Vocab 3
Calorie – The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C
Primary Consumer – In the food chain, an animal that feeds only on plants and fungus
(herbivores)
Secondary Consumer – In the food chain, an animal which feeds on primary consumers; ex.
foxes, bobcats, and turtles
Tertiary Consumer – In the food chain, an animal which is capable of feeding on secondary
consumers; ex. eagles, cougars, and dolphins
Apex Predator – In the food chain, a tertiary consumer which normally does not have a predator
and are at the top of the food chain; ex. humans, bears, and killer whales
Trophic Levels – An organisms position in the food chain
Energy Pyramid – Also known as trophic pyramid; is a graph which shows the trophic levels in a
given ecosystem.
Biomass – the mass of producers in an ecosystem
Gross Production – The amount of energy captured by producers in an ecosystem
Net Production – The energy available for use by the next trophic level
Vocab 4
Adaptation – Any trait of an organism that increases its chances of surviving and reproducing
Feature – A structure, characteristic, or behavior of an organism, such as eye color, fur pattern,
or timing of migration
Trait – The specific way a feature is expressed in an individual organism
Variation – The range of expression of a trait within a population
Vocab 5
Nucleus – A cell organelle which regulates the functions of the cell and contains all of the
genetic material (DNA) of the cell. (Note: Sort of like the brain of the cell)
Chromosome – A structure that transfers heredity information to the next generation
Gene – The basic unit of heredity carried by the chromosomes; code for features of organisms
DNA – Short for, Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA is present in nearly all living organisms.
Chromosomes are made up of DNA. DNA is a carrier of genetic information.
Allele – Variations of genes that determine traits in organisms; the two corresponding alleles on
two paired chromosomes constitute a gene
Phenotype – The physical traits produced by the genotype; the physical expression of the genes
Genotype – An organism’s particular combination of paired alleles
Dominant Allele – A form of a gene that is expressed as the trait when a dominant allele is
present
Recessive Allele – A form of a gene that is expressed as the trait only when a dominant allele is
not present
Homozygous Gene – A gene composed of two identical alleles (either both dominant or both
recessive)
Heterozygous Gene – A gene composed of two different alleles (a dominant and a recessive)
Vocab 6
Natural Selection – The process by which the individuals best adapted to their environment tend
to survive and pass their traits to subsequent generations
Artificial Selection – The process by which humans manipulate the breeding process of animals
in order to create an individual with desired traits