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Biology - The Biology glossary terms

The Biology glossary terms

ABSORPTION

The movement of a simple substance across the lining of the digestive
system.

AMINO ACIDS

The structural unit of proteins.

AQUATIC

Living in water.

ASEXUAL

Describes an organism that reproduces without sex.

AUTOTROPHIC

Describes an organism that makes its own organic compounds (food) from
simple inorganic substances. Most photosynthesise.

BINOMIAL

Consists of two names.

BLOOD SYSTEM

A system of the body made up of blood, heart and a series of tubes that
transport blood around the body.

BOLUS

A rounded mass of partly digested food.

CAECUM

Beginning of the large intestine.

CELL

A small enclosed unit that makes up all living things. The structural unit
of organisms.

CHARACTERISTIC

A feature that helps identify something. A distinguishing mark or trait.

CHLOROPHYLL

Green pigment that traps light.

COLON

Part of the large intestine.

CYTOPLASM

Everything in the cell apart from the nucleus and the cell membrane.

DICHOTOMOUS

Dividing into two parts.

DIGESTION

The physical (mechanical) and chemical breakdown of food into useable
forms.

DISACCHARIDE

A carbohydrate made up of two monosaccharide molecules joined together.

ELECTRON MICROGRAPH

Photograph taken of an image under an electron microscope.

EUKARYOTES

Organisms whose cells have a nucleus and other membrane-bounded
organelles.

FAECES

Wastes of the digestive system. They are expelled from the body via the
anus.

FIELD OF VIEW

The area of the image visible in the eyepiece of a microscope.

FERTILE

Can produce offspring.

FUNCTION

What something does.

GAMETE

A sex cell.

GLUCOSE

A monosaccharide that is used as an energy source for many organisms.

HETEROTROPHIC

Describes an organism that cannot make its own organic compounds (food).
It must ingest or absorb organic material from its environment.

HIERARCHY

An organism can be classified on eight different levels (Kingdom, Phylum
etc.). These levels are known as a hierarchy.

INFERTILE

Cannot produce offspring.

INGESTION

Taking food into the body.

INVERTEBRATES

Animals that do not have a backbone.

KEY

An outline of the distinguishing characteristics of a group of organisms,
used as a guide in classification.

KINGDOM

Largest classification group (i.e. Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista and
Prokaryotae).

LUMEN

Cavity within a tube.

LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

A system made up of tubes, nodes and lymph. Involved in transport of
products of lipid digestion from the small intestine to the blood. Helps
fight infection.

MAGNIFICATION

How much larger an object appears compared to its real size.

MONOSACCHARIDE

A simple sugar consisting of one sugar molecule.

MULTICELLULAR

Organisms that are composed of many cells.

NUCLEUS

An organelle that contains the genetic information and serves as the
control centre of the cell.

NUTRIENTS

Substances needed by an organism for energy, growth, survival and
development.

ORGANELLE

A structure within a cell with a specific function.

ORGANIC

Containing complex carbon.

ORGANISM

Any living thing made up of one or more cells.

PARASITES

Organisms that survive off the living tissue of other organisms.

PERISTALSIS

Describes rhythmical contraction and relaxation of muscles. Pumping
material through a tube.

PHARYNX

A part of the digestive tract. The throat area in humans.

PHLOEM

In plants a tissue involved in the transport of mineral ions, sucrose and
amino acids up and down a plant.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

A chemical process needing light, carbon dioxide, chlorophyll and water to
produce oxygen and glucose.

POLLEN

Reproductive structure in flowering plants and conifers.

POLYSACCHARIDE

A carbohydrate containing more than two monosaccharides joined together.

PREDATORS

Organisms that kill and eat other organisms (prey).

PROKARYOTES

Organisms whose cells do not have a nucleus or other membrane-bounded
organelles.

PROTIST

A member of the kingdom Protista.

RECTUM

Last part of the large intestine.

SEGMENTED

Made of sections/compartments.

SPECIES

The basic unit of classification. Individuals are structurally similar and
can interbreed and produce viable and fertile offspring.

SPORES

Usually unicellular. A reproductive structure. Usually germinating without
fusing with another cell.

STIMULI

Changes in the environment that may evoke a response.

STIMULUS

A change in an environment that may evoke a response.

TRIGLYCERIDE

A fat made up of one glycerol and three fatty acids.

UNICELLULAR

Organisms that are composed of a single cell.

VERTEBRATES

Animals that have a backbone.

VIABLE

Can survive.

WASTES

Unwanted substances that a cell produces and must dispose of.

XYLEM

In plants a tissue involved in the transport of water and mineral ions up
a plant.

ZYGOTE

The first cell of a new individual formed by the fusion of two gametes.