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 principals 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 | the molecule in which there is genetic material that contains the information that determines inherited characteristics. |
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 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 better allows an organism to survive in its environment. |
observation | using the senses to study the world; using tools to collect measurements; examining previous research results. |
data | observations and measurements collected 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 or a wide variety of observations and experiment results. |
measurement | a 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 | specific region of DNA that codes for a particular protein. |
molecular genetics | study of DNA structure and function on the molecular level. |
genomics | study and comparison of genomes within a single species or among different species. |
biotechnology | use and application of living things and biological processes. |
transgenic | organism whose genome has been altered to contain one or more genes from another organism or species. |