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H.

Biology Unit 3 Vocabulary


Vocab: Adaptations and Behaviors
1. Adaptation-
The evolution of features that make a group of organisms better suited
to live and reproduce in their environment.
A. Behavioral Adaptations
1. Suckling-
The action of a young mammal drinking milk from a mothers breast,
utter, ect.
2. Chemotaxis-
Movement of a motile cell or organism, or part of one, in a
direction corresponding to a gradient of increasing or decreasing concentration of
a particular substance.
3. Phototaxis-
The bodily movement of a motile organism in response to light,
either toward the source of light (
positive phototaxis
) or away from it (
negative
phototaxis
).
4. Migration-
Seasonal movement of animals from one region to another.
5. Estivation-
A physiological state characterized by slow metabolism and
inactivity, which permits survival during long periods of elevated temperature
and diminished water supplies.
6. Hibernation-
A physiological state that allows survival during long periods of
cold temperatures and reduced food supplies, in which metabolism decreases, the
heart and respiratory system slow down, and body temperature is maintained at
a lower level than normal.
7. Habituation-
A simple kind of learning involving a loss of sensitivity to
unimportant stimuli, allowing an animal to conserve time and energy.
8. Imprinting-
(of a young animal) come to recognize (another animal, person, or
thing) as a parent or other object of habitual trust.
9. Classical conditioning-
conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus (as

the sound of a bell) is paired with and precedes the unconditioned stimulus (as
the sight of food) until the conditioned stimulus alone is sufficient to elicit the
response (as salivation in a dog)
10. Trial and error learning-
An attempt to accomplish something by trying
various means until the correct one is found
.
B. Structural Adaptations
1. Nutrition-
The process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health
and growth.
2. Respiration-
a process in living organisms involving the production of energy,
typically with the intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide from the
oxidation of complex organic substances.
3. Transport-
A means of moving molecules or ions across the cell membrane or
through the bloodstream.
4. Excretion-
(in living organisms and cells) the process of eliminating or expelling

waste matter.

5. Camouflage-
Structural
adaptation that enables species to blend with their
surroundings; allows a species to avoid detection by predators
6. Movement-
An act of changing physical location or position or of having this
changed.
C.Reproductive Adaptations
1. Sexual reproduction-
A type of reproduction in which two parents give rise to
offspring that have unique combinations of genes inherited from the gametes of
the two parents.
2. Asexual reproduction-
A type of reproduction involving only one parent that
produces genetically identical offspring by budding or by the division of a single
cell or the entire organism into two or more parts.
3. Eggs-
A female gamete, which usually contains abundant cytoplasm and yolk;
nonmotile and often larger than a male gamete.
4. Seeds-
An adaptation for terrestrial plants consisting of an embryo packaged
along with a store of food within a resistant coat.
5. Spores-
A minute, typically one-celled, reproductive unit capable of giving rise
to a new individual without sexual fusion, characteristic of lower plants, fungi,
and protozoans.
6. Placental (mammal)-
A member of a group of mammals, including humans,
whose young complete their embryonic development in the uterus, joined to the
mother by a placenta.
7. Types of fertilizationa. External
fertilization
is characterized by the release of both sperm and
eggs into an external environment; sperm will fertilize the egg outside of
the organism, as seen in spawning.
b. Internal fertilization is characterized by sperm fertilizing the egg within
the female; the three methods include: oviparity (egg laid outside female
body) ,
ovoviparity
(egg held within female), and viviparity (development
within female followed by live birth).
2. Behavior-
All of the acts an organism performs, as in, for example, seeking a
suitable habitat, obtaining food, avoiding predators, and seeking a mate and
reproducing.
3. Cilia-
Minute
hairlike organelles, identical in structure to flagella,that line the
surfaces of certain cells and beat in rhythmic waves,providing locomotion to ciliate
protozoans and moving liquids along internal epithelial tissue in animals.
4. Contractile vacuole-
A vacuole in some protozoans that expels excess liquid on
contraction.
5. Courtship-
The behavior of male birds and other animals aimed at attracting a
mate.
6. Eyespots-
A light-sensitive pigmented spot on the bodies of invertebrate animals
such as flatworms, starfishes, and microscopic crustaceans, and also in some unicellular
organisms.

