Grade 11 Biology Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from Grade 11 Biology covering foundational definitions in technology, animal biology, enzyme kinetics, genetics, human body systems, and ecology.

Nature

The physical, natural, and material world of life that exists without human intervention.

Biology

The study of life, including the structures, functions, growth, origins, evolution, and distribution of living organisms.

Technology

The application of scientific knowledge, skills, methods, and processes for the production of devices and tools for scientific investigations.

Biotechnology

The integration of natural and engineering sciences to achieve the application of biological systems, organisms, cells, parts, and molecular analogues for useful products and services.

Bioinformatics

A scientific discipline involving computer technology to collect, store, analyze, and disseminate biological data and information, such as DNA and amino acid sequences.

Principle of Reduction

An ethical principle aimed at minimizing the number of animals used in experiments by improving experimental techniques and sharing information.

Principle of Refinement

An ethical principle focused on adjusting experiments to reduce animal suffering through less invasive techniques, better medical care, and improved living conditions.

Principle of Replacement

An ethical principle of substituting experiments on whole animals with alternative techniques like cell cultures, biosynthesis, and computer-simulated models.

Invertebrates

Animals that do not possess a backbone or vertebral column, often having soft bodies or external exoskeletons made of chitin.

Vertebrates

An advanced group of animals possessing a well-defined internal skeleton system with cartilage and a backbone or vertebral column.

Metamorphosis

A series of major structural body changes that insects and certain other animals undergo during their development from egg to adult.

Complete Metamorphosis

A four-stage insect developmental process consisting of egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

Incomplete Metamorphosis

A three-stage insect developmental process consisting of egg, nymph, and adult.

Incubation

The process of keeping eggs warm with body heat while the embryos inside continue to develop after being laid.

Innate Behavior

An inborn behavior determined by genes that is independent of experience and specific to a species.

Learned Behavior

A behavior acquired during an individual's lifetime that is not inherited or genetically determined, allowing adaptation to environmental changes.

Habituation

A simple form of non-associative learning in which an animal stops responding to a stimulus after a period of repeated exposure without reward or punishment.

Homeostasis

The self-regulatory process by which animals maintain stable internal body conditions despite external environmental fluctuations.

Thermoregulation

The physiological and behavioral process of maintaining internal body temperature within an optimal range.

Poikilothermic Animals

Cold-blooded (ectothermic) animals whose internal body temperature varies directly with the temperature of their surrounding environment.

Homeothermic Animals

Warm-blooded (endothermic) animals that internally generate heat to maintain a constant internal body temperature regardless of environmental changes.

Vasoconstriction

The narrowing of surface blood vessels by smooth muscle contraction to reduce blood flow to the skin and retain body heat.

Vasodilation

The widening of surface blood vessels by smooth muscle relaxation to increase heat loss through the skin.

Osmoregulation

The process regulating osmotic pressure of internal fluids and electrolytic balance to maintain homeostatic balance in organisms.

Enzymes

Protein molecules that act as biological catalysts to accelerate chemical reaction rates by lowering activation energy without being consumed.

Activation Energy

The minimum amount of energy required for reactants to undergo a chemical transformation into products.

Enzyme Denaturation

The disruption of intra- and inter-molecular non-covalent bonds in an enzyme, distorting its active site and loss of catalytic function.

Allosteric Enzymes

Enzymes possessing a secondary regulatory site (allosteric site) separate from the active site, where effector molecules bind to alter catalytic activity.

Competitive Inhibitor

A molecule that structurally resembles the substrate and directly binds to the enzyme's active site, blocking substrate binding.

Malting

A process involving controlled steeping, germination, and drying (kilning) of grains to activate enzymes that hydrolyze starches into sugars.

Genetics

The branch of biology concerned with the study of genetic materials, genes, and the inheritance of traits from parents to offspring.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

A double-stranded helical polynucleotide molecule storing hereditary information necessary for growth, development, and reproduction.

Gene

A specific sequence of DNA located on a chromosome that acts as a fundamental unit of heredity and codes for specific traits.

Semiconservative Replication

The mechanism of DNA replication in which each original strand acts as a template, producing double helices composed of one parental and one new strand.

Central Dogma

The biological principle describing the directional flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA via transcription and from RNA to protein via translation.

Monohybrid Cross

A genetic cross between two individuals to analyze the inheritance pattern of a single character trait.

Dihybrid Cross

A genetic cross between two individuals to simultaneously analyze the inheritance patterns of two distinct characters.

Law of Segregation

Mendel's first law stating that allele pairs separate randomly during gamete formation so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene.

Law of Independent Assortment

Mendel's second law stating that alleles of different genes segregate independently of one another during gamete formation.

Test Cross

A genetic cross between an organism with an unknown dominant phenotype and an organism with a known homozygous recessive genotype to determine the unknown genotype.

Co-dominance

A genetic condition in which both alleles in a heterozygous individual are fully and equally expressed in the phenotype.

Incomplete Dominance

A genetic inheritance pattern where neither allele is completely dominant, resulting in a heterozygous phenotype that is an intermediate blend.

Pedigree Analysis

The study of ancestral diagrams (family trees) tracking the transmission of specific traits or genetic disorders across multiple generations.

Gene Therapy

A technique introducing, altering, or replacing functional genes within human cells to correct defective genes and treat genetic diseases.

Musculoskeletal System

The organ system comprising bones, muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and joints that provides structural support, protection, and body movement.

Skeletal Muscle

Voluntary, striated muscle tissue attached to bones responsible for body movement and mechanical power.

Smooth Muscle

Involuntary, non-striated muscle tissue found in the walls of internal hollow organs and blood vessels.

Spermatogenesis

The process of male gamete development occurring in the seminiferous tubules resulting in haploid spermatozoa.

Oogenesis

The process of female gamete formation in the ovaries resulting in mature haploid ova.

Contraception

The intentional practice of preventing pregnancy using barrier methods, hormonal drugs, devices, surgical procedures, or sexual practices.

Epidemiology

The branch of medicine studying the occurrence, distribution, causation, transmission, and control of health conditions or diseases in populations.

Population Ecology

The study of environmental processes and interactions that affect the distribution, density, structure, and abundance of species populations.

Population Size ($N$)

The total count of individuals belonging to the same species occupying a specific habitat at a given time.

Population Density

The measure of the number of individuals of a population per unit area or volume.

Carrying Capacity ($K$)

The maximum population size of a species that a specific environment's resources can sustainably support over time.

Exponential Growth Model

A population growth model reflecting ideal conditions with unlimited resources, resulting in a J-shaped curve represented by $\frac{dN}{dt} = r_{max}N$.

Logistic Growth Model

A population growth model incorporating environmental resistance and resource limits, resulting in an S-shaped curve represented by $\frac{dN}{dt} = r_{max}N\left(\frac{K-N}{K}\right)$.

Renewable Resources

Natural environmental resources that naturally replenish over time and can be sustained continuously with proper management.

Non-renewable Resources

Natural resources that exist in fixed finite amounts and cannot naturally replenish at the rate they are consumed.

Conservation

The protection, management, restoration, and prudent utilization of natural resources and biological environments for current and future generations.

Toxic Bioaccumulation

The progressive increase in concentration of persistent chemicals or toxic substances within the tissues of organisms across trophic levels in a food chain.