| Term | Definition |
|
Organism |
living thing |
|
Cell |
smallest unit of life that carries on life functions |
|
Development |
Changes that living things undergo as they grow |
|
Stimulus |
Anything an organism reacts to |
|
Response |
Reaction of an organism to a stimulus |
|
Adaptation |
Characteristic that an organism that helps it to survive in its environment |
|
Variable |
what is being tested in an experiment |
|
Control |
Standard used to compare with the outcome of a test |
|
Homeostasis |
The maintenance of steady conditions inside an organism |
|
Limiting factor |
anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population |
|
Ecology |
The study of interactions among organisms and their environment |
|
Producer |
Organisms that use an outside energy source, such as the Sun, to make energy rich molecules |
|
Niche |
how an organism survives, including its habitat, and how it obtains food and shelter |
|
Biosphere |
The part of earth that supports life |
|
Population |
All of the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species |
|
Consumer |
Organisms that cannot make their own energy rich molecules |
|
community |
All of the populations in an ecosystem |
|
habitat |
place in which an organism lives |
|
Carrying Capacity |
The largest number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support over time |
|
Ecosystem |
All of the organisms living in an area and the nonliving features of their environment |
|
Symbiosis |
Any close relationship between species |
|
Water |
Cell fluids are all mostly this compound |
|
Latitude |
Distance from the equator |
|
Sugar |
High energy molecules made from photosynthesis |
|
Biotic factors |
living ecosystem components |
|
Nitrogen fixation |
Changing nitrogen gas to usable nitrogen in the soil |
|
Elevation |
Distance above sea level |
|
Energy |
required for recycling matter |
|
Producers |
The first level of the food chain |
|
Fertilizers |
Applied to replace soil nitrogen in crop fields, lawns, and gardens |
|
Climate |
Average weather over time |
|
Ecological succession |
gradual changes that occur in the types of species that live in an area |
|
Secondary succession |
takes place in an area that has soil that was once the home of living organisms |
|
Climax community |
An area that has reached a stable stage of ecological succession |
|
Biomes |
large geographic areas with similar climates and ecosystems |
|
Permafrost |
Soil layer below the thawed surface in tundra and taiga biomes |
|
Estuary |
where a river meets an ocean |
|
Cellulose |
composes the cell wall of plants |
|
Cuticle |
Waxy layer on stems and leaves |
|
Vascular plants |
plants with a tube like system of vessels |
|
Rhizoid |
root like filament that holds moss in place |
|
Gymnosperms |
vascular plants with no flowers or fruit; produce seeds in cones |
|
Angiosperms |
Vascular plants with flowers; produce seeds inside a fruit |
|
Dicot |
Flowering plants with two cotyledons inside their seeds |
|
Pioneer species |
name given to the first plants to grow in new environments |
|
Phloem |
Tissue that moves food from leaves to other plant parts |
|
Cambium |
Tissue that produces new xylem and phloem cells |
|
Guard cells |
In a plant leaf, cells that surround the stomata to open and close them |
|
Algae |
Plantlike protists |
|
Pseudopods |
Footlike cytoplasm extensions |
|
Cilia |
Threadlike structures extending from the cell membrane of Paramecia |
|
Spore |
Reproductive cell of fungi |
|
Budding |
Form of reproduction used by yeast in which the organism grows off the side of a parent |
|
Lichen |
Organisms made of fungus and green algae or a cyanobacteria |
|
Hyphae |
Mass of threadlike tubes that make up a fungus |
|
Heredity |
passing of traits from one generation to another |
|
Recombinant DNA |
inserting DNA into bacteria |
|
Genitics |
study of inheritance |
|
Sex linked gene |
an allele inherited on a sex chromosome |
|
Recessive |
a trait that is hidden |
|
Probability |
the chance that an event will take place |
|
Genotype |
genetic makeup of an organism |
|
Gene therapy |
a normal allele is placed into a virus |
|
Phenotype |
physical appearance resulting from genotype |
|
Incomplete dominance |
both alleles are expressed in offspring |
|
Phylogenic inheritance |
more than one set of genes controls a trait |