Term | Definition |
Biosphere | all organisms and the part of the Earth where they exist |
Biodiversity | variety of life within an area |
Species | group of organisms so similar to each other that they can breed and produce fertile off spring |
Biology | scientific study of all forms of life |
Science | knowledge obtained by observing natural events and conditions in order to discover facts and formulate laws or principles 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 (deoxyribonucleic acid) | molecules that store genetic information in all organisms |
System | changing, organized group of related parts that interact to form a whole |
Ecosystem | collection of all 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 | changes in a species over time; processes of biological changes by which decedents come to differ from their ancestors |
Adaptation | inherited traits that are selected over time because it allows organisms to better survive in their environment |
Observation | using the senses to study the world; using tools to collect measurements; examining previous research results |
Data | observations and measurements recorded during as experiment |
Hypothesis | proposed explanation or answer to a scientific question |
Experiment | processes that test 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 for a wide variety of observations and experimental 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 | tool that provides an enlarged image of an object |
Gene | specific region of DNA that codes for a particular protein |
Molecular Genetics | study of a 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 | organisms whose genome has been altered to contain one or more genes from another organism or species |