction | is the disappearance of an entire species caused by a failure to adapt to a changing environment. Extinction occurs when the Environment changes and the Species cannot adapt. |
Abiotic | Nonliving parts of the environment |
Atmosphere | The air covering Earth's solid and liquid surface |
Autotroph | An organism that produces its own food |
Biodiversity | The variety of species in an area |
Biosphere | The area in which all living organisms reside; including water, land and air |
Biotic | The living parts of the environment |
Canopy | The uppermost branches of trees |
Carnivore | An organism that eats only consumers |
Carry Capacity | The largest population of any single species that an area can support |
Climate | The long term pattern of weather conditions in a region |
Commensalism | An interspecies interaction in which one organism benefits, while the other neither benefits nor is harmed |
Community | A combination of all the different populations that live and interact in the same environment |
Coniferous | Trees that retains their needles year-round and reproduces with cones |
Consumer | an organism that obtains energy from producers= heterotroph |
Deciduous | Trees that have adapted to winter temperatures by dropping their leaves and going dormant during the cold season |
Decomposer | an organism that consumes dead organisms and organic waste
i.e bacteria |
Desert | A biome characterized by a very dry, arid climate |
Niche | The specific role played by an organism in the ecosystem |
Ecological Succession | The process by which an existing community is replaced by another community |
Ecology | The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment |
Ecosystem | All the living and non-living things that interact in a specific area |
Emigration | The movement of individuals out of a population and into another |
Energy Pyramid | A diagram showing how food energy moves through the ecosystem |
Environment | Every living and non-living thing that surrounds an organism |
Food Chain | a picture that shows the specific relationship among organisms |
Exponential Growth | Dramatic increase in population over a short period of time |
Geosphere | The features of Earth's surface-- such as the continents, rocks, and sea floor |
Grassland | A biome where the primary plat life is grass |
Habitat | The place where a plant and animal live |
Herbivore | An animal that eats only plants |
Heterotroph | An organism that cannot make its own food |
Host | The organism in a parasitic relationship that provides the home and/ or food for the parasite |
Hydrosphere | All the Earth's water, ice, and water vapor |
Immigration | The movement of individuals into a population from another population |
Keystone Species | Organism that has an unusually large effect on its ecosystem |
Limiting Factors | Any factor in the environment that limits the size of a population |
Mutualism | An interspecies interaction in which both organisms benefit from one another |
Omnivore | A consumer that eats both consumers and producers |
Parasite | An organism that survives by living and feeding on other organisms |
Parasitism | An interspecies interaction in which one organism benefits , while the other is harmed |
Pioneer Species | Organism that is the first to live in a previously uninhabited area |
Population | All the individuals of a single species that live in a specific area |
Population Density | The number of organisms within a given space |
Predator | An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food |
Prey | An animal that is hunted and killed by predators |
Primary Consumer | The first consuming organism in a food chain, that makes up the second trophic level |
Primary Succession | The establishment and development of an ecosystem in an area that was previously uninhabited |
Producer | An organism that makes its own food from light energy and inorganic materials; an autotroph |
Scavenger | A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms |
Secondary Consumer | The second consuming organism in a food chain, that makes up the third trophic level |
Secondary Succession | The reestablishment of a damaged ecosystem in an area where the soil was left intact |
Succession | The sequence of biotic changes that regenerate a damaged community or create a community in a previously uninhabited area |
Symbiosis | A close ecological relationship between two or more organisms of different species that live in direct contact with one another |
Tertiary Consumer | The third consuming organism in a food chain, that makes up the fourth trophic level |
Trophic level | The level of nourishment in a food chain or food web |
Tundra | a biome found at latitudes where winters last as long as ten months a year |
Watershed | A region of land that drains into a river, a river system, or another body of water |
Hormones | Chemicals messages produced in the endocrine glands |
Dynamic Equilibrium | is a steady state- balance= Homeostasis |
Pancrease | secretes insulin to regulate blood sugar |
Insulin | A hormone secreted from the pancreas that prompts glucose to move from the blood into body cells, resulting in lower glucose levels in the blood. |
Surface receptor proteins | a molecule found on the cell membrane that the immune system recognizes as either part of the body or an outside invader |
Antigens | Receptor proteins found on the membrane of pathogens or germs |
Antibodies | special proteins produced by white blood cells that can be thought of as your body's army to fight disease. |
Immunity | Your body's ability to fight disease. One you have been exposed to a specific virus, white blood cells remember the antigens and produce antibodies that prevent you from getting sick from the same virus a second time |
Vaccination | made of a weakened or dead virus that triggers our white blood cells to produce antibodies to fight a specific pathogen |
Disease | Caused by pathogens |
Pathogens | Bacteria, virus, fungi |
