Unit 1: Life

Question 1

Biology

Answer 1

The study of how life works

Question 2

Biologists

Answer 2

Scientists who study life

Question 3

Observation

Answer 3

The act of viewing the world around us

Question 4

Experimentation

Answer 4

A disciplined and controlled way of asking questions about the world in an unbiased manner

Question 5

Hypotheses

Answer 5

Tentative explanations

Question 6

Predictions

Answer 6

Making predictions about about experiments not yet run

Question 7

Test

Answer 7

Devising an experiment to see whether the predictions made by the hypothesis actually occur

Question 8

Scientific Method

Answer 8

A deliberate and careful way of asking questions about the unknown

Question 9

Theory

Answer 9

A general explanation of the world supported by a large body of experiments and observations

Question 10

Four Characteristics of Living Organisms

Answer 10

1. Complexity, with precise spatial organization on several scales
2. The ability to change in response to the environment
3. The ability to reproduce
4. The capacity to evolve

Question 11

First Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 11

Energy can neither be created or destroyed, only changed in form

Question 12

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 12

The amount of disorder in the universe tends to increase

Question 13

Entropy

Answer 13

The amount of disorder in a system

Question 14

Variable

Answer 14

Changed by the experimenter from one treatment to the next

Question 15

Cell

Answer 15

The simplest self-replicating entity that can exist as an independent unit of life

Question 16

DNA

Answer 16

A molecule that acts as an information archive

Question 17

Proteins

Answer 17

The key structural and functional molecules that do the work of the cell

Question 18

RNA

Answer 18

A molecule in which proteins create a copy of the DNA’s information

Question 19

Transcription

Answer 19

The synthesis of RNA from a DNA template

Question 20

Translation

Answer 20

Converts information stored in the language of proteins

Question 21

Central Dogma

Answer 21

The pathway from DNA to RNA to protein

Question 22

Gene

Answer 22

The DNA sequence that corresponds to a specific protein product

Question 23

Replicated

Answer 23

The process of allowing genetic information to be passed from cell to cell or from one organism to its progeny

Question 24

Mutations

Answer 24

Errors in DNA

Question 25

Plasma Membrane

Answer 25

Separates the living material within the cell from the non-living environment around it

Question 26

Nucleus

Answer 26

Houses the cells DNA

Question 27

Cytoplasm

Answer 27

Where the nucleus occupies a discrete space within the cell, separate from the space outside the nucleus

Question 28

Prokaryotes

Answer 28

Cells without a nucleus

Question 29

Eukaryotes

Answer 29

Cells with a nucleus

Question 30

Bacteria

Answer 30

Prokaryotes

Question 31

Archaea

Answer 31

Prokaryotes

Question 32

Eukarya

Answer 32

Eukaryotes

Question 33

ATP

Answer 33

Energy stored in chemical form that cells can use

Question 34

Metabolism

Answer 34

Chemical reactions that cells use to convert energy from one form to another and to build and breakdown molecules

Question 35

Evolution

Answer 35

Change over time

Question 36

Natural Selection

Answer 36

The process by which variants best suited for growth and reproduction in a given environment will contribute disproportionately to the next generation

Question 37

Environmental Variation

Answer 37

Variation among individuals due to differences in the environment

Question 38

Genetic Variation

Answer 38

Variation among individuals due to genes that are transmitted from parents to offspring

Question 39

Tree of Life

Answer 39

The full set of evolutionary relationships among organisms

Question 40

Ecology

Answer 40

The study of how organisms interact with one another and with their environment in nature