Question | Answer |
puts events in sequence but doesn't give their actual age [5] | relative time |
measured time; identifies the actual date an event occurred and establishes its absolute age [5] | absolute time |
one method of determining the relative ages of the strata, or layers, in sedimentary rocks is by their position [5] | superposition |
process used to match the rock strata in different locations to determine if they formed at the same time [5] | correlation |
uses the rate of decay of naturally occurring, radioactive isotopes of elements to determine the absolute age of rocks and fossils [5] | radioactive dating |
the period of time it takes for half the atoms in a radioactive sample to break down into simpler, stable atoms [5] | half-life |
remains of organisms that existed for a brief period of geologic time and had a wide geographic distribution [5] | index fossils |
largest divisions of geologic time [5] | eras |
blocks of geologic time characterized by the appearance, disappearance, or dominance of various life-forms in the fossil record [5] | periods |
earliest division of geologic time [5] | precambrian era |
era that lasted for almost 350 million years [5] | paleozoic era |
era divided into 3 periods: triassic, jurassic, and creraceous; lasted for 160 million years [5] | mesozoic era |
the most recent era, the one we live in; began 65 million years ago [5] | cenozoic era |
type of blue-green bacteria that make their own food [6] | cyanobacteria |
everything in an organism's surroundings that is or was alive, such as plants and animals [6] | biotic environment |
composed of everything in an organism's surroundings that is not alive, including soil, sunlight, precipitation, atmospheric gases, sources of water, dissolved mineral salts, and geologic formations [6] | abiotic environment |
building blocks of life, and they are involved in all the activities carried out by an organism [6] | cell |
the cell's control center [6] | nucleus |
line the endoplasmic reticulum; sites of protein synthesis within the cell [6] | ribosomes |
the sites of energy production [6] | mitochondria |
one-celled organisms, such as paramecia, amebas, or euglenas [6] | unicellular |
many-celled organisms, such as rotifers or daphnias [6] | multicellular |
green plants that use photosynthesis to produce their own food from inorganic compounds [6] | producers |
those organisms that cannot make their own food [6] | consumers |
organisms that use green plants as food [6] | primary consumers |
another name for primary consumers [6] | herbivores |
organisms that feed on primary consumers [6] | secondary consumers |
another name for secondary consumers [6] | carnivores |
living things use oxygen from the atmosphere to release energy from from food and in the process from carbon dioxide gas [6] | cellular respiration |
break down the tissues and recycle the organic and inorganic compounds back into the soil [6] | decomposers |
modern method of classification that identifies groups of organisms and gives each a scientific name [7] | taxonomy |
when organisms are first placed into one of the major categories [7] | kingdoms |
largest division within a kingdom [7] | phylum |
organisms whose DNA is distributed throughout the cytoplasm of their cells [7] | prokaryotes |
bacteria which requires oxygen for respiration [7] | aerobes |
bacteria which use other chemicals to release energy [7] | anaerobes |
some bacteria that live on and in the bodies of other organisms [7] | host |
organisms whose DNA is located within a nucleus that is enclosed by a nuclear membrane [7] | eukaryotes |
cells that are enclosed within a cell wall, contain a nucleus, but lack chloroplasts [7] | fungi |
compounds that break down food materials [7] | enzymes |
organisms that have a backbone [7] | vertebrates |
animals without a backbone [7] | invertebrates |