Biology flash cards

Biology

The study of living organisms

Organism

an induvidual aniaml, plant, or single celled life form

Organization

The hierarchy of complex biological systems and structures

Growth

An increase in mass and size of a body or organs

Development

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The progressive changes in size, shape, and function during the life of an organism by which its genetic potentials (genotype) are translated into functioning mature systems (phenotype).

Reproduction

The process of producing offspring that are biologically or genetically similar to the parent organism.

Species

A group of organisms that can reproduce with one another in nature and produce fertile offspring.

Stimulus

Anything that can trigger a physical or behavioral change.

Response

How the organism reacts to a stimulus and results in a change in behavior

Homeostasis

A state of balance among all the body systems needed for the body to survive and function correctly.

Adaptation

The biological mechanism by which organisms adjust to new environments or to changes in their current environment.

Science

The methodological study of a phenomenon through careful observation, collecting data, experimental investigation, or theoretical explanation.

Hypothesis

A tentative proposal made to explain certain observations or facts that requires further investigation to be verified.

Theory

A carefully thought-out explanation for observations of the natural world that has been constructed using the scientific method, and which brings together many facts and hypotheses.

Law

A descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstances.

Inferences

A conclusion or opinion that is formed because of known facts or evidence.

Peer review

An article is reviewed by experts in that field before the article gets published.

Ethics

The study of ethical, social, and legal issues that arise in biomedicine and biomedical research.

Ecology

The study of organisms and how they interact with the environment around them.

Biosphere

The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists.

Biotic Factors

A living organism that shapes its environment.

Abiotic Factors

A non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment.

Limiting Factor

Anything that constrains a population's size and slows or stops it from growing.

Tolerence

Ability of an organism to endure unfavourable environmental conditions.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a given area.

Biological Community

An interacting group of various species in a common location.

Ecosystem

A geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.

Biome

an area classified according to the species that live in that location.

Habitat

A place where an organism makes its home.

Niche

The role an organism plays in a community.

Predation

An interaction in which one organism, the predator, eats all or part of the body of another organism, the prey.

Symbiosis

An association or relationship between two distinct organisms, which share similar habitats.

Mutualism

A type of symbiotic relationship where all species involved benefit from their interactions.

Commensalism

A relationship between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter.

Parasitism

A nonmutual relationship between two organisms in which one benefits at the expense of the other.

Autotroph

An organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals.

Heterotroph

An organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients.

Herbivore

An organism that mostly feeds on plants.

Carnivore

An organism that mostly eats meat, or the flesh of animals.

Omnivore

An animal with wide food preferences, which can eat both plant and animal matter.

Detrivore

An organism (such as an earthworm or a fungus) that feeds on dead and decomposing organic matter.

Trophic Level

The position of an organism in the food chain.

Food Chain

A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

Food Web

All of the food chains in an ecosystem.

Biomass

The mass of living organisms, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, or, from a biochemical perspective, cellulose, lignin, sugars, fats, and proteins.

Matter

Anything that occupies space and has mass.

Nutrient

A chemical compound (such as protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamin, or mineral) contained in foods.

Biogeochemical Cycle

The ways in which an element—or compound such as water—moves between its various living and nonliving forms and locations in the biosphere.

Nitrogen Fixation

The conversion of atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) under the combined action of biological and chemical activities.

Denitrification

The microbial process of reducing nitrate and nitrite to gaseous forms of nitrogen, principally nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitrogen (N2).

Community

A group of species living together and interacting through ecological processes such as competition and predation.

Ecological Succesion

The process by which the mix of species and habitat in an area changes over time.

Primary Succession

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In primary succession, newly exposed or newly formed rock is colonized by living things for the first time.

Climax Community

An ecological community in which populations of plants or animals remain stable and exist in balance with each other and their environment.

Secondary Sucession

In secondary succession, an area that was previously occupied by living things is disturbed, then re-colonized following the disturbance.

Population Density

The number of individuals divided by the size of the area.

Dispersion

How many organisms there are per unit area.

Density dependent Factor

Any force that affects the size of a population of living things in response to the density of the population.

Density Independent Factor

Any force that affects the size of a population of living things regardless of the density of the population.

Population Growth Rate(GPR)

How fast a population changes in size over time.

Emigration

An animal leaves its home because the habitat is no longer ideal for them and they need to find a more suitable environment.

Immigration

An animal establishes a home in a habitat because it has resources it can utilize or because the habitat is ideal for them.

Carrying Capacity

A species' average population size in a particular habitat.

Atoms

A particle of matter that uniquely defines a chemical element.

Protons

A small, positively charged particle of matter found in the atoms of all elements.

Neutrons

A subatomic particle found in the nucleus of every atom except that of simple hydrogen.

Electrons

A small particle with a negative charge that is found in all atoms.

Nucleus

The structure in a cell that contains the chromosomes

Element

A substance that cannot be further broken down by any chemical reaction.

Isotopes

A form of a chemical element in which the atoms have the same number of protons (part of the nucleus of an atom) but with a different number of neutrons (part of the nucleus of an atom).

Compounds

A substance made from two or more different elements that have been chemically joined.

Ion

Any atom or group of atoms that bears one or more positive or negative electrical charges.

Ionic Bonds

Type of linkage formed from the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions in a chemical compound.

Covalent Bonds

Involve the sharing of electron pairs between atoms.

Molecule

The smallest particle of a substance that has all of the physical and chemical properties of that substance.

Chemical Reaction

Occur when chemical bonds between atoms are formed or broken.

Reactants

A substance that enters into and is altered in the course of a chemical reaction.

Products

A diverse category of products and are generally large, complex molecules.

Activation Energy

The energy required to start a reaction.

Catalyst

A molecule which can facilitate a chemical reaction without being consumed or changed.

Enzymes

Proteins that help speed up metabolism, or the chemical reactions in our bodies.

Substrates

The surface on which an organism (eg: plant, fungus, or animal) lives or the substance on which an enzyme can act.

Active Site

A region especially of a biologically active protein (as an enzyme) where catalytic activity takes place and whose shape permits the binding only of a specific reactant molecule.

Polar Molecules

A molecule with a net dipole as a result of the opposing charges (i.e. having partial positive and partial negative charges) from polar bonds arranged asymmetrically.

van der Waals forces

A weak force of attraction between electrically neutral molecules that collide with or pass very close to each other.

Hydrogen bond

Interaction involving a hydrogen atom located between a pair of other atoms having a high affinity for electrons.

Adhesion

The attraction of molecules of one kind for molecules of a different kind.

Cohesion

The attraction of molecules for other molecules of the same kind.

Mixture

Two or more substances that are mixed together but not chemically combined and that may vary in proportion.

Solution

A homogenous mixture of one or more solutes dissolved in a solvent.

Solvent

A liquid in which substances (or solutes) are dissolved forming a solution.

Solute

The substance that dissolves in a solvent to produce a homogeneous mixture.

Macromolecules

A large, organic molecule such as carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Polymers

Any of a class of natural or synthetic substances composed of very large molecules, called macromolecules, that are multiples of simpler chemical units called monomers.

Carbohydrates

broken down quickly by the body to be used as energy

Lipids

Fatty, waxy, or oily compounds that are soluble in organic solvents and insoluble in polar solvents such as water.

Protein

helps repair and build your body's tissues, allows metabolic reactions to take place and coordinates bodily functions.

Amino acids

The building blocks of proteins.

Nucleic acids

Large biomolecules that play essential roles in all cells and viruses

Nucleotides

The basic building block of nucleic acids (RNA and DNA).