Taxonomy- the scientific study of how living things
are classified.
Kingdom- The highest classification into which
living organisms are grouped.
Phylum- is the second of the major groups into
which biologists classify members of a kingdom. It
ranks below kingdom.
Class- a group of organisms ranking above order
and below phylum.
Order- A group of organisms ranking above a
family and below a class.
Family- A group of organisms ranking above a
genus and below an order.
Genus- A group of organisms ranking above a
species and below a family. Part of the scientific
name, which is always captalized.
Species- A group of organisms having many
characteristics in common and ranking below a
genus. Organisms that reproduce sexually and
belong to the same species interbreed and
produce fertile offspring.
Archaebacteria- are single celled
microorganisms in the domain Archaea, which are
genetically different from bacteria and eukaryotes,
and often live in extreme environmental
conditions.
Eubacteria- is a unicellular, prokaryotic group of
bacteria. It has its own kingdom because of its
unique chemical makeup. Eubacteria is the one of
the oldest forms of life, which may be the way it is
the most familiar.
Protista/Protists- are a diverse group of
eukaryotic microorganisms consisting mostly of
unicellular organisms but some are multicellular.
Fungi- a eukaryotic organism lacking chlorophyll
and feeding on organic matter; ranging from
unicellular or multicellular organisms.
Plantae (Plants)- any multicellular eukaryotic
organism with a cell wall and chloroplasts that
performs photosynthesis to obtain its nutrition.
Animalia (Animals)- a major group of eukaryotic
multicellular organisms that are heterotrophic,
must ingest their food and are motile, moves
independently.
Chemosynthesis- the synthesis of organic
compounds within an organism, with chemical
reactions providing the energy source.
Photosynthesis- is the process in which plants, algae,
and some bacteria use water along with sunlight and
carbon dioxide to make their own food in the
chloroplasts .
Binomial nomenclature- is a formal system of
naming species of living things by giving each a
name composed of two parts.
Unicellular- made of a single cell.
Multicellular- consists of many cells.
Autotroph (Autotrophic)- an organism that
makes its own food.
Heterotroph (Heterotrophic)- an organism that
cannot make its own food.
Prokaryote (Prokaryotic)- an organism whose
cells lack a nucleus and some other cell
structures.
Eukaryote (Eukaryotic)- an organism whose cells
contain nuclei.
Dichotomous Key- a key used to identify a plant
or animal in which each stage presents
descriptions of two distinguishing characters, with
a direction to another stage in the key, until the
species is identified.
Classification- the process of grouping things
based on their similarities.