| Term | Definition |
| Biosphere | all parts of the planet inhabited by living things |
| ecosystem | a community of living things in an area |
| organism | an individual living things |
| cell | life's basic units of structure and function |
| DNA | chemical responsible for inheritance |
| species | a distinct form of life |
| domain | the broadest category |
| unicellular | consists of a single cell |
| prokaryotic cell | cells without a nuclei |
| eukaryotic cell | contains a nuclei that separates DNA from the rest of the cell |
| multicellular | made of many cells |
| system | a complex organization made up of many parts |
| photosynthesis | a process where plants make food |
| producer | produce food wich ecosystem depends on |
| consumer | animals and other organisms that eat food made by producers |
| homeostasis | steady state |
| adaptation | an inherited trait that helps the organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its particular environment |
| population | a localized group of organisms belonging to the same species |
| natural selection | it works with the natural environment "selecting" certian inherited traits |
| evolution | a generation to generation change in the proportion of differet inherited genes in a population |
| observation | uses the sences to gather and record information about structures and processes |
| data | recorded observation |
| inference | a logical conclusion based on observation |
| generalization | a general conclusion |
| hypothesis | an answer to a well defined scientific question |
| variable | a condition that can differ within the experiment |
| controlled experiment | an experiment that tests the effect of a single variable |
| evidence | consists of a collected body of data from observations and experiments |
| theory | well tested explaination that makes sence of a great variety of scientific observations |
| model | physical, mental, or mathematical representationsof how people understand a process or an idea |
| technology | to apply scientific understanding for some specific purpose |
| organic molecule | most carbon based molecules |
| inorganic molecule | non-carbon based molecules |
| hydrocarbons | organic molecules that are composed of only carbon and hydrogen |
| functional group | a group of atoms within a molecule that interacts in predictable ways with other molecules |
| hydrophillic | they attract water |
| monomers | large molecules units built from many similar, smaller molecular units |
| polymers | link monomers together into long chains |
| carbohydrate | an organic compound made up of sugars molecules |
| monosaccaride | simple sugars contain just one sugar unit |
| disaccharides | "double sugar" from two monosaccarides |
| polysaccarides | a long polymer chians made up of simple sugar monomers |
| starch | a ploysaccaride found in plant cells that consists entirely of glucose monomers |
| glycogen | store excess sugar in the form or polysaccarides |
| cellulose | serve as building materials |
| lipids | class of water avoiding compounds |
| hydrophobic | water-avoiding molecules |
| fat | consists of a three-carbon backbone |
| saturated fat | a fat in which all three fatty acid chains contain thae maximum possible number |
| unsaturated fat | contains less than the maximum number of hydrogen atoms |
| steriod | a lipid molecule in which the carbon skeleton forms four fused rings |
| cholesterol | essential molecule found in the memebranes that surrounds your cells |
| protien | polymer constucted from a set of just 20 kinds of monomers called amino acids |
| amino acid | monomer consists of a central carbon atom bonded to four partners. |
| polypeptide | cells create proteins by linking amino acids together into a chain |
| denaturation | an unfavorable change in temperature that causes a protien to unravel and loose its normal shape |
| activation energy | "start up" energy it activates the reactants and triggers a chemical reactions |
| catalysts | compounds that speed up chemical reactions |
| enzyme | specialized protiens |
| substrate | a specific reactant acted upon by an enzyme |
| active site | the substrate fits into a particular region of the enzyme |
| cell theory | the generalization that all living things are composed of cells, and that cells are the basic unit of structure and function in living things |
| micrograph | a photograph of the view through a microscope |
| organelle | each part of a cell with a specific job to do |
| plasma membrane | a thin outer covering |
| nucleus | it houses the cell's genetic material in the form of DNA |
| cytoplasm | the entire region of the cell between the nucleus and the plasma memebrane |
| cell wall | protects the plant cell and maintains its shape |
| prokaryotic cell | lacks a nucleus and most other organelles |
| eukaryotic cell | has a nucleus surrounded by its own membrane, has other internal organelles bounded by memebranes |
| phospholipid bilayer | phospholipids form a two-layer "sandwich" of molecues |
| diffusion | the net movement of the particles of a substance from where they are more concentrated to where they are less concentrated |
| equalibrium | the number of molecules moving in one direction is equal to the number moving in the other direction |
| selectively permeable membrane | allows some substances to cross the membrane more easily than others |
| passive transport | diffusion across a membrane without energy |
| facilitated diffusion | transport of proteins provide a pathway for certain molecules to pass |