Biology Benchmarks: Molecular Biology, Evolution, and Ecology

Vocabulary flashcards covering key biology benchmarks including cell theory, Mendel's laws, natural selection, evolution, and population ecology.

Cell theory

A scientific theory that describes cells and relates the history of its discovery to the process of science.

Domains and kingdoms

The highest levels of classification for living organisms, distinguished by specific biological characteristics.

Problem definition (scientific process)

The process of posing questions about the natural world, conducting systematic observations, examining known information, reviewing empirical evidence, planning investigations, and using tools to gather and interpret data.

Law of segregation

One of Mendel's laws used to analyze patterns of inheritance.

Law of independent assortment

One of Mendel's laws used to analyze patterns of inheritance.

Natural selection conditions

Environmental requirements including overproduction of offspring, inherited variation, and the struggle to survive, which result in differential reproductive success.

Evidence for the scientific theory of evolution

Scientific support provided by the fossil record, comparative anatomy, comparative embryology, biogeography, molecular biology, and observed evolutionary change.

Origin of life on Earth

The scientific explanations regarding the biological and chemical beginnings of life.

Population size determinants

Factors including births, deaths, immigration, emigration, and limiting factors that determine the carrying capacity of an environment.

Limiting factors

Biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem that determine the carrying capacity and population size.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size of a species that an environment can sustain, determined by births, deaths, immigration, emigration, and limiting factors.