Essential Vocabulary

ListSeptember 30,

2015

1.Bio-Life

2. Biotic—living parts of an ecosystem even if they are dead, they are still biotic

3. Abiotic—nonliving parts of an ecosystem; Dead does not equal abiotic

4. Organism-any living thing

5. Producer—an organism that makes its own food—plant —uses photosynthesis to make its food.

6. Consumer—an organism that eats other organisms.

7. Primary Consumer—An organism that eats only producers—plant eater.

8. Secondary Consumer—An organism that eats both producers and consumers.

9. Tertiary Consumer-An organism that eats both producers and consumers and has no natural predators.

10. Decomposer—An organism that eats dead or decaying organisms.

11. Scavenger—An animal that hunts dead animals.

12. Food chain—the transfer of energy from one organism to another along ONE pathway.

13. Food Web—the transfer of energy from organism to organism along MORE THAN ONE overlapping pathway.

14. Autotroph—an organism that makes its own food. (Producer)

15. Heterotroph—an organism that does not make its own food. (consumers)

16. Habitat—what an organism needs to survive…food, water, shelter, and space.

17. Population—all the organisms of one species living in a habitat.Example…all the deer in a forest.

18. Community—all the populations of organisms living in a habitat.

19. Ecosystem—a community of living organisms and their non-living surroundings.

20. Symbiosis—a relationship between two organisms living together in their environment.

21. Parasitism—one of the three types of symbiosis where one organism lives on or in another and causes harm to the organism.

22. Parasite—an organism that lives in or on another organism in order to get food and protection. The parasite causes harm to the other organism.

23. Host—an organism that is harmed by the parasite that lives on or in it.

24. Commensalism—one of the three types of symbiosis where one organism lives on or in another organism without harming the other organism.

25. Mutualism—one of the three types of symbiosis where both organisms benefit and neither organism is harmed.

26.Cell Theory states:

27. All living things are made of cells.

28. Cells are the structure and function of life.

29. Cells come from other cells.

27. Cell Wall—The outermost covering of a plant cell. Provides support and protection for plant cells. It is made of cellulose.

28. Cell Membrane—found just inside the cell wall of a plant cell and is the outer covering of an animal cell. Controls what goes into and out of a cell.

29. Cytoplasm—a thick gel-like material that fills the cell. It helps move things around the cell.

30. Nucleus—the brain or control center of the cell. It contains the genetic material that controls the cell. Also contains the nucleolus.

31. Nuclear Membrane—the outer covering of the nucleus that controls what goes into and out of the nucleus.

32. Chromatin—the genetic material found within the nucleus that contains directions for the cell.

33. Nucleolus—Nicknamed the “little nucleus”, the nucleolus is found inside the nucleus and is responsible for making ribosomes.

34. Ribosomes—produced by the nucleolus, ribosomes are responsible for making protein that is distributed throughout the cell.

35. Chloroplast-found in plant cells—the site of photosynthesis. These are green because they contain chlorophyll, the green chemical used to make food during photosynthesis.

36. Mitochondria—nicknamed the “Powerhouse” of the cell, the mitochondria are responsible for cellular respiration. This is how a cell gets energy.

37. Golgi Bodies– the “mailroom” of the cell, the Golgi bodies package and prepare materials for transport throughout the cell.

38. Endoplasmic Reticulum—the transportation system of the cell. Moves materials around the cell after they are packaged by the Golgi Bodies.

39. Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum—ER that has ribosomes on its surface.

40. Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum—ER with no ribosomes along attached to its surface.

41. Vacuole-stores water, food, and waste materials for the cell. These are large in plant cells in order to store the water they need.

42. lysosomes—small packages of strong chemicals used to clean up the cell of broken parts and left over food materials.

43. Microtubules—hollow rods that help support and shape the cell and help move organelles through the cytoplasm.