Prentice Hall Biology Vocabulary Chapter 1

Front 1

Science

Back 1

an organized way of using evidence to learn about the natural world

Front 2

Observation

Back 2

the process of gathering information about events or processes in a careful orderly way

Front 3

Data

Back 3

the information gathered from observations

Front 4

Inference

Back 4

a logical interpretation based on prior knowledge or experience

Front 5

Hypothesis

Back 5

a proposed scientific explanation for a set of observations

Front 6

Spontaneous Generation

Back 6

the idea that life could arise from nonliving matter

Front 7

Controlled Experiment

Back 7

an experiment with only one variable changed at a time. All other variables are kept unchanged and controlled

Front 8

Manipulated Variable

Back 8

the variable that is deliberately changed

Front 9

Responding Variable

Back 9

the variable that is observed and that changes in response to the manipulated variable

Front 10

Theory

Back 10

hypothesis that becomes well supported from evidence of numerous investigations

Front 11

Biology

Back 11

is the science that seeks to understand the living world

Front 12

Cell

Back 12

a collection of living matter enclosed by a barrier that separates the cell by its surroundings

Front 13

Sexual Reproduction

Back 13

two cells from different parents unite to produce the first cell of the new organism

Front 14

Asexual Reproduction

Back 14

the new organism has a single parent

Front 15

Metabolism

Back 15

the combination of chemical reactions through which an organism builds up or breaks down

Front 16

Stimulus

Back 16

a signal to which an organism responds

Front 17

Homeostasis

Back 17

internal conditions/ internal feedback mechanisms

Front 18

Evolution

Back 18

change over time for survival in a world that is always changing

Front 19

Metric System

Back 19

decimal system of measurement whose units are based on certain physical standards and are scaled on multiples of 10

Front 20

Microscope

Back 20

devices that produce magnified images of structures that are too small to see with the unaided eye

Front 21

Compound Light Microscope

Back 21

allows light to pass through the specimen and use two lenses to form an image

Front 22

Electron Microscope

Back 22

uses beams of electrons rather than light to produce images

Front 23

Cell Culture

Back 23

a cell able to reproduce so that a group of cells develop from a single organelle

Front 24

Cell Fractionation

Back 24

technique used to separate the different cell parts