Biology Flashcards
Explain the features of living organisms. Acronym: MRS GREN
M: Movement. Can move without being pushed or pulled.
R: Respiration. Release energy from food.
S: Sensitivity. Can sense its environment.
G: Growth. Gets larger - at some stage of life.
R: Reproduction. Can reproduce.
E: Excretion. Gets rid of waste.
N: Nutrition. Take in food or create their own food.
What is a dichotomous key?
A dichotomous key is an important scientific tool used to identify different organisms, based on the organism’s observable traits.
How is a dichotomous key used?
Dichotomous keys consist of a series of statements with two choices in each step that will lead the users to the correct identification.
What are the seven levels of classification in order. Acronym: KPCOFGS
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
What is taxonomy?
The practice of classifying living organisms according to their presumed natural relationships.
As you move through the levels of classification from Kingdom towards Species, organisms______in similarity and _____ in numbers.
Increase in similarity and decrease in numbers. Groups within the hierarchy get smaller, and they have more features in common.
The scientific name for an organism comes from which two levels of the classification hierarchy?
Genus and species. E.g. genus - homo, species - sapiens = Homo sapiens. *When writing scientific names, the genus is written with a capital letter at the start.
Name the five (or six) kingdoms of life.
Plantae, fungi, animalia, protista, and montera (or eubacteria, and archaebacteria).
What is the system for scientific naming called?
Binomial nomenclature.
What is one thing scientists examine to group organisms into kingdoms?
Cells
Describe the cells of living organisms from the plant kingdom.
They are brick-like, multi-cellular, and get their energy from the sun through photosynthesis.
Describe the cells of living organisms from the animal kingdom.
They are round, multi-cellular, and obtain energy by eating living, or once living, things.
Describe the cells of living organisms from the monera kingdom.
They are very simple and small, single-celled (unicellular). They are mostly bacteria.
Describe the cells of living organisms from the protist kingdom.
Protists have cells which are both plant like, and animal like. Some get their energy from photosynthesis, and some need to eat other living things. They are unicellular.
Give an example of something from the protist kingdom.
Protozoa, algae, amoeba.
Give an example of something from the monera kingdom.
Bacteria, cyanobacteria.
Describe the cells of living organisms from the fungi kingdom.
They can be made of one cell or many cells - i.e. they can be multi-cellular or unicellular. The organisms get their energy from mostly dead material from other living things.
Give an example of something from the fungi kingdom.
Mould, mushrooms, yeast.