SCIENCE BOOK VOCAB

Nucleus

organelle that controls all the activities of a cell and contains hereditary material made of proteins and DNA.

Organism

any living thing; uses energy, is made of calls, reproduces, responds, grows, and develops

Heredity

the passing of traits from parents to offspring

Mitosis

cell process in which the nucleus divides to form two nuclei identical to each other and identical to the original nucleus in a series of steps (prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase

Chromosome

structure in a cell’s nucleus that contains hereditary material

Asexual reproduction

a type of reproduction

Sexual reproduction

a type of reproduction in which two sex cells, usually an egg and a sperm, join to form a zygote, which will develop into a new organism with an unique identity

Sperm

hapliod sex cell formed in the male reproductive organs

Egg

hapliod sex cell formed in the female reproductive organs

Fertilization

in sexual reproduction, the joining of a sperm and an egg

Zygote

new diploid cell formed when a sperm fertilizes an egg; will divide by mitosis and develop into a new organism

Dipliod

cell whose similar chromosomes occur in pairs

Hapliod

cell that has half the number of chromosomes as body cells

Meiosis

reproductive process that produces four haploid sex cells from one dipliod cell and ensures offspring

DNA

deoxyribonucleic acid; the genetic material of all organisms; made up of two twisted strand of sugerphosphate molecules and nitrogen bases

RNA

ribonuleic acid; a type of nuleic acid carries codes for making protiens from the nucleus to the ribosomes

Gene

section of DNA on a chromosome that contains instructions for making specific proteins

Mutation

any permanent change in a gene or chromosome of a cell; may be beneficial, harmful, or have little effect on an organism