Chapter 1 Honors Biology Vocabulary

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Science

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A branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.

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Observation

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The act or faculty of observing.

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Data

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Individual facts, statistics, or items of information.

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Inference

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The process of deriving the strict logical consequences of assumed premises.

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Hypothesis

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A proposition, or set of propositions, set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena, either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide investigation (working hypothesis) or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts.

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Spontaneous Generation

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The supposed development of living organisms from nonliving matter. Also called autogenesis, spontaneous generation.

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Controlled Experiment

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A trial or experiment that includes a control (comparison) group; also called controlled study; any trial or test of a hypothesis under carefully managed conditions.

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Manipulated Variable

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Condition or quantity altered (manipulated) to regulate, or initiate a change in, some other condition or quantity.

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Responding Variable

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A variable that changes as a result of the changes in the manipulated variable.

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Theory

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A coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena.

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Biology

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The science of life or living matter in all its forms and phenomena, esp. with reference to origin, growth, reproduction, structure, and behavior.

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Cell

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A usually microscopic structure containing nuclear and cytoplasmic material enclosed by a semipermeable membrane and, in plants, a cell wall; the basic structural unit of all organisms.

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Homeostasis

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The tendency of a system, esp. the physiological system of higher animals, to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus tending to disturb its normal condition or function.

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Sexual Reproduction

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Reproduction involving the union or fusion of a male and a female gamete.

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Asexual Reproduction

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Reproduction, as budding, fission, or spore formation, not involving the union of gametes.

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Metabolism

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The sum of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained, and destroyed, and by which energy is made available.

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Stimulus

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Something that incites to action or exertion or quickens action, feeling, thought, etc.

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Metric System

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A decimal system of units based on the meter as a unit length, the kilogram as a unit mass, and the second as a unit time.

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Microscope

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An optical instrument having a magnifying lens or a combination of lenses for inspecting objects too small to be seen or too small to be seen distinctly and in detail by the unaided eye.

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Compound Light Microscope

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A Microscope that allows light to pass through the specimen and use two lenses to form an image.

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Electron Microscope

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A type of microscope that uses electrons to illuminate a specimen and create an enlarged image.

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Cell Culture

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The process by which prokaryotic, eukaryotic or plant cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from multicellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells.

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Cell Fractionation

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The separation of homogeneous sets, usually organelles, from a heterogeneous population of cells.