key terms
Glossary of Key Terms
Adaptation: An inherited characteristic that enhances an organism's survival and reproduction in a specific environment.
Biosphere: The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life, including all living organisms and the physical environments they occupy.
Cell: The fundamental unit of life, capable of carrying out all life processes.
Chromosome: A structure composed of DNA and proteins that carries genetic information. Community: An assemblage of different populations of organisms living in the same area and interacting with one another.
Controlled Experiment: An experiment in which an experimental group, exposed to a particular treatment, is compared with a control group that is not exposed to the treatment, allowing researchers to isolate the effects of the treatment being tested.
Deductive Reasoning: The process of using general principles to make specific predictions. Dependent Variable: The factor that is measured in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): The molecule that carries genetic information in all living organisms.
Ecosystem: A community of organisms interacting with their physical environment, including both biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) components.
Emergent Property: A novel characteristic that arises at each level of biological organization, resulting from the arrangement and interaction of parts.
Eukaryotic Cell: A complex cell with a membrane-bound nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
Evolution: The process of change in the genetic makeup of populations over time, leading to the diversity of life on Earth.
Gene: A unit of inheritance that encodes information for building a protein.
Gene Expression: The process by which information encoded in DNA is used to synthesize proteins.
Genome: The complete set of genetic material in an organism.
Genomics: The study of whole genomes, including the interactions of genes.
Homeostasis: The maintenance of a stable internal environment in an organism. Hypothesis: A testable explanation for an observation.
Independent Variable: The factor that is manipulated by the experimenter in a controlled experiment.
Inductive Reasoning: The process of drawing general conclusions from specific observations.
Natural Selection: The mechanism of evolution proposed by Darwin, in which individuals with traits better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing those traits on to their offspring.
Organelle: A specialized structure within a cell that carries out a specific function.
Organism: An individual living thing.
Population: A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area and potentially interbreeding.
Prokaryotic Cell: A simple cell lacking a membrane-bound nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
Proteomics: The study of the complete set of proteins encoded by a genome.
Scientific Method: A systematic approach to scientific inquiry that involves making observations, formulating hypotheses, conducting experiments, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.
Species: A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
Taxonomy: The science of classifying organisms.
Theory: A well-substantiated explanation of a natural phenomenon, supported by a large body of evidence and widely accepted within the scientific community.