CIBI 3031 Terms to Know Instructor: Kristin Peterson

Chapter 1: Glossary of selected key terms (términos clave selectos)

adaptive trait / característica de adaptación

Any aspect of form, function, or behavior that helps the individual survive and reproduce under prevailing conditions.

Animalia / Animalia (animales)

Kingdom of animals.

antibiotic / antibiótico

Metabolic product of soil microbes that kills bacterial competitors for nutrients.

Archaebacteria / Archaebacteria (arqueobacterias)

Prokaryotic domain; closer to eukaryotic cells than to eubacteria; includes methanogens, halophiles, and thermophiles; also called a kingdom.

artificial selection / selección artificial

Selection of traits among a population under contrived conditions.

biology / biología

The scientific study of life.

biosphere / biosfera

All regions of the Earth's waters, crust, and atmosphere in which organisms live.

cell / célula

Smallest living unit, it can survive and reproduce on its own, given its DNA, raw materials, and an energy source.

community / comunidad

All populations in a habitat. Also, a group of organisms with similar life-styles.

consumer / consumidor

A heterotroph that feeds on cells or tissues of other organisms (e.g., herbivores, carnivores).

control group / grupo de control

Group used as a standard for comparison with an experimental group and, ideally, identical with it in all respects except for the one variable being studied.

decomposer / descomponedor o degradador

Prokaryotic or fungal heterotroph; gets carbon and energy from products, remains, of organisms. Helps cycle nutrients to producers in ecosystems.

deductive logic / lógica deductiva

Pattern of thinking; making inferences about specific consequences or predictions that must follow from a hypothesis.

development / desarrollo

The series of genetically guided embryonic and post-embryonic stages by which morphologically distinct, specialized body parts emerge in a new multicelled individual.

DNA / ADN

Of cells and many viruses, the molecule of inheritance. H bonds join its two helically twisted nucleotide strands, one of which has instructions (in its base sequence) for synthesizing all of the enzymes and other proteins required to build and maintain cells.

ecosystem / ecosistema

Array of organisms, together with their environment, interacting through a flow of energy and a cycling of materials.

energy / energía

Capacity to do work.

Eubacteria / Eubacteria (eubacterias)

Domain of all prokaryotic cells except archaebacteria; also called a kingdom.

evolution / evolución

Genetic change in a line of descent. Outcome of microevolutionary events: gene mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.

experiment / experimento

Test that simplifies observation in nature or in the laboratory by manipulating and controlling the conditions under which the observations are made.

Fungi / Fungi (hongos)

Kingdom of fungi, which includes major decomposers plus pathogens and parasites.

genus / género

A grouping of species that are more closely related to one another in their morphology, ecology, and history than to other species at the same taxonomic level.

homeostasis / homeostasis

State in which physical and chemical aspects of internal environment (blood, interstitial fluid) are being maintained within ranges suitable for cell activities.

hypothesis / hipótesis

In science, a possible explanation of a phenomenon, one that has the potential to be proved false by experimental tests.

inductive logic / lógica inductiva

Pattern of thinking; deriving a general statement from specific observations.

inheritance / herencia

The transmission, from parents to offspring, of genes that specify structures and functions characteristic of the species.

metabolism / metabolismo

All the controlled, enzyme-mediated chemical reactions by which cells acquire and use energy to synthesize, store, degrade, and eliminate substances in ways that contribute to growth, survival, and reproduction.

model / modelo

Theoretical, detailed description or analogy that helps people visualize something that has not yet been directly observed.

multicelled organism / organismo multicelular

Organism composed of many cells with coordinated metabolic activity; most show extensive cell differentiation into tissues, organs, and organ systems.

mutation / mutación

Heritable change in DNA's molecular structure. Original source of all new alleles and, ultimately, the diversity of life.

natural selection / selección natural

Microevolutionary process; the outcome of differences in survival and reproduction among individuals that differ in details of heritable traits.

Plantae / Plantae (plantas)

Kingdom of plants.

population / población

All individuals of the same species that are occupying a specified area.

prediction / predicción

Statement about what you should observe in nature if you were to go looking for a particular phenomenon; the if-then process.

producer / productor

Autotroph; it nourishes itself using sources of energy and carbon from the physical environment. Photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs are examples.

Protista / Protista (protistas)

Kingdom of protistans; may soon be split into multiple kingdoms.

receptor / receptor

Sensory cell or specialized structure that can detect a stimulus.

reproduction / reproducción

Any process by which a parental cell or organism produces offspring. Among eukaryotes, asexual modes (e.g., binary fission, budding, vegetative propagation) and sexual modes. Prokaryotes use prokaryotic fission only. Viruses cannot reproduce themselves; host organisms execute their replication cycle.

sampling error / error de muestreo

Use of a sample or subset of a population, an event, or some other aspect of nature for an experimental group that is not large enough to be representative of the whole.

scientific test / prueba científica

A means to determine the accuracy of a prediction, as by conducting experimental or observational tests and by developing models. Scientific tests are conducted under controlled conditions in nature or the laboratory.

scientific theory / teoría científica

An explanation of the cause or causes of range of related phenomena. It has been rigorously tested but is still open to tests, revision, and tentative acceptance or rejection.

species / especie

One kind of organism. Of sexually reproducing organisms, one or more natural populations in which individuals are interbreeding and are reproductively isolated from other such groups.

stimulus / estímulo

A specific form of energy (e.g., pressure, light, and heat) that activates a sensory receptor able to detect it.

variable / variable

Of an experimental test, a specific aspect of an object or event that may differ over time and among individuals. A single variable is directly manipulated in an attempt to support or disprove a prediction.