Flashcards: Life Science
About these flashcards
Created by:
bertmckinn on April 29, 2009
Subjects:
5th grade science TAKS vocabulary
Groups:
Log in to favorite or report as inappropriate.All 43 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 herbivore | animals that eat only plants. |
| carnivore | animals that eat other animals. |
| omnivore | Animals that eat other organisms. |
| adaptation | A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce. |
| learned behavior | An action that is taught to an organism |
| instinct | An action that an organism knows how to do from birth without being taught |
| food chain | The path of energy from the sun to a plant to animals. |
| food web | A combination of all the food chains in a community. |
| photosynthesis | Process in which plants use the sun's energy to make food |
| inherited trait | Genetic information that is passed from parent to offspring. |
| traits | Any physical feature (body part) or behavior (action) of an organism |
| habitat | The specific place where an organism lives |
| ecosystem | An area made up of a combination of living and nonliving matter and organisms. |
| niche | the position of an organism in its community or ecosystem. |
| producer | Organism that makes its own food |
| consumer | Organisms that eat other organisms to gain energy. |
| scavenger | An organism that feeds on dead or decaying organisms. |
| decomposer | organisms that break down the remains of dead plants and animals. |
| predator | An organism that hunts another living organism for food. |
| prey | An organism that is being hunted for food by another organism. |
| competition | The struggle between two organisms to obtain the same resources in an ecosystem. |
| extinct | No longer living on Earth. |
| life cycle | The stages that a living organism goes through from beginning to life's end |
| reproduce | to make more of the same kind of organism as the adult. |
| metamorphosis | The changes in the shape and form some organisms go through during their life cycle. |
| complete metamorphosis | The life cycle that many insects go through which include the stages of egg, larva, pupa, and adult. |
| incomplete metamorphosis | The life cycle that many insects go through which include the stages of egg, nymph, and adult. |
| chrysalis | The shell that holds the pupa during the metamorphosis of a butterfly. |
| larva | The early, worm-like stage in the life cycle of an insect. |
| pupa | A stage in metamorphosis when the organism changes from a larva to an adult. |
| population | Number of organisms of the same species in the same area. |
| camouflage | Changing color to blend into the environment. |
| hibernation | An adaptation in which animals sleep through the winter as a means of survival. |
| migration | An adaptation in which animals move from one place to another for the purpose of survival. |
| mimic | To imitate another organism or object such as the preying mantis imitating a stick or an alligator imitating a log. |
| structural adaptation | A body part that helps an organism survive in its environment. |
| behavioral adaptation | An action done by the organism that helps it survive in its environment. |
| behavior | The way an organism acts |
| abiotic | all of the nonliving factors in an ecosystem |
| biotic | All the living factors in an ecosystem |
| nutrition | studies which foods should be eaten for good health and how the body uses food for energy, growth and to build new cells. |
| respiration | process by which living things take in oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide |
| pesticide | a chemical used to kill or control pests |