GENSCI 1: Earth and Life Sciences Reviewer

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Modules 1 and 2 of General Science 1, encompassing cosmological models, planetary geology, disaster risk reduction, biochemistry, plant biology, physiology, and immunology.

Rigveda

One of the oldest sacred books of Hinduism that includes the concept of an oscillating universe originating from Bindu and Brahmanda.

Brahmanda

The cosmic egg in Hindu tradition that contains the entire universe.

Primordial Universe

The cosmological theory proposed by Anaxagoras stating that the universe began as a mixture of infinitesimally small fragments set in motion by nous (mind).

Atomic Universe

The philosophical model proposed by Leucippus and Democritus stating that the universe is composed of extremely small, indivisible, and indestructible atoms.

Geocentric Model

An Earth-centered cosmological model proposed by Aristotle and Ptolemy where Earth remains motionless at the center while heavenly bodies revolve around it.

Heliocentric Model

A Sun-centered astronomical model proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus stating that the Sun is at the center of the planetary system and Earth revolves around it.

Big Bang Theory

The currently accepted scientific model stating that the universe originated approximately $13.8\text{--}14\text{ billion years}$ ago from an extremely tiny, dense state and has been expanding continuously.

Steady State Theory

A cosmological theory associated with Fred Hoyle, Thomas Gold, and Hermann Bondi proposing that the universe expands while maintaining a constant density through continuous matter creation.

Multiverse Theory

A theoretical cosmological framework popularized by Andrei Linde and others suggesting that our observable universe is only one of many bubble universes.

Encounter Hypothesis

A solar system formation hypothesis proposing that a passing rogue star stripped material from the Sun, which condensed into lumps and formed the planets.

Nebular Hypothesis

A model proposing that the Solar System formed from the gravitational contraction and rotation of a vast gas cloud, producing a central protosun and a planetary disk.

Protosun

The early concentration of contracting mass at the center of the rotating nebular disk that later developed into the Sun.

Habitable Zone (Goldilocks Zone)

The orbital region around a star where temperatures permit liquid water to exist stably on a planet's surface.

Radiogenic Heat

Internal heat released within Earth's mantle and core through the radioactive decay of unstable isotopes.

Geosphere

The solid subsystem of Earth comprising rocks, minerals, soils, landforms, and the layered interior.

Hydrosphere

The subsystem encompassing all of Earth's water, including oceans, rivers, lakes, groundwater, ice, and atmospheric water vapor.

Biosphere

The subsystem of Earth consisting of all living organisms and the physical environments in which they exist.

Convergent Boundary

A tectonic plate boundary where plates collide or move toward one another, causing subduction, trenches, volcanic arcs, and mountain formation.

Divergent Boundary

A tectonic plate boundary where plates pull apart, allowing rising magma to generate new oceanic crust, ridges, and rifts.

Transform Boundary

A plate boundary where tectonic plates slide horizontally past one another without creating or destroying lithosphere, generating faults and earthquakes.

Subduction Zone

A convergent boundary region where denser oceanic crust is forced beneath less dense continental or oceanic crust into the mantle.

Philippine Fault

A major strike-slip or transform fault traversing the Philippine archipelago from north to south that accommodates lateral tectonic stresses from subduction.

Hazard

A potentially damaging natural or human-induced physical process or environmental condition capable of causing harm, loss of life, or property damage.

Disaster

A serious disruption of community functioning caused by a hazard event that causes widespread losses exceeding the local capacity to cope.

Vulnerability

The physical, social, economic, or environmental characteristics and circumstances that make a community susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.

Capacity

The strengths, resources, skills, and attributes available within a community to reduce disaster risks and withstand hazardous impacts.

Disaster Risk

The potential disaster losses in lives, health, livelihoods, assets, and services calculated as $\text{Risk} = \frac{\text{Hazard} \times \text{Vulnerability}}{\text{Capacity}}$.

