Properties of Life and Biological Organization

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of life properties, levels of organization, hierarchy, structure-function, evolution, and classification as presented in the notes.

Properties of life

A set of characteristics by which living things are distinguished: order, responsiveness, reproduction, evolutionary adaptation, growth and development, regulation/homeostasis, and energy processing.

Levels of biological organization

A hierarchical framework from molecules to the biosphere: molecule, cell, tissue, organ, organ system, organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere.

Nested hierarchy

Living things are organized into a series of increasingly larger levels, with each level containing the previous.

Structure

Size, shape, organization, and composition of a thing; the parts and their arrangement.

Function

The role or job a structure performs within an organism.

Structure–function relationship

The idea that an object’s structure determines how it functions, across all levels of biology.

The Scale of Nature

The range of biological organization from atoms to the observable universe, illustrating differences in size.

Biosphere

The global sum of all ecosystems; the highest level of ecological organization on Earth.

Ecosystem

A community of living organisms and their physical environment interacting as a system.

Organism

An individual living entity capable of carrying out life processes.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in a particular area.

Community

All the plant and animal species in a given area, interacting within an environment.

Organ

A body part composed of multiple tissues functioning together.

Tissue

A group of cells that perform a common function.

Cell

The basic unit of life; the smallest unit that can carry out life processes.

Organelles

Specialized structures within a cell (e.g., nucleus, mitochondrion) with specific functions.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid; the molecule that carries genetic information in organisms.

Mitochondrion

A cell organelle that produces most of the cell’s supply of ATP through respiration.

Evolution

The change in heritable traits of populations over generations, leading to diversity.

Dobzhansky quote

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution—a statement linking biology to evolutionary theory.

Classification (taxonomy)

Systematic grouping of organisms based on shared characteristics to reflect relatedness.

Morphology

The study of the form and structure of organisms or their parts.

Molecular data

Genetic and molecular evidence used to determine relatedness and evolutionary relationships.

Relatedness (phylogeny)

How organisms are evolutionarily related, inferred from morphology and molecular data.

Biology

The scientific study of living organisms and their interactions with each other and their environment.