Organ System & Subject Test Vocab

Question 1

Homeostasis concepts

Answer 1

Must adapt to changing circumstances to satisfy needs for food, water, and oxygen; must be able to rid of waste like CO2, feces, and urea (do this with excretion); bodily systems must be coordinated to maintain homeostasis

Question 2

Homeostasis

Answer 2

Dynamic process that enables optimum conditions to be maintained in and around cells despite continual changes taking place both internally and externally

Question 3

Circulatory system

Answer 3

Composed of all the vessels in the body that carry blood, along with the heart

Question 4

Heart

Answer 4

The organ that pumps blood throughout the circulatory system

Question 5

Arteries

Answer 5

Large blood vessels that carry blood AWAY from the heart

Question 6

Arterioles

Answer 6

Smaller blood vessels that carry blood from arteries to capillaries

Question 7

Capillaries

Answer 7

Very small (about the size of one red blood cell) blood vessels where EXCHANGE (O2, CO2, sugar, hormones, etc.) takes place between the blood vessels and body tissues

Question 8

Venules

Answer 8

Carry blood from capillaries to veins

Question 9

Veins

Answer 9

Large blood vessels that carry blood TOWARDS the heart

Question 10

Hemolymph

Answer 10

Circulates oxygen in an open circulatory system

Question 11

Pulmonary circuit

Answer 11

Carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs, where it becomes oxygenated; carries that oxygenated blood back to the heart

Question 12

Systemic circuit

Answer 12

Carries oxygenated blood everywhere else in the body, returning to the heart with deoxygenated blood

Question 13

Right atrium

Answer 13

Carries deoxygenated blood from the systemic circuit and pumps it into the right ventricle

Question 14

Superior/inferior vena cava

Answer 14

Bring deoxygenated blood to the right atrium

Question 15

Right ventricle

Answer 15

Pumps blood through the pulmonary artery into the pulmonary circuit

Question 16

Pulmonary vein

Answer 16

Brings oxygenated blood to the left atrium

Question 17

uterus

Answer 17

the womb in which the fetus develops

Question 18

vacuole

Answer 18

a space in the cytoplasm of a cell that contains fluid

Question 19

vagus nerve

Answer 19

the tenth cranial nerve that innervates digestive organs, heart and other areas

Question 20

vein

Answer 20

a blood vessel that carries blood back to the heart from the capillaries

Question 21

ventral root

Answer 21

the basal branch of each spinal nerve; carries motor neurons

Question 22

ventricle

Answer 22

the more muscular chamber(s) of the heart that pump blood to the lungs and to the rest of the body

Question 23

vestigial organ

Answer 23

an organ that is not functional in an organism, but was functional at some period in its evolution

Question 24

villus

Answer 24

a small projection in the walls of the small intestine that increases the surface area available for absorption

Question 25

vitamin

Answer 25

an organic nutrient required by organisms in small amounts to aid in proper metabolic processes

Question 26

white matter

Answer 26

an accumulation of axons within the CNS that is white because it is fatty, myelin sheath

Question 27

wood

Answer 27

xylem that is no longer being used

Question 28

xylem

Answer 28

vascular tissue of the plant that aids in support and carries water

Question 29

yolk sac

Answer 29

a specialized structure that leads to the digestive tract of a developing organism and provides it with food during early development

Question 30

zygote

Answer 30

a cell resulting from the fusion of gametes