Spontaneous Generation

The historical hypothesis that living organisms can arise spontaneously from nonliving matter or environmental materials containing vital heat (pneuma).

Pneuma

The vital heat or breath that Aristotle believed was present in nonliving matter (such as soil and water) to generate life spontaneously.

Homeostasis

The physiological process by which organisms maintain a stable internal state despite fluctuations in the external environment.

Emergent Properties

Novel functions and characteristics that arise as biological components interact, which individual constituents cannot perform on their own.

Taxonomy

The biological science dedicated to classifying, naming, and grouping organisms based on shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships.

Bulk Elements

Chemical elements required by organisms in large amounts to sustain life, predominantly carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Trace Elements

Elements required by living organisms only in minute quantities, such as iron ($\text{Fe}$) and zinc ($\text{Zn}$).

Isotopes

Atoms of the same chemical element that possess identical proton counts but differ in their number of neutrons.

Dehydration Synthesis

A chemical reaction that covalently links monomers into polymers by removing a molecule of water.

Hydrolysis

A chemical reaction that cleaves covalent bonds in polymers to break them into monomers through the addition of water.

Cellulose

A structural polysaccharide made of glucose monomers that forms the rigid cell walls of plants and is indigestible to humans.

Chitin

A structural polysaccharide found in fungal cell walls and the exoskeletons of arthropods like insects, spiders, and crustaceans.

Denaturation

The disruption of a protein's three-dimensional conformation caused by extreme heat, pH changes, or high salt concentrations, leading to loss of function.

Nucleotide

The monomer of nucleic acids composed of a five-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base.

Triglyceride

A lipid molecule consisting of one glycerol backbone covalently bonded to three fatty acid tails.

Trans Fats

Unsaturated fats produced through industrial partial hydrogenation whose fatty acid chains have straight rather than kinked tails.

Adipose Tissue

A connective tissue composed of fat-storing cells that stores energy, provides physical cushioning for organs, and insulates the body against heat loss.

Taproot System

A root system characterized by a large, dominant vertical primary root that provides deep anchorage and branches into smaller lateral roots.

Fibrous Root System

A root architecture common in monocots consisting of a dense network of thin roots arising from the stem rather than a persistent primary root.

Pneumatophores

Specialized aerial roots in mangroves that extend above waterlogged, oxygen-deprived mud to facilitate gas exchange during low tide.

Rhizome

A modified horizontal shoot that grows below ground to store food reserves and produce new shoots.

Stolon

A horizontal stem (or runner) growing along the soil surface that enables vegetative asexual reproduction through plantlet formation.

Osteon

The structural microscopic repeating unit of compact bone consisting of concentric mineralized matrix surrounding a central neurovascular canal.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)

A dense connective tissue band within the knee joint connecting the femur to the tibia, providing stability during rotational and lateral movements.

Alveoli

Microscopic clustered air sacs situated at the termini of bronchioles where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged across thin epithelial surfaces.

Hypothalamus

The central physiological thermostat located in the mammalian brain that monitors blood temperature and directs effector mechanisms to regulate body heat.

Circadian Rhythms

Endogenous physiological and metabolic oscillations that follow a predictable cycle of approximately $24\text{ hours}$, entrained by daylight and darkness.

Pathogen

An infectious biological agent capable of causing disease within a host organism, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

Phagocytes

Innate immune effector cells, such as neutrophils and macrophages, that engulf, digest, and neutralize foreign pathogens and cellular debris.

Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs)

Transmembrane recognition receptors found on innate immune cells that detect characteristic, conserved molecular components of pathogens.

Antigen

A foreign substance or molecular marker that is recognized by immune cell receptors and triggers an adaptive immune defense response.

Plasma Cells

Effector cells derived from activated B lymphocytes that specialize in secreting大量 specific antibodies into bodily fluids.

Memory Cells

Long-lived lymphocytes generated during an initial immune challenge that confer enhanced, rapid adaptive immunity upon secondary pathogen exposure.