Biology Vocab 3

The process by which a cell uses energy to move substances across the cell membrane against their natural direction of flow

Active transport requires energy because it moves molecules from areas of low concentration to high concentration.

A molecule that stores and carries energy that cells need to do their work; stands for adenosine triphosphate

When you exercise, your muscles use ATP to get the energy they need to move.

The variety of different living things found in a particular area or on Earth as a whole

Tropical rainforests have very high biodiversity because thousands of different species live there.

The thin, flexible layer that surrounds a cell and controls what enters and leaves it

The cell membrane protects the cell and allows nutrients to pass inside.

A structure found in plant cells that captures sunlight and uses it to make food through photosynthesis

The green color of leaves comes from the chloroplasts inside the plant cells.

All the different populations of organisms that live and interact with each other in the same area

The community in the pond includes fish, frogs, insects, and water plants.

A living thing that gets energy by eating other organisms rather than making its own food

Rabbits are consumers because they eat plants to get the energy they need to survive.

The jelly-like fluid that fills a cell and holds the organelles in place

The cytoplasm keeps all the parts of the cell floating in the right position.

Describing a gene or trait that appears in an organism even if only one copy of it is present

Brown eye color is often dominant, so a person with one brown eye gene will have brown eyes.

The process in which a male reproductive cell joins with a female reproductive cell to create a new organism

Fertilization in humans occurs when a sperm cell successfully reaches and enters an egg cell.

A diagram that shows the complex feeding relationships between many different organisms in an ecosystem

The food web in the ocean shows how energy flows from tiny plants to large sharks.

A reproductive cell, such as a sperm or egg, that joins with another gamete during fertilization

During reproduction, a male gamete and a female gamete combine to form a new organism.

A simple sugar that living things use as their main source of energy

Plants make glucose from sunlight and carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.

The passing of traits and characteristics from parents to their offspring through genes

Heredity explains why children often look similar to their parents.

A change in the DNA of an organism that can affect how the organism looks or functions

Some mutations are harmless, but others can cause diseases or changes in an organism.

The specific role or position that an organism has in its ecosystem, including what it eats and how it interacts with other living things

The niche of an owl includes hunting small animals at night and nesting in trees.

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time

Scientists studied the population of wolves in the forest to see if their numbers were growing.

A diagram used in biology to predict the possible combinations of genes that offspring might inherit from their parents

The students used a Punnett square to find out the probability of a child having blue eyes.

Describing a gene or trait that only appears in an organism when two copies of it are present

Blue eye color is recessive, so a child needs two copies of the blue eye gene to have blue eyes.

The single cell that forms when a sperm cell and an egg cell join together during fertilization

After fertilization, the zygote begins to divide and eventually develops into a new organism.