Unit 1: The Science of Biology

Question 1

BIOLOGY

Answer 1

The study of living things:

Term Breakdown:
Bio = living
logy = study of

Question 2

HYPOTHESIS

Answer 2

An assumption about what will happen during an experiment or an observation.

It is NOT a guess. It is based on observation, research, reasoning and experience.

Question 3

EXPERIMENT

Answer 3

A carefully planned process designed to test if their hypothesis was correct.

Question 4

VARIABLES

Answer 4

Characteristics that will be investigated during an experiment.

Includes: Independent Variables, Dependent Variables, and Controlled Variables.

Question 5

CONTROL GROUP

Answer 5

in an experiment, a group that a scientist can compare to another group that is identical except for one property or factor.

Question 6

QUANTITATIVE DATA

Answer 6

data that represent a quantity; numeric data (i.e., number of eggs, chickens, or plant height growth)

Question 7

QUALITATIVE DATA

Answer 7

data that represent qualities or characteristics that can’t be expressed by a number (i.e. textures, colors, etc.)

Question 8

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

Answer 8

in an experiment, the factor that a scientist deliberately manipulates

Question 9

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Answer 9

in an experiment, the variable that depends on the other variables

Question 10

ORGANISM

Answer 10

any living thing that takes in food, grows, and reproduces

Question 11

METABOLISM

Answer 11

the total of all chemical reactions within an organism

Question 12

HOMEOSTASIS

Answer 12

a state of balance reached through reactions within a cell or organism

Question 13

ORGANELLES

Answer 13

a differentiated structure within a cell, such as a mitochondrion, vacuole, or chloroplast, that performs a specific function

Question 14

TISSUES

Answer 14

a group of cells that are similar in structure and that work together to perform a certain function

Question 15

ORGAN

Answer 15

a group of different tissues that work together to perform a specific function

Question 16

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Answer 16

the process by which plants and certain other organisms use the energy of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen

Question 17

CELLULAR RESPIRATION

Answer 17

the process of breaking down glucose for the production of ATP in the presence of oxygen

Question 18

ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATE (ATP)

Answer 18

ATP; the molecule that delivers usable chemical energy for almost all processes and reactions that a cell must undergo to survive

Question 19

CHEMOSYNTHESIS

Answer 19

the creation of glucose using energy from a chemical source rather than from sunlight

Question 20

ECOSYSTEM

Answer 20

a community or group of organisms living and interacting with each other and their environment

Question 21

BIOTIC

Answer 21

relating to factors that are associated with or result from the activities of living organisms

REMEMBER: Bio = living

Question 22

ABIOTIC

Answer 22

relating to nonbiological factors

NOTE: In science, if there is an “a” before a word, the “a” means NOT. Thus:

a = not
bio = living

Question 23

COMMUNITY

Answer 23

all of the populations that live and interact with each other in a particular area

Question 24

POPULATION

Answer 24

all of the members of one species that live in a common area and whose population dynamics are different from those of other populations

Question 25

BIOME

Answer 25

a large area dominated by characteristic plants and animals, such as a rain forest, desert, or tundra