Excretion and Digestion Overview

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms related to excretion, digestion, and kidney function based on provided lecture notes.

Excretory product

Any substance produced inside a cell by metabolism and removed from the body.

Excretion

The process of removing excretory products from the body.

Egestion

The process of expelling undigested food from the alimentary canal, which has never entered cells or participated in metabolism.

Respiration

A metabolic process that releases energy by breaking down glucose in the presence of oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water as waste products.

Photosynthesis

The process in plant cells that converts carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen using light energy.

Glomerulus

A tangled mass of capillaries located inside Bowman’s capsule where filtration occurs in the kidney.

Nephron

The basic structural and functional unit of the kidney responsible for filtering blood and forming urine.

Deamination

The removal of an amino group from an amino acid, leading to the production of ammonia, which is converted to urea in the liver.

Urea

A waste product formed from the degradation of proteins, primarily excreted by the kidneys.

Kidney

A pair of organs that filter blood to remove metabolic wastes, regulate water and electrolyte balance, and produce urine.

Bowman's capsule

The cup-like structure surrounding the glomerulus in a nephron, where filtration of blood occurs.

Osmoregulation

The process through which organisms regulate the balance of water and salts in their bodies.

Peristalsis

The wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the alimentary canal.

Active transport

The process of moving substances against their concentration gradient, requiring energy.

Filtration

The process of separating small molecules from larger ones in the kidneys, occurring in the glomerulus.