7 Vocabulary Flashcards
Autotroph
An organism that makes its own food (often by photosynthesis), thereby sustaining itself without eating other organisms or their molecules.
Calvin cycle
The second of two stages of photosynthesis; a cyclic series of chemical reactions that occur in the stroma of a chloroplast, using the carbon in CO2 and the ATP and NADPH produced by the light reactions to make the energy-rich sugar molecule G3P.
Carbon Fixation
The incorporation of carbon from atmospheric CO2 into an organic compound. During photosynthesis in a C3 plant, carbon is fixed into a three carbon sugar as it enters the Calvin cycle. In C4 and CAM plants, carbon is first fixed into a four-carbon sugar.
Chlorophyll
A green pigment located within the chloroplasts of plants and algae in the membranes of certain prokaryotes.
Chlorophyll a
Chlorophyll a participates directly in the light reactions, which convert solar energy to chemical energy.
Chlorophyll b
Chlorophyll b is a form of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll b helps in photosynthesis by absorbing light energy. It is more soluble than chlorophyll a in polar solvents because of its carbonyl group. Its color is green, and it primarily absorbs blue light.
Chloroplast
An organelle found in plants and algae that absorbs sunlight and uses it to drive the synthesis of organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water.
Electromagnetic spectrum
The entire spectrum of electromagnetic radiation ranging in wavelength from less than a nanometer to more than a kilometer.
Heterotrophs
An organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or substances derived from them; a consumer or a decomposer in a food chain.
Light reaction
The first two stages in photosynthesis; the steps in which solar energy is absorbed and converted to the chemical energy of ATP and NADPH, releasing oxygen in the process.
Photoautotroph
An organism that obtains energy from sunlight and carbon from CO2 using the photosynthesis.
Photon
A fixed quantity of light energy. The shorter the wavelength of light, the greater the energy of a photon.
Photosynthesis
The process by which plants, algae, and some protists and prokaryotes convert light energy to chemical energy that is stored in sugars made from carbon dioxide and water.
Pigment
The natural coloring matter of animal or plant tissue.
Producers
An organism that makes organic food molecules from CO2, H2O, and other inorganic raw materials: a plant, alga, or autotrophic prokaryote.
Redox Reaction
Short for reduction-oxidation reaction; a chemical reaction in which electrons are lost from one substance (oxidation) and added to another (reduction).
