Mr. Noto’s Living Environment Study Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Scientific Method, Life Functions, Cell Biology, Transport, Biochemistry, Body Systems, Genetics, and Ecology based on the Living Environment lecture notes.

Scientific Method

A problem-solving procedure used in science consisting of identifying a problem, researching, forming a hypothesis, testing, gathering data, and forming conclusions.

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation or prediction written in an "If/then/because" sentence structure.

Independent Variable

The variable that a scientist manually changes in an experiment; it is graphed on the X-axis.

Dependent Variable

The variable that is being measured as it reacts to changes; it is graphed on the Y-axis.

Constants

The variables that do not change in an experiment to ensure localized results.

Control

The standard to which experimental results are compared.

Transport

The life function that includes the absorption and circulation of materials throughout an organism.

Respiration

The process by which energy is released from food.

Regulation

The life activity responsible for the control and coordination of all the various activities of an organism.

Excretion

The removal of harmful cellular wastes, often through the anus.

Synthesis

Chemical reactions in which large molecules are produced from smaller molecules, such as when photosynthesis synthesizes glucose.

Nutrition

The process of obtaining materials (food) from the environment and processing them for use; types include autotrophic and heterotrophic.

Metabolism

The sum total of all life activities taking place in an organism.

Homeostasis

The maintenance of a stable internal environment in spite of changes in the external environment.

Prokaryote

Smaller, simpler unicellular organisms, such as bacteria like E. coli, which lack a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.

Eukaryote

Bigger, more complicated cells that have membrane-bound organelles and chromosomes organized with histones.

Organelles

Structures within a cell that do all the work and keep the cell alive, such as mitochondria and ribosomes.

Mitochondria

The organelle where energy is made; it turns sugar and oxygen into $ATP$ energy through cellular respiration.

Cell Membrane

A semi-permeable double layer of fat and protein that controls what enters and exits the cell to maintain homeostasis.

Vacuole

A cell organelle used for storage.

Lysosome

The organelle responsible for digesting food and breaking down organelles for recycling.

Passive Transport

The movement of materials through the cell membrane from higher to lower concentration without requiring energy ($ATP$).

Osmosis

The movement of water from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.

Active Transport

The movement of molecules against the concentration gradient, from low to high concentration, requiring energy ($ATP$).

Enzymes

Helper protein molecules made of amino acids that act as biological catalysts to speed up chemical reactions.

Catalyst

A substance, such as an enzyme, that speeds up chemical reactions and processes without being used up.

Substrate

The specific molecule that an enzyme works on based on its shape.

Autotrophic Nutrition

When an organism synthesizes organic food substances like glucose ($C_6H_{12}O_6$) from inorganic substances using photosynthesis.

Stomates

Openings in the leaf that allow $CO_2$ in for sugar production, and the removal of waste $O_2$ and $H_2O$.

Alveoli

Small thin-walled air sacs in the lungs where gas exchange occurs via diffusion with capillaries.

Antigen

Foreign proteins found on the surface of bacteria or viruses that the immune system recognizes as invaders.

Zygote

A fertilized egg formed when a sperm cell (23 chromosomes) fertilizes an egg cell (23 chromosomes).

Differentiation

The process where embryonic cells use different parts of their DNA to become specialized in structure and function.

Placenta

The tissue that connects the sac around the unborn baby to the mother's uterus, allowing nutrients and oxygen to diffuse into the fetus.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid)

A double-helix molecule made of nucleotides (phosphate, sugar, and nitrogen bases) that serves as the molecular basis of heredity.

Mutation

A change in the genetic code, such as insertion, deletion, or substitution of bases.

Biodiversity

The sum total of all different species in an area, which contributes to the stability of an ecosystem.

Natural Selection

The process by which nature selects organisms with the best adaptations to survive and reproduce in their environment.