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Biology > Chapter 1 - Characteristics and Classification of Living Organisms > Flashcards

Chapter 1 - Characteristics and Classification of Living Organisms Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

what is an organism?

A

a living thing

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2
Q

what are the seven characteristics of living organisms? (MRS GREN)

A

movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition

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3
Q

growth

A

all organisms begin small and get larger by the growth of their cells and by adding adding new cells to their body (permanent increase in size and dry mass)

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4
Q

movement

A

all organisms are able to move to some extent, most animals can move their whole body from place to place and plants can slowly move parts of themselves (change of position or place)

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5
Q

sensitivity

A

all organisms pick up information about changes in their environment and react to these changes (internal or external environment)

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6
Q

excretion

A

the removal of waste products produced by metabolic reactions in excess of requeiments from the body

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7
Q

reproduction

A

organisms are able to make new organisms of the same species as themselves

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8
Q

nutrition

A

organisms take substances from their environment and use them to provide energy or materials to make new cells

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9
Q

respiration

A

all organisms break down glucose and other substances inside their cells to release energy that they can use (chemical reaction that breaks down nutrient molecules and release energy for metabolism)

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10
Q

metabolism

A

the chemical reaction that takes place in living organisms

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11
Q

species

A

a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce fertile offsprings

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12
Q

are donkeys and horses able to mate with one another? and if so is the offspring fertile?

A

even though they belong to two different species, they are able to reproduce with one another as they share the same genus, their offspring will be strong and healthy but infertile

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13
Q

binomial naming system

A

a system of naming species that is internationally agreed in which the scientific name is made up of two parts showing the genus and the species

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14
Q

genus

A

a group of species that are related to one another, share similar features and share a common ancestor

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15
Q

how is the binomial name written?

A

the genus comes first and is always written with a capital letter, the second name is the species it belongs to and is written with a small letter

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16
Q

dichotomous key

A

a way of identifying an organisms by working through pairs of statements (about its features) that lead you to its name

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17
Q

what is one piece of evidence that tigers and lions are related?

A

they share the same genus

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18
Q

what are two pieces of evidence that lions and tigers belong to different species?

A

they have different binomial names: panthera tigris and panthera leo as well as together they produce an infertile offspring

19
Q

kingdom

A

one of the major groups into which all organisms are classified

20
Q

what are the characteristic features of plants?

A

*their cells have a nucleus and cell walls made of cellulose and often contain chloroplasts
*they feed by photosynthesis
*they may have roots, stems, and leaves (some don’t have these organs)

21
Q

what are the characteristic features of animals?

A

*their cells have a nucleus but no cell walls or chloroplasts
*they feed on organic substances made by other living organism
*they are multicellular

22
Q

what are the characteristic features of fungi?

A

*they are usually multicellular but some such as yeast are unicellular
*they have nuclei and cell walls but the walls are not made of cellulose
*they don’t have chlorophyll
*they feed by digesting waste organic material and absorbing it into their cells
*spread or reproduce by spreading spores
*most have hyphae

23
Q

what are the characteristic features of protoctists?

A

*they are multicellular or unicellular
*their cells have a nucleus and may or may not have a cell wall and chloroplast
*some feed by photosynthesis and others feed on organic substances made by other organisms

24
Q

what are the main characteristic features of prokaryotes:

A

*they are usually unicellular
*they have no nucleus or mitochondria
*they have cell walls not made of cellulose
*they have a circular loop of DNA which is free in the cytoplasm
*they often have plasmid

25
Q

what is a vertebrate?

A

animals that have a backbone

26
Q

what are the characteristic features of fish?

A

*they have scaly skin
*they have gills throughout their life so they can breathe
*they have fins
*their eggs have no shell and are laid in water

27
Q

what is metamorphosis?

A

changing from a larva with one body form to an adult with a different body form

28
Q

what are the characteristic features of amphibians?

A

*smooth, moist skin
*their eggs have no shells and are laid in water
*the tadpoles live in water whilst adults often live on land
*tadpoles have gills for gas exchange and adults have lungs

29
Q

what are the characteristic features of reptiles?

A

*dry, fixed scales on skin
*lay eggs with a soft shells on land

30
Q

what are the characteristic features of birds?

A

*they have feathers and sometimes a few scales
*they have a beak
*their front two limbs are wings
*lay eggs with hard shells
*endothermic

31
Q

what are the characteristic features of mammals?

A

*they have hair on their skin
*their young develop in the uterus attached to the mother by a placenta
*females have mammary glands which produce milk to feed their young
*different kinds if teeth: incisors, canines, premolars and molars
*pinna (ear flap) outside the body
*sweat glands in the skin
*they have a diaphragm
*endothermic

32
Q

what are arthropods?

A

animals with jointed legs but no backbone (invertebrates)

33
Q

what are the three standard features of arthropods?

A

*exoskeleton
*jointed legs
*segmented body

34
Q

what are the characteristic features of insects?

A

*three pairs of jointed legs
*two pairs of wings (one or two may be vestigial)
*breathe through tubes called tracheae
*their body is divided into a head, thorax and abdomen
*one pair of antennae
*they are mainly land living

35
Q

what are the characteristic features of crustaceans?

A

*more than four pairs of jointed legs
*two pairs of antennae
*chalky exoskeleton formed from calcium
*breathe through gills
*live in water

36
Q

what are the characteristic features of arachnids?

A

*they have four pairs of jointed legs
*no antennae
*body divided into two parts - a cephalothorax (brain connected to thorax) and abdomen

37
Q

what are the characteristic features of myriapods?

A

*body consists of many similar segments
*each of their body segments has jointed legs
*one pair of antennae

38
Q

what are the characteristic features of ferns?

A

*plants with roots, stems and leaves (fronds)
*don’t produce flowers
*reproduce by spores produced on the underside of their fonds

39
Q

what are the characteristic features of flowering plants?

A

*plants with roots, stem and leaves
*reproduce sexually using flowers and seeds
*their seeds are produced inside an ovary in the flower
*can be divided into two groups - monocotyledons (monocots) and dicotyledons (dicots)

40
Q

what are the characteristic features of dicots?

A

*seeds with two cotyledons (seed leaves)
*usually have a main root with side roots coming from it
*leaves have a network of branching veins
*flower parts in multiple of four or five
*broad leaves
*vascular bundle in the stem arranged in a ring

41
Q

what are the characteristic features of monocots?

A

*seeds with one cotyledons (seed leaves)
*roots grow out directly from the stem
*long narrow leads
*leaves have parallel veins
*flower parts in multiples of three
*vascular bundle in the stem arranged randomly

42
Q

why are viruses considered a non-living organism?

A

as they cannot do anything other than just exist until they get inside a living cell, on their own they don’t display the seven characteristics of living things, they simply take over a host’s metabolic pathway in order to make multiple copies of themselves

43
Q

what are spores?

A

tiny groups of cells with tough, protective outer covering

Biology (6 decks)

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