Cancer | occurs when certain genetic mutations in a cell can result in uncontrolled cell division. Cancer can be caused either by heredity or environmental factors like radiation, chemicals or virus |
White bloods Cells | Produce antibodies needed to fight infections |
Immune System | Body system that helps to fight infections |
Digestive System | Breaks down food into nutrients and puts them in the blood stream. Similar to vacuoles and lysosomes |
Circulatory System | Carries gases and nutrients throughout the body. Similar to cytoplasm, ER, Golgi body |
Respiratory System | Exchanges carbon dioxide and oxygen. Similar to the cell membrane |
Excretory System | Removes waste from the blood stream and then away from the body. Similar to the cell membrane or vacuole. |
Nervous System | Fast control of the functioning of all body systems. Similar to the nucleus. |
Endocrine System | Slow control of the functioning of all body systems. Similar to the nucleus. |
Photosynthesis | Sun's Energy + Carbon dioxide + water --> glucose + water + oxygen. |
Selective Breeding | The process of picking parents with favorable traits to produce those traits in the offspring Ex. domestic animals and hybridization of plants. |
Species | a group of closely related organisms that share certain characteristics and can produce offspring capable of reproduction |
Mutation | alteration of the DNA sequence which changes the normal message carried by the gene |
Ancestry | shown in cladograms or family tree |
Carbon oxygen cycle | photosynthesis and respiration |
Water Cycle | Evaporation, condensation, precipitation |
Nitrogen Cycle | N2, Nitrogen fixing bacteria, plants, animals, waste |
Renewable Resources | resources that can replenish themselves if not abused ( Planting of trees) |
Nonrenewable Resources | resources that take a long time to replace or form (coal, oil) |
Pollution | harmful change in the chemical makeup of air, water, or soil. |
Direct harvesting | destruction or loss of species by over hunting |
Habitat Destruction | destroying part of the natural environment |
Deforestation | Deforestation |
Invasive Species | not normally found in an environment
Ex. Purple Loosestrife, zebra mussels, dandelions |
Acid Rain | Sulfur and nitrogen compounds in air pollution dissolve in the moisture of the atmosphere to form acids, causing rain to have a low pH (acidic). Acid rain kills trees and destroys historical articfacts. |
Global Warming | an increase in the earth's temperature caused by an increase in greenhouse gases( Green House Effect is caused by increasing amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere caused by the increasing use of fossil fuels |
Ozone Depletion | hole in ozone layer caused by use of fluorocarbons. Ozone acts as a Sun Block for all organisms on the earth |
Organic molecules | Contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
Example: C6H12O6 |
Inorganic molecules | Do not contain all three: Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen
Examples: H2O, CO2 |
Photosynthesis reactants | CO2= Carbon dioxide, H2O= water, Sunglight |
Photosynthesis products | C6H12O6= Glucose and O2= oxygen |
Cellular respiration | The process of converting simple sugars and oxygen into carbon dioxide, water, and energy |
ATP | A product of cellular respiration known as energy |
Reactants of cellular respiration
Hint: Think of what you take in by breathing and eating | C6H12O6= Glucose, O2= Oxygen |
Products of cellular respiration
Hint: Think of what you give off by exercising and breathing | CO2= Carbon dioxide, H20= water, ATP= Energy |
Reactants | Raw materials( to the left of the arrow in an equation) |
Products | what is made or produced (to the right of the arrow in an equation) |
Chloroplasts | Found only in plants cells and where photosynthesis takes place. Green in color and contain chlorophyll. |
Chlorophyll | The green pigment found in chloroplasts |
Mitochondria | Found in both plant and animal cells. Where cellular respiration takes place. Produces ATP (energy). Think "power house" of the cell. |
Stoma | Opening found in chloroplasts that allow the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the chloroplast |
Guard Cells | control the opening of the stoma |
Aerobic Respiration | Requires oxygen to produce 36 ATP (energy molecules), takes place in the mitochondria, produces waste products of water and carbon dioxide |
Anaerobic Respiration | without oxygen, produces 2 ATP (energy) takes place in the cytoplasm,produces, carbon dioxide, water and lactic acid as waste products |
Lactic Acid | A waste product produced during anaerobic respiration; usually the cause of muscle cramps after exercising. |
Cloning | Making an exact copy of a cell or organism by the process of MITOSIS. |
Budding | a new individual develops from an outgrowth on the body of a plant or lower level organism.
Examples: Hydra, Yeast, Sponges, Plants |
Binary Fission | The splitting of a parent cell into two equal parts.
Examples: Bacteria, Ameoba, Paramecium |
Regeneration | The replacement, or regrowth of lost or damaged body parts.
Examples: Sea Star (Star fish), Lobster, Lizards |
Sporulation | Produces and releases spores which develop into a new organism.
Example: Bread mold |
Vegetative Propagation | The production of new plants from the roots, stems, or leaves of the parent plant.
Examples: Stem cutting, Tuber, Bulb, Runners |
Haploid | Unpaired chromosomes; 1/2 number of chromosomes. In a human the haploid number is 23. |
Diploid | two complete sets of chromosomes; one from each parent. In a human, the diploid number is 46. |
Homologus | a matching pair of chromosomes; one from each parent. Each chromosome has a similar shape, size and markings |
Chromatid | duplicated chromosome that is condensed (tightly packed together). |
Chromatin | loosely packed DNA. |
Organization of Living Things (Smallest to Biggest) | cells --> tissues --> organs --> organ systems --> organism |
Organelles | smallest parts of a cell |