Term | Definition |
biosphere | All living things and all the places they are found on the Earth. |
biodiversity | The variety of organisms in a given area. |
species | Group of organisms that are closely related and can produce fertile offspring. |
biology | The scientific study of living things and their interactions with the environment. |
science | The knowledge obtained by observing natural events and conditions in order to discover facts and formulate laws or variables that can be tested. |
organism | Any individual living thing. |
cell | Basic unit of life. |
metabolism | The chemical processes that build up or break down materials. |
DNA | The genetic material that contains the information that determines inherited in a molecule. |
system | An organized group of related parts that interact to form a whole. |
ecosystem | A community of organisms and their physical environment. |
homeostasis | The maintenance of constant internal conditions in an organism. |
evolution | The change in living things over time. |
adaption | An inherited trait that gives an advantage to individual organisms and is passed on to future generations. |
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 experiments. |
independent variable | The condition that is changed in an experiment. |
dependent variable | The experimental data collected through observation and measurement. |
constant | The conditions that do not change in an experiment. |
theory | A proposed explanation for a wide range of observations and experimental results that is supported by a wide range of evidence. |
measurement | The determination of the dimensions of something using a standard unit. |
accuracy | A description of how close a measurement is to the true value of the quantity measured. |
precision | The exactness of a measurement. |
microscope | A tool that provides an enlarged image of an object. |
gene | A segment of DNA that stores genetic information. |
molecular genetics | The study and manipulation of DNA on a molecular level. |
genomics | The study of Genomes both within and across species. |
biotechnology | The use and application of living things and biological processes. |
transgenic | Organisms that have genes from more than one species or have altered copies of their own genes. |