Science Vocab (WIP)

Organism

An individual living thing.

Species

A group of organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring.

Speciation

Process by which a new species evolves. (Occurs at the boundary between Microevolution and Macroevolution)

Microevolution

Evolutionary change that occurs over a short period of time in population.

Macroevolution

Change in inherited traits of organisms that occurs over a long period of time above the level of the species.

Allele Frequencies

How often an allele occurs in a gene pool relative to the other alleles for that gene.

Populations

All the organisms of the same species that live in the same area.

Gene Flow

Change in allele frequencies that occurs when individuals move into or out of a population.

Migration

Regular movement of individuals or populations each year during certain seasons, usually to find food, mates, or other resources.

Genetic Drift

Change in allele frequencies in a gene pool that occurs by chance in a small population.

Natural Selection

Evolutionary process in which organisms best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their traits to future generations.

Fitness

Relative ability for an organism to survive and produce offspring.

Adaptations

Characteristic than an organism inherits that helps it survive and reproduce in a given enviornment

Niche

Role that a particular species plays in its ecosystem, including all the ways that the species interacts with the biotic and abiotic factors in the ecosystem.

Birds

bipedal, endothermic vertebrate that lays amniotic eggs and has wings and feathers.

Charles Darwin

19th century scientist who is best known for his theory of evolution by natural selection.

Galapagos Island

group of 16 small volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America, where Darwin made some of his most important observations during his voyage on the HMS Beagle.

Evidence

any type of data that may be used to test a hypothesis.

Theory

broad explanation that is widely accepted because it is supported by a great deal of evidence.

Fossil Record

the record of life as told by the study and analysis of fossils; provides evidence for an organism's existence, evolution, and extinction.

Vestigial Structures

inherited structure that is no longer used but is still present in a modern organism who inherited it from an ancestor that used the structure.

Biogeography

study of how and why plants and animals live where they do.

Ancestors

an earlier organism from which others have evolved or descended.

Biology

Study of life.

Observation

anything detected with the senses, which include sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.

Viruses

tiny particle that contains DNA or RNA surrounded by a coat of proteins that can evolve and use living cells to reproduce, but is not considered a living organism by many scientists.

Mutation

a change in the sequence of bases in DNA.

Severe Acute Respiratory System

a respiratory disease which is caused by the SARS coronavirus.

Influenza

a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses; the flu.

Lichen

an organism that results from a mutualistic relationship between a fungus and a cyanobacterium or green alga.

Air pollution

chemical substances and particles released into the atmosphere, mainly by human actions, such as burning fossil fuels.

Seed

structure produced by a seed plant that contains an embryo and food supply enclosed within a tough coat.

Weather

temporary conditions of the atmosphere at a given time and place.

Food

organic molecules, such as glucose, that organisms use for chemical energy.

Perching Bird

the common name for the order of flying bird with four toes used for grasping a perch; many species are songbirds.

Flight

a means of locomotion; used to find food and mates and to avoid predators; characteristic of most birds.

Artifical Selection

process in which organisms evolve traits useful to humans because people select which individuals are allowed to reproduce and pass on their genes to successive generations.

Genetics

science of heredity, or how traits are passed from parents to offspring.

Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

theory first proposed by Charles Darwin stating that inherited traits of organisms change over time because organisms with beneficial traits survive longer and produce more offspring so their traits

Bacterium

single-celled prokaryotic organism that is a member of the Bacteria domain.

Cell(s)

basic unit of structure and function of living things.

Cell Theory

theory that states all living things are made up of cells, all life functions occur within cells, and all cells come from pre-existing cells.

Homeostasis

process of maintaining a stable internal environment in a cell or an entire organism.

Biochemistry

a branch of chemistry that is the study of chemical processes that occur in living things.

Physiology

the study of the physical and chemical functions of tissues and organs.

Zoology

the study of the physical and chemical functions of tissues and organs.

Ecology

branch of biology that is the study of how living things interact with each other and with their environment.

Animal

multicellular, heterotrophic eukaryote with specialized cells that lack cell walls; member of the animal kingdom.

Reproduction

process by which organisms give rise to offspring.

Sexual Reproduction

production of offspring by two parents through the production and fertilization of gametes; produces genetically variable offspring.

Gametes

reproductive cell produced during meiosis that has the haploid number

Asexual Reproduction

reproduction that involves a single parent and results in offspring that are all genetically identical to the parent.

Genetic Variation

the differences (variation) among alleles in a population's gene pool.

Flower

structure in angiosperms consisting of male and female reproductive structures that attracts animal

Petals

outer parts of flowers that are usually brightly colored to attract animal pollinators.

Biochemical Reaction

chemical reaction that occurs inside the cells of living things.

Energy

The ability to work.

Chemical Reactions

process that occurs when one or more substances, called reactants, is changed into one or more new substances, called products.

Metabolism

sum of all the biochemical reactions in an organism.

Movement

the ability to move; in animals, requires muscles and nerves working together.

Fern(s)

vascular seedless plant with large divided leaves called fronds; more plant-like than the clubmosses; have stems, leaves, and roots.

Fish

aquatic, ectothermic vertebrate that is covered with scales and has gills to absorb oxygen from water.

Organelles

structure within the cytoplasm of a cell that is enclosed within a membrane and performs a specific job.

Multi-cellular Organism

an organism made up of more than one type of cell; has specialized cells that are grouped to carry out specific functions.

Tissues

group of specialized cells of the same kind that perform the same function.

Organs

structure composed of two or more types of tissues that work together to perform a particular function.

Organ System

group of organs that work together to perform a particular function.

Ecosystem

all the living things in a given area together with the physical and chemical factors of the nonliving environment.

Variation

having many differences.

Stable

term for rocks that are not likely to change significantly any more.

Mechanism

process by which something takes place.

Competition

is a relationship between two species, or individuals of the same species, that strive for the same resources in the same place.

Geology

the study of the rocks, processes, and history of Earth.

Fossil

preserved remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past; can be things like bones or footprints.

Fact

information that is true.

Water

simple chemical compound containing two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O).

Nutrients

nonliving matter that organisms need to live and grow.

Habitat

physical environment in which a species lives and to which it has become adapted.

Lyell

an English geologist named Charles Lyell; inferred that Earth must be far older than the 6,000 years that most people in the 1800s believed.

Science

way of gaining knowledge about the natural world that depends on evidence, reasoning, and repeated testing.

Lamarck

a French naturalist named Jean Baptiste Lamarck; one of the first scientists to propose that species change over time.

Inheritance of aquired characteristics

mistaken idea of Jean Baptiste Lamarck that evolution occurs through the inheritance of traits that an organism develops in its own lifetime.

Malthus

Thomas Malthus; English economist who argued that human populations grow faster than the resources they depend on and that this would continue until resources were exhausted.

Population Growth

the change in the size of the population over time.

Wallace 

Alfred Russel Wallace; an English naturalist that developed a theory of evolution similar to Darwin's.

Society

close-knit group of animals of the same species that live and work together.

Sessile

of or relating to an animal that is unable to move from place to place.

Arthropod

invertebrate in the phylum Arthropoda, characterized by a segmented body, exoskeleton, and jointed appendages; which includes insects, spiders, centipedes, and lobsters.

Substrates

the molecule or molecules on which an enzyme acts.