Biology Vocabulary – Easy Definitions

Flashcards covering key biology vocabulary including ecological roles, cellular energy processes, and laws of thermodynamics.

Cellular Respiration

The process cells use to break down glucose (sugar) to release energy (ATP).

Producers

Living things, like plants, that make their own food.

Chlorophyll

The green pigment in plants that absorbs sunlight for photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis

The process plants use to turn sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen.

Homeostasis

Keeping conditions inside an organism stable, like body temperature.

Biotic Factors

The living parts of an ecosystem, like plants, animals, and bacteria.

Abiotic Factors

The nonliving parts of an ecosystem, like water, sunlight, air, and rocks.

Primary Consumers

Animals that eat producers (plants), like rabbits and grasshoppers.

Secondary Consumers

Animals that eat primary consumers, like frogs that eat grasshoppers.

Tertiary Consumers

Animals that eat secondary consumers, like snakes that eat frogs.

Energy

The ability to do work or cause change. Living things need energy to survive.

Nutrients

Substances organisms need to grow, stay healthy, and survive.

Decomposers

Organisms, like fungi and bacteria, that break down dead organisms and waste, returning nutrients to the environment.

Autotrophs

Organisms that make their own food, like plants and algae.

Ecosystems

All the living and nonliving things interacting in an area.

Trophic Level

An organism's position in a food chain or food web.

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or changed into another form.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Every time energy is transferred or transformed, some becomes less useful, often spreading out as heat.