7. Flagella-
A slender threadlike structure, especially a microscopic whiplike
appendage that enables many protozoa, bacteria, spermatozoa, etc., to swim.
8. Pheromones-
A small, volatile chemical signal that functions in communication
between animals and acts much like a hormone in influencing physiology and behavior.
9. Pseudopods-
A temporary projection of the cytoplasm of certain cells or of certain
unicellular organisms, especially amoebas, that serves in locomotion and phagocytosis
(cell eating).
10. Territoriality (defense)-
The behavior shown by an animal when establishing
and defending its territory.
Vocab: Ecology
1. Bioaccumulation-
Refers to the accumulation of substances, such as
pesticides, or other chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an
organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the
substance is lost.
2. Birth rate-
The number of live births per thousand of population per year.
3. Carbon cycle-
Worldwide circulation and reutilization of carbon atoms, chiefly
due to metabolic processes of living organisms. Inorganic carbon, in the form of
carbon dioxide, is incorporated into organic compounds by photosynthetic
organisms; when the organic compounds are broken down in respiration, carbon
dioxide is released. Large quantities of carbon are "stored" in the seas and the
atmosphere, as well as in fossil fuel deposits.
4. Carrying capacity-
The maximum population size that can be supported by the
available resources, symbolized as K.
5. Cellular respiration-
What cells do to break up sugars into a form that the cell
can use as energy. This happens in all forms of life. Cellular respiration takes in
food and uses it to create ATP, a chemical which the cell uses for energy.
6. Chemical energy-
Energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds (atoms
and molecules). It is released in a chemical reaction, often producing heat as a by
product (exothermic reaction).
7. Climate change-
A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a
change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed
largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use
of fossil fuels.
8. Competition-
Interaction between members of the same population or of two
or more populations using the same resource, often present in limited supply.
9. Conservation-
A goal-oriented science that seeks to counter the biodiversity
crisis, the current rapid decrease in Earth's variety of life.
10. Consumer-
A heterotroph that derives its energy from living or freshly killed
organisms or parts thereof. Primary consumers are herbivores; higher-level
consumers are carnivores.
11. Death rate-
The ratio of deaths to the population of a particular area during a
particular period of time, usually calculated as the number of deaths per one
thousand people per year.

12. Decomposer/ Decomposition-


Saprotrophic fungi and bacteria that absorb
nutrients from nonliving organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material,
and the wastes of living organisms, and convert them into inorganic forms.
13. Deforestation-
The clearing of trees, transforming a forest into cleared land.
14. Dynamic equilibrium-
The rate of loss is equal to the rate of gain.

15. Ecosystem-
A level of ecological study that includes all the organisms in a given

area as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact; a community and its
physical environment.
16. Energy pyramid-
The graphical representation of the trophic levels
(nutritional) by which the incoming solar energy is transferred into an ecosystem.
The source of energy for living beings on Earth is the Sun.
17. Exponential growth-
In populations, the increasingly accelerated rate of
growth due to the increasing number of individuals being added to the
reproductive base. Exponential growth is very seldom approached or sustained in
natural populations.
18. Fossil fuels-
A natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past
from the remains of living organisms.
19. Global warming-
A gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's
atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased
levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants.
20.Greenhouse effect-
The warming of planet Earth due to the atmospheric
accumulation of carbon dioxide, which absorbs infrared radiation and slows its
escape from the irradiated Earth.
21. Habitat destruction-
The process in which natural habitat is rendered
functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms
that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity.
22. Heat energy-
The type of energy that a thing has because of its temperature
23. Invasive species-
An organism (plant, animal, fungus, or bacterium) that is not
native and has negative effects on our economy, our environment, or our health.
24. Mutualism-
a relationship between two species of organisms in which both
benefit from the association.
25. Nitrogen cycle-
Worldwide circulation and reutilization of nitrogen atoms,
chiefly due to metabolic processes of living organisms; plants take up inorganic
nitrogen and convert it into organic compounds (chiefly proteins), which are
assimilated into the bodies of one or more animals; bacterial and fungal action on
nitrogenous waste products and dead organisms return nitrogen atoms to the
inorganic state
26. Nitrogen fixation-
The assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by certain
prokaryotes into nitrogenous compounds that can be directly used by plants.
27. Non-native species-
An introduced, alien, exotic, or non-indigenous species, is
a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by
human activity, either deliberate or accidental.
28.Parasitism-
A symbiotic relationship in which the symbiont (parasite) benefits
at the expense of the host by living either within the host (endoparasite) or
outside the host (ectoparasite).

29. Photosynthesis-
The conversion of light energy to chemical energy that is
stored in glucose or other organic compounds; occurs in plants, algae, and certain
prokaryotes.
30.Pollution-
The presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance
or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects.
31. Population density-
The number of individuals of a population per unit area or
volume of living space.
32. Population dynamics-
The branch of life sciences that studies short-term and
long-term changes in the size and age composition of populations, and the
biological and environmental processes influencing those changes.
33. Population growth-
Increase
, over a specific period of time, in the number of
individuals living in a country or region.
34. Predation-
An interaction between species in which one species, the predator,
eats the other, the prey.
35. Predator/ prey relationships-
A predator is an organism that eats another
organism. Theprey is the organism which the predator eats.
36. Producer-
An autotrophic organism, usually a photosynthesizer, that
contributes to the net primary productivity of a community.
37. Radiant energy-
Energy that travels by waves or particles, particularly
electromagnetic radiation such as heat or x-rays.
38.Stewardship-
Environmental stewardship refers to responsible use and
protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable
practices.
39. Symbiosis-
An ecological relationship between organisms of two different
species that live together in direct contact.

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