Chapt 1 Bio 101 Exam 1 NVCC

Orgin of Species

Charles Darwin's book

What is Life?

the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.

Cell

The basic unit of structure and function in living things

Organism

consist of one or more cells
-every cell has outer membrane that separated from its surroundings

atoms

Building blocks of matter

Molecule

A group of atoms bonded together

Organelle

specialized structure that performs important cellular functions within a eukaryotic cell

Tissues

Groups of cells with a common structure and function.

organs

Tissues are organized into:, group of tissues that work together to perform closely related functions.

organ system

group of organs that work together to perform a specific function

Population

a group of organisms of the same species populating a given area

Community

assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area

Ecosystem

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Biosphere

part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere

emergent properties

New properties that emerge with each step upward in the hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases.

Producers

Organisms that make their own food

Autotroph

An organism that makes its own food

Nutrients

Substances in food that your body needs to grow, to repair itself, and to supply you with energy

Energy

the ability to do work or cause change, such as moving an object some distance

Consumers (heterotrophs)

obtain energy by consuming other organisms

Heterotroph

An organism that cannot make its own food.

Nectary

Produces a sugary solution called nectar, which attracts insects for pollination

proboscis

the long snout of an animal; a nose, especially a prominent one; a tubular organ

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms

Parasites

An organism that lives in or on another organism, deriving nourishment at the expense of its host, usually without killing it

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

asexual reproduction

Process by which a single parent reproduces by itself

sexual reproduction

A reproductive process that involves two parents that combine their genetic material to produce a new organism, which differs from both parents

Adaptation

A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce

natural selection

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.

Evolution

Change over time

phylogenetic tree

A family tree that shows the evolutionary relationships thought to exist among groups of organisms

Charles Darwin

English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882)

Alfred Russel Wallace

British naturalist who developed a hypothesis of natural selection similar to Darwin's

Taxonomy

The scientific study of how living things are classified

Taxon

group or level of organization into which organisms are classified

the most restrictive taxon

ability to breed among themselves

species

A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

Genus

A classification grouping that consists of a number of similar, closely related species

Kingdom

First and largest category used to classify organisms

Prokaryote

A unicellular organism that lacks a nucleus and membrane bound organelles

Eukaryote

A cell that contains a nucleus and membrane bound organelles

Archea

Domain of unicellular prokaryotes that have cell walls that do not contain peptidoglycan

Bacteria

(microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission

Eukarya

Domain of all organisms whose cells have nuclei, including protists, plants, fungi, and animals

Fungi

A kingdom made up of nongreen, eukaryotic organisms that have no means of movement, reproduce by using spores, and get food by breaking down substances in their surroundings and absorbing the nutrients

Protista

Kingdom composed of eukaryotes that are not classified as plants, animals, or fungi

Plantae

Kingdom of multicellular photosynthetic autotrophs that have cell walls containing cellulose

Animalia

kingdom of multicellular eukaryotic heterotrophs whose cells do not have cell walls

Scientific Method

step-by-step procedures of scientific problem scientific problem solving

Observations/Data

qualitative and quantitative information written in graph or paragraph form

Questions

a sentence worded or expressed so as to elicit information.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Variable

A factor that can change in an experiment

independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

standardized variable

any factor held constant for all subjects in an experiment

Placebo

something which has a positive mental effect, but no physical effect

control group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

treatment group

the participants in an experiment who are exposed to the level of the independent variable that involves a medication, therapy, or intervention

sample size

the number of times a measurement is replicated in data collection

Theory

A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data