Apologia Biology Module 01 Vocabulary

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Deoxyribonucleic acid

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Provides the information necessary to take a bunch of chemicals and turn them into an ordered, living organism. Also known as DNA.

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Metabolism

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The sum total of all processes in an organism which convert energy and matter from outside sources and use that energy and matter to sustain the organism's life functions.

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Anabolism

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The sum total of all processes in an organism which use energy and simple chemical building blocks to produce large chemicals and structures necessary for life.

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Catabolism

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The sum total of all processes in an organism which breaks down chemicals to produce energy and simple chemical building blocks.

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Photosynthesis

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The process by which green plants and some other organisms use the energy of sunlight and simple chemicals to produce their own food.

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Herbivores

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Organisms that eat only plants.

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Carnivores

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Organisms that eat only organisms other than plants.

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Omnivores

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Organisms that eat both plants and other organisms.

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Classification

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The assignment of organisms to groups within a system of categories distinguished by structure, origin, etc.

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Decomposers

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Organisms that break down dead remains of other organisms.

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Producers

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Organisms that produce their own food.

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Consumers

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Organisms that eat living producers and/or other consumers for food.

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Autotrophs

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Organisms that are able to make their own food. From the Greek roots which literally mean “self-feeder.”

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Heterotrophs

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Organisms that depend on other organisms for their food. Literally means “other-feeder.”

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Receptors

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Special structures that allow living organisms to sense the conditions of their internal or external environment.

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Asexual reproduction

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Reproduction that can be accomplished by a single organism.

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Sexual Reproduction

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Reproduction that requires two organisms.

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Inheritance

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The process by which physical and biological characteristics are transmitted from the parent (or parents) to the offspring.

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Mutation

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An abrupt and marked change in the DNA of an organism compared to that of its parents.

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The Scientific Method

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A method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.

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Hypothesis

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An educated guess that attempts to explain an observation or answer a question.

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Theory

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A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data.

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Scientific Law

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A theory that has been tested by and is consistent with generations of data.

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Spontaneous Generation

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Living organisms arising spontaneously from inanimate matter.

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Microorganisms

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Living creatures that are too small to see with the naked eye.

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Abiogenesis

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The idea that long ago, very simple life forms spontaneously appeared through chemical reactions.

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Prokaryotic cell

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A cell that has no distinct membrane-bounded organelles.

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Eukaryotic Cell

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A cell with distinct membrane-bounded organelles.

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Organelles

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A specialized part of a cell having some specific function; a cell organ.

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Species

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A unit of one or more populations of individuals that can reproduce fertile offspring and are reproductively isolated from other such units.

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Taxonomy

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The science of classifying organisms.

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Binomial Nomenclature

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Process of naming an organism with its genus and species name.

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Baraminology

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Another type of classification system, that attempts to determine the kinds of creatures that God specifically created on earth.The name comes from two Hebrew words used in Genesis: bara, which means “create,” and min, which means “kind.” (think: wolf, dog, coyote, etc.)

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Biological Keys

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A list of questions. When answering the questions you can figure out the classification (kingdom, phylum, class, and order) of any living object.

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Monera

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A taxonomic kingdom of prokaryotic organisms that typically reproduce by asexual budding or fission and have a nutritional mode of absorption, photosynthesis, or chemosynthesis, comprising the bacteria, blue-green algae, and various primitive pathogens.

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Protista

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A taxonomic kingdom comprising the protists, any of various one-celled organisms, classified in the kingdom Protista, that are either free-living or aggregated into simple colonies and that have diverse reproductive and nutritional modes.

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Fungi

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A taxonomic kingdom, or in some classification schemes a division of the kingdom Plantae, comprising all the fungus groups and sometimes also the slime molds

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Plantae

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The taxonomic kingdom comprising all plants.

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Animalia

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The taxonomic kingdom comprising all animals.

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Subphylum

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A category of related classes within a phylum.