Biology Honors Flash Cards Vocab

An objective, verifiable, observation

A statement based on repeated experimental observation that describes an aspect of the world

A broad concept or principle

(how?)

• describes patterns in nature

• often accepted as facts

An explanation of an observed phenomenon

• NEVER becomes a fact or a law

Describes the quality of something

Uses numbers to measure something

What the experimenter will deliberately change or manipulate in the investigation

What changes in response to the independent variable

The aspects of an experiment that are held constant/consistent

Groups that are being tested in an experiment

Group used for comparison with your experimental groups - This is the “normal” group

The application of scientific discoveries to meet human needs and goals through the development of products and processes

Applies scientific and mathematic principles to solve problems

Anything that has mass and occupies space

The smallest part of an element (think PT) that still has the properties of an element

Most basic unit of life

Tendency of molecules of the same “kind” to stick together

Uniform mixture of two or more substances

What gets dissolved

What does the dissolving

Water “loving,” has an affinity for water

Water “fearing,” does NOT have an affinity for water

Large organic molecules (carbon-containing) that make up all living things

Small, basic sub-units

Larger, more complex structures made of monomers

Single sugar molecules

Larger sugar molecules

Composed of one cell

Composed of many cells that may organize into tissues →organs →organ systems

Specialized structures within the cell that work together to help the cell function

Need of an organism to stay stable by regulating internal conditions

Amount of solute dissolved in solvent

symbol: [ ]

Difference in concentration of a substance from one location to another

Cell “eating”

Cell “drinking”

A process that creates special structures and functions

Undifferentiated cells that become differentiated into one of more types of specialized cells

Embryo with 3 differentiated germ layers

The process of body organ and organ system formation that follows gastrulation

A repeated pattern of growth, DNA duplication and cell division that occurs in eukaryotic cells

One long continuous thread of DNA that consists of thousands of genes and regulatory information

A section of DNA that contains the instructions for making a protein

Two identical chromatids

Region of the condensed chromosomes that looks pinched

Ends of the DNA molecule

Uncontrolled cell division

Spreading of disease from one organ to others

Cancer causing agents; chemicals that cause cancer by mutating DNA

All of the chemical reactions withing each cell of an organism

The breaking and forming of bonds between different substances during chemical changes

Break down larger molecules into simpler compounds →a release in energy = exergonic

Build larger molecules from smaller ones →requires consuming energy to do it = endergonic

The amount of energy needed to make a chemical reaction start

Substances that are changed during a chemical reaction

Substances that are made by a chemical reaction

Absorbs energy (in the form of heat or light)

releases energy (in the form of heat or light)

Mostly proteins that speed up biochemical reactions by lowering the activation energy

Substances that speed up reactions without being permanantly altered

Fits only one substrate, and once substrate connects, the bind tights → an induced fit

When the enzyme’s active site becomes deformed and loses its specific shape → loss of biological activity

(Adenosine Triphosphate) An energy-carrying molecule that carries/stores energy for cell functions

Movement of ions down a concentration gradient

Organisms that get energy from nonliving sources like the sun **(**Autotrophs)

Get energy from living sources such as plants or animals (Heterotrophs)

Organisms that eat dead material (Decomposers)

Organisms that only eat meat

Organisms that eat both meat and vegetation

Organisms that eat only vegetation

The overall process by which sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide are chemically converted into chemical energy stored in glucose (sugar)

Pancake-like stacks of thylakoid membrane

Fluid-like substance that fills the space between the grana

The pigment in the thylakoid membrane of chloroplasts that allows plants to capture sunlight.

Clusters of chlorophyll and proteins that trap energy from the sun

Molecules that carry electrons in order to pass on their energy

Process of an organism making its own food using chemicals (“chemo”) instead of sunlight (‘photo”) like in photosynthesis

Pores on underside of leaf where CO2 enters and O2 exits

When the CO2 levels drop and O2 levels rise, which adds oxygen to the Calvin Cycle instead of carbon dioxide, which results in no sugar or ATP made

The overall process in converting the chemical energy in glucose to chemical energy stored in ATP

Folded membranes (Cristae)

Fluid-like substance that fills the space

With oxygen

Without oxygen

Anaerobic Respiration

The macromolecule that holds our genetic material (DNA)

Make up nucleic acids

Short pieces of RNA to help get the DNA polymerase started

Short pieces of DNA

The process of reading the instructions in DNA to make a polypeptide

A chain of amino acids; can bind to others and fold into a protein

DNA is copied into a complementary strand of mRNA

Non-coding regions of RNA

Coding regions of RNA

Code of instructions for how to make proteins

A set of 3 nucleotides on the mRNA

“Complementary” 3 nucleotides on tRNA

Monomer (building block for making proteins), held together by polypeptide bonds

Interpreting the RNA message into a polypeptide to make a protein

The study of changes in gene expression that are heretable

2 full sets of chromosomes; 1 set from mom, 1 set from dad