Science

an organized way of using evidence to learn about the natural world.

Observation

the process of gathering information about events or processes in a careful, orderly way.

Quantitative data

expressed as numbers by counting or measuring.

Qualitative data

descriptive and involve characteristics that can't usually be counted.

Inference

a logical interpretation based on prior knowledge or experience

Hypothesis

a proposed scientific explanation for a set of observations.

Spontaneous Generation

the idea that cells can come from any matter, alive or dead.

Controlled Experiment

an experiment in which only one variable is changed at a time. All other variables should be kept unchanged, or controlled.

Manipulated variable 

the variable that is deliberately changed (also called the independent variable)

Responding Variable

the variable that is observed and that changes in response to the manipulated variable (also called the dependent variable)

Theory

a well tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations

Homeostasis

an organism's ability to maintain a relatively stable internal environment

Metric System

system of measurement used by scientists in order to be able to replicate other experiments.

Microscope

a device that produces magnified images of structures that are too small to see with the unaided eye.

Light Microscope

the most commonly used microscope. Allows light to pass through specimen and uses two lenses.

Electron Microscope

Used to study smaller objects in greater detail.

Cell Culture

a process where a single cell produces a group of cells

Cell Fractionantion

a technique that uses a centrifuge to separate the different cell parts.

Carbon Compounds, Chemical Reactions & Enzymes; DNA Vocabulary

Monomer

The smaller units in the process of polymerization

Polymer

the large molecule formed from polymerization

Carbohydrate

Compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, usually in a ratio of 1:2:1.

Monosaccharide

Simple sugar molecules

Polysaccharide

Large macromolecules formed from monosaccharides

Lipid

Part of a large and varied group of molecules that are generally not soluble in water.  They are made mostly from carbon and hydrogen atoms

Nucleic Acid

Biological molecules containing hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen carbon and phosphorus.  They are polymers assembled from individual monomers called nucleotides.

Nucleotide

Monomer that makes up nucleic acid.  Consist of three parts: a 5 carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base.

Nitrogen Base

Any of 4 nitrogen containing bases in DNA

Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)

Nucleic Acid that contains the sugar ribose

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

Nucleic Acid that contains the sugar deoxyribose

Adenine

Nitrogen Base in DNA that pairs with T. It is purine

Guanine