Unit 4 Vocabulary Flash Cards
Cell
Stimulus
Homeostasis
DNA
Sexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction
Producer
Consumer
Evolution
Artificial selection
Natural selection
Variation
Mutation
Adaptation
Any change that affects an organism and
makes it do something different; ex: gravity,
light, sound, a chemical, etc
Smallest unit of life; smallest structure that
can do all the things that it needs to do to
survive on its own
Deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic material
that controls cells and passes down traits
from one generation to the next
Keeping a stable internal (inside) body
environment; temperature, energy level, etc
Where a single parent makes an offspring
with identical DNA to it
Where two parents make an offspring that have
the characteristics, or traits, of both parents
because they get DNA from both parents
Organisms that must get food from other
organism, either by eating or absorbing it,
because they can’t make their own energy
Organism that makes it’s own food, usually
through photosynthesis; ex: green plants,
some bacteria and protists
Process where humans select plants or animals
to breed based on their specific traits; also
known as selective breeding
Process where population change over time
Natural differences in a trait; ex dimples or
no dimples, great eyesight, good eyesight,
poor eyesight
An inherited trait that helps the organism to
survive and reproduce in its environment
Process where organisms that inherit traits
better suited for their environment reproduce
more and pass down those helpful traits
to their offspring
Change in the DNA or genetic material
of an organism; over time this can become
part of the natural variations
Extinction
Endangered species
Charles Darwin
Inherited trait
Acquired trait
Survival of the fittest
Fossil
Fossil record
Sedimentary rock
Homologous structure
Vestigial structure
Embryology
Geologic time scale
Relative dating
There are very few members of this species
alive on the planet, it is close to becoming extinct
Trait that is passed down from parent to
offspring in their DNA
Idea that individual organisms that are best
suited for living in their environment are
more likely to survive and pass on their
DNA to their offspring
Process that occurs when all individuals in a
species have died off and none are left, this
species was not able to adapt to their
environment and died out
Scientist that came up with the idea of evolution
and how species change over time to fit into
their specific environment
Trait, or characteristic that an individual had
done to them and is not in their DNA; ex: scar,
broken bone, short hair cut, dyed green hair
Record of all the fossils that have been found
so far; it provides evidence about how species
have changed over time
Remains or imprints of animals or plants that
lived a very long time ago
The common structure of bones, muscles,
ligaments, etc that some animals have that
show they have a common ancestor; ex: front
limbs of a bat and cat
Type of rock created when layers and layers of
soil pile on top one another, trapping dead
organisms, footprints, or other things in between
the layers; this is the only type of rock fossils
are found in
Study of how embryos, or unborn babies
develop; the similar ways the organs form and
the order they form in shows evidence of a
common ancestor
Process where two fossils are compared to
each other in the rock layers to figure out
which is older than the other because it is
further down in the rock layer; does not give
an exact age of the fossil
Small body part that is still in the body that
doesn’t have any use but it had a use in the past;
evidence used to show a common ancestor; ex:
appendix on human shows we used to eat
uncooked grass, leaves, etc like most other
herbivores alive today
Way to divide up Earth’s past into smaller parts
that we can look at and talk about
Radioactive or radiometric dating
Half-life
Species
Genus
Domain
Bacteria
Archaea
Eukarya
Protista
Fungi
Plantae
Animalia
Binominal nomenclature
Charles Linnaeus
The time it takes for half of a radioactive
substance to become nonradioactive; used to
help date the age of fossils
Process that uses the radioactivity of elements
to figure out how long ago the rock was created
and give the age of the fossil found in it
Level of classification that include similar
species; first word in an organism’s
scientific name
Group of organisms that are very closely related
and can mate with each other and make fertile
offspring (their babies can have babies); last
word in an organism’s scientific name
Domain that includes all modern day bacteria;
made up of prokaryotes (single celled & no
nucleus) that usually have a cell wall and
reproduce by cell division; can live in every
day environments, some get you sick
Domain that includes all the eukaryotes (has
a nucleus); includes all protists, fungi, plants,
& animals
Largest level of classification that represents
the largest differences between living things;
ex: Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya
Domain that includes all bacteria that live only
in very harsh environments, like in extremely
hot or cold, acidic or basic, without oxygen,
etc; made up of prokaryotes (single celled &
no nucleus) and have a cell wall different
from regular bacteria
Kingdom that is mostly multicellular (except
yeast), heterotrophs that have a cell wall,
they absorb their food and many reproduce using
spores; ex: mushroom, yeast, mold, mildew
Kingdom that has unicellular or multicellular
organisms that are either autotrophs or
heterotrophs and have a cell wall, all are mobile
(can move); three main group, plant-like,
animal-like, & fungus-like; ex: stentor, algae,
amoeba, volvox
Kingdom that is multicellular, heterotrophic,
no cell wall and most are mobile, most reproduce
sexually but a few reproduce asexually;
ex: dog, sponge, starfish, worm, human, bird
Kingdom that is multicellular, autotrophic, and
has a cell wall made of cellulose, can reproduce
sexually or asexually; ex: pine tree, grass,
rosebush, etc
Scientists that created the classification system
we base our current classification system off of
today; he created the levels within levels and
binominal nomenclature
Naming system for organisms that give each
species its own name; also called scientific name;
made up of the genus and species
Scientific name
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Autotroph
Heterotroph
Unicellular
Multicellular
Prokaryote
Eukaryote
Mobile
Sessile
Aristotle
Cladogram
Dichotomous or taxonomic key
Study of classifying organisms and
naming them
Two word name that has the organism’s genus
and species; no other organism has that
same name; also called binomial nomenclature;
name is always in Latin
Organism that can make its own energy/food,
usually through the process of photosynthesis;
also known as producers
Second largest level of organization, found in
the Eukarya domain; ex: protist, plant, fungi,
animal
Single celled organisms
Organism that can’t make its own food and has
to either eat it or absorb it for the energy needed
to survive; also known as consumers
Unicellular (single-celled) organism that does
not have a nucleus, the chromosomes are
floating around freely inside the cell
Organisms that are made up of more than
one cell working together
Organism that is able to move on its own
Organisms that has a nucleus to protect
the chromosomes
Scientist that created the first classification
system, it was used for 2000 years before
getting changed
Organism that lives attached in one place and
can’t pick up and move to a new location;
ex: tree, sponge, mushroom, sea anemone
Chart with a series of paired statements used
to identify a specific organism
Diagram that shows relationships among
different species and a common ancestor