Aqa Gcse Biology 1 Key Words

Front 1

Metabolism

Back 1

All the chemical reactions going on in cells.

Front 2

Metabolic rate

Back 2

How quickly all the reactions are going on in cells.

Front 3

Balanced diet

Back 3

Diet that has the right amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, water and fibre, and gives you enough energy.

Front 4

Deficiency disease

Back 4

Disease caused by not eating enough of a particular nutrient e.g. Scurvy from too little vitamin C.

Front 5

Obese

Back 5

Being very overweight.

Front 6

Statins

Back 6

Medicinal drugs that reduce the amount of cholesterol made by the body.

Front 7

Microorganism

Back 7

Small organisms, seen under a microscope e.g. bacteria and viruses.

Front 8

Pathogen

Back 8

A microorganism that can cause an infectious disease.

Front 9

Bacteria

Back 9

Single-celled microorganism, 1-5 μm long. They do not have DNA enclosed inside a nucleus.

Front 10

Virus

Back 10

Very infectious pathogen. Can only reproduce inside a host cell.

Front 11

Toxin

Back 11

Poison.

Front 12

Symptoms

Back 12

How you feel when you have a disease e.g. headache, nausea.

Front 13

Painkiller

Back 13

Drug that stops you feeling pain e.g. paracetamol.

Front 14

Antibiotic

Back 14

Chemical, usually made by fungi or bacteria, that can be used as medicine to kill other fungi or bacteria.

Front 15

Antibiotic resistance

Back 15

The ability some bacteria develop meaning that an antibiotic will not kill them anymore.

Front 16

Natural selection

Back 16

The survival of organisms better adapted to their environment.

Front 17

Immune system

Back 17

Your body’s system that fights infections, involving white blood cells and antibodies.

Front 18

Antibody

Back 18

Special protein in the body that can bind to a particular antigen and destroy a particular pathogen.

Front 19

Antigen

Back 19

Special protein on the surface of pathogenic cells. Bind matching antibodies during the immune response.

Front 20

Immunity

Back 20

After you have made antibodies to a pathogen, you are able to fight off the pathogen in future without getting ill.

Front 21

Immunisation

Back 21

Medical procedure that involves injecting dead or inactive pathogens into a patient to stimulate the body to create antibodies.

Front 22

Epidemic

Back 22

Sudden outbreak of a disease that affects many people within a country.

Front 23

Pandemic

Back 23

Epidemic that sweeps across continents or the whole world.

Front 24

Stimulus

Back 24

Change in the environment, such as a temperature change, that you respond to.

Front 25

Central nervous system (CNS)

Back 25

The brain and spinal cord.

Front 26

Receptor

Back 26

Cell or sense organ that detects stimuli.

Front 27

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Back 27

Nerves carrying information from sense organs in the body to the CNS, and from the CNS to effectors.

Front 28

Neurone

Back 28

Cell specialised to carry electrical impulses. Nerve cells.

Front 29

Reflex action

Back 29

Fast automatic response of the body to a potentially dangerous stimulus, coordinated by the spinal cord.

Front 30

Synapse

Back 30

Small gap between neurones, or between a neurone and effector.

Front 31

Effector

Back 31

Organ such as a gland or muscle that responds to a stimulus.

Front 32

Hormone

Back 32

Chemical made by a gland and carried in the blood to its target organ(s).

Front 33

Secrete

Back 33

Produce a hormone in special cells of a gland.

Front 34

Gland

Back 34

Structure inside an organism that makes a useful substance, often a hormone.

Front 35

Target organ

Back 35

Organ or part of the body that responds to a particular hormone.

Front 36

Ion

Back 36

Charged particle, e.g. Na+, K+, Mg+.

Front 37

Sex hormones

Back 37

Hormones produced in the sex organs (ovaries and testes).

Front 38

Oestrogen

Back 38

A female sex hormone involved in regulating the menstrual cycle.

Front 39

Progesterone

Back 39

A female sex hormone involved in maintaining the uterus lining.

Front 40

Menstrual cycle

Back 40

Monthly cycle in adult females.

Front 41

FSH(Follicle Stimulating Hormone)

Back 41

A female sex hormone, involved in making eggs mature in the ovaries.

Front 42

LH

Back 42

A female sex hormone involved in triggering ovulation.

Front 43

Contraception

Back 43

A substance that prevents conception (getting pregnant).

Front 44

Ovulation

Back 44

Release of a mature egg from an ovary.

Front 45

In vitro fertilisation (IVF)

Back 45

Fertilisation carried out outside the body, so the egg and sperm join in a glass dish to form an embryo that is injected back into the women’s uterus.

Front 46

Tropism

Back 46

Plant growth response to a stimulus.

Front 47

Phototropic

Back 47

Plants response to the direction of light. Shoots grow towards it, and roots grow away from it.

Front 48

Auxin

Back 48

A plant hormone that causes shoots and roots to bend.

Front 49

Geotropic

Back 49

A plants response to the pull of gravity. Roots grow towards it, and sshoots grow away from it.

Front 50

Drug

Back 50

Chemical that alters the way your brain or body works.

Front 51

Addiction

Back 51

The body becomes dependent on a drug and will not function properly without it.

Front 52

Withdrawal symptoms

Back 52

If you are addicted to a drug, when you stop taking it you get unpleasant symptoms such as pain and tremors.

Front 53

Recreational drug

Back 53

A drug taken for pleasure with no medicinal purpose e.g. caffeine, nicotine, alcohol.

Front 54

Medicinal drug

Back 54

A drug used for medical purposes only, e.g. antibiotics, statins.

Front 55

Performance enhancing drugs

Back 55

A drug used illegally by some athletes to help improve their performance in competition e.g. steroids.

Front 56

Thalidomide

Back 56

Drug used as a sleeping pill and for morning sickness without clinical trials. It caused birth defects with thousands on new babies.

Front 57

Clinical trial

Back 57

Testing a drug to make sure it works and has no harmful side effects.

Front 58

Placebo

Back 58

Dummy pill or treatment with NO active drug in it.

Front 59

Double blind trial

Back 59

Clinical trial in which neither the patients nor the doctors know whether they are getting the real treatment or a placebo.

Front 60

Adaptation

Back 60

Feature of the body that helps an organism survive.

Front 61

Camouflage

Back 61

The colouring of an animal that allows it to blend in with its surroundings.

Front 62

Needles

Back 62

Plant adaptation of having reduced leaves with small surface area.

Front 63

Surface area

Back 63

The total amount of the surface of an organism or part of an organism.

Front 64

Spines

Back 64

Adaptation of a cactus to have leaves with reduced surface area and pointed ends.

Front 65

Extremophiles

Back 65

Organisms that can withstand extreme environmental conditions e.g. thermophiles can withstand extreme temperatures.

Front 66

Resource

Back 66

Something that an organism needs to survive e.g. food, space, water.

Front 67

Competition

Back 67

The struggle between organisms to get enough resources to survive.

Front 68

Population

Back 68

The number of organisms of a species in a given area.

Front 69

Distribution

Back 69

The location where species are found over the total area where they occur. E.g. woodlice have a high distribution under a log.

Front 70

Pollutant

Back 70

Substance put into the environment by human activity, which is not normally there.

Front 71

Living indicators

Back 71

Indicator species scientists have learnt to use to help measure pollution levels e.g. lichens.

Front 72

Non-living indicators

Back 72

Scientific equipment that enables pollution levels to be monitored e.g. pH meters.

Front 73

Indicator species

Back 73

Species that survive best at certain levels of pollution, and give an idea of the pollution level e.g. rat tailed maggot.