Scientific Method and Characteristics of Living Things

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering the scientific method steps, characteristics of living organisms, nutrition types, and reproductive forms based on the lecture notes.

Observation

The starting point of the scientific method involving the use of the senses to describe what has been seen or felt about an object.

Hypothesis

A tentative answer or statement formulated by a scientist that is tested by an experiment.

Theory

A scientific concept formed when a hypothesis has been tested and found to be repeatedly correct within the limits of available evidence.

Law

A scientific concept that results when a theory has been extensively tested and proven to be true.

Aim

The section of an experimental report that states the purpose of the experiment.

Apparatus

The materials that will be used in an experiment.

Method

The detailed description of the procedures or step-by-step set-up required for an experiment.

Control Experiment

An experimental setup in which the scientist ensures the organism or object observed is not deprived of the particular factor being investigated.

Movement or Locomotion

The ability of an organism to move its whole body or a part of its body from one place to another.

Nutrition or Feeding

The process involved in obtaining or manufacturing food and utilizing it for growth, maintenance, and carrying out life processes.

Autotrophic Nutrition

Also called holophytic nutrition, it is the mode of nutrition in which green plants manufacture their own food through photosynthesis using solar energy.

Heterotrophic Nutrition

Also called holozoic nutrition, it is the mode of nutrition in which organisms cannot manufacture their own food and depend on already-made food.

Excretion

The removal or getting rid of toxic waste products of cell metabolism, such as water and carbon dioxide, from the body.

Irritability or Sensitivity

The response or reaction of living organisms towards changes or stimuli in their environment, such as heat, light, pain, water, sound, and chemical substances.

Respiration

The breakdown or burning of food substances by aerobic (using oxygen) or anaerobic (without oxygen) respiration to release energy needed for all processes of life.

Growth

An irreversible or permanent increase in size, dry mass, or weight of an organism due to the addition of living protoplasmic materials.

Reproduction

The ability of living organisms to give birth to young ones, offspring, or individuals of their own kind to ensure the continuity of life.

Asexual Reproduction

A form of reproduction involving only one organism to produce another offspring.

Sexual Reproduction

A form of reproduction involving two organisms coming together for the purpose of reproduction.

Adaptation

The ability of living organisms to adjust to changes in their various environments in order to survive comfortably.

Life Span Stages

The five sequential stages of life through which all living things pass: Birth $\rightarrow$ Growth $\rightarrow$ Maturity $\rightarrow$ Decline (old age) $\rightarrow$ Death.

Competition

The ability of living things to struggle for necessities of life such as food, light, space, water, and mates in order to survive in their environment.

Cell

The basic structure of which all living things are composed.