Campbell Essential Biology Ch 1

Front 1

Biology

Back 1

The scientific study of life.

Front 2

Life

Back 2

The set of common characteristics that distinguish living organisms, including such properties and processes as order, regulation, growth and development, energy utilization, response to the environment, reproduction, and the capacity to evolve over time.

Front 3

Ecosystem

Back 3

All the organisms in a given area, along with the nonliving (abiotic) factors with which they interact; a biological community and its physical environment.

Front 4

Natural Selection

Back 4

A process in which organisms with certain inherited characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than are organisms with other characteristics; differential reproductive success.

Front 5

Science

Back 5

Any method of learning about the natural world that follows the scientific method.

Front 6

Discovery Science

Back 6

The process of scientific inquiry that focuses on describing nature

Front 7

The Scientific Method

Back 7

Scientific investigation involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth of falseness of the hypothesis, and results that validate or modify the hypothesis.

Front 8

Hypothesis-driven Science

Back 8

The process of scientific inquiry that uses the steps of the scientific method to answer questions about nature

Front 9

Hypothesis

Back 9

A tentative explanation that a scientist proposes for a specific phenomenon that has been observed.

Front 10

Controlled Experiment

Back 10

A component of the process of science whereby a scientist carries out two parallel tests, an experimental test and a control test. The experimental test differs from the control by one factor, the variable.

Front 11

Theory

Back 11

A widely accepted explanatory idea that is broad in scope and supported by a large body of evidence.