Ch.4 Key Terms

Question 1

ecosystem

Answer 1

a community of organisms and their abiotic environment

Question 2

biotic factor

Answer 2

an environmental factor that is associated with or results from the activities of living organisms.

Question 3

abiotic factor

Answer 3

describes the non living environment, including water, rocks, light, and temperature

Question 4

organism

Answer 4

a living thing; anything that can carry out life process independently

Question 5

species

Answer 5

a group of organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring; also the level of classification below genus and above subspecies.

Question 6

population

Answer 6

a group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area and interbreed

Question 7

community

Answer 7

a group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other.

Question 8

habitat

Answer 8

the place where an organism usually lives

Question 9

natural selection

Answer 9

the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than well less adapted individuals do

Question 10

evolution

Answer 10

a heritable change in the characteristics within a population from one generation to the next

Question 11

adaptation

Answer 11

the process of becoming adapted to an environment

Question 12

artificial selection

Answer 12

the selective breeding of organisms for specific desirable characteristics

Question 13

resistance

Answer 13

the ability of an organism to tolerate a chemical or disease causing agent

Question 14

archaea

Answer 14

prokaryotes that are distinguished from other prokaryotes by differences in their genetics and in the makeup of their cell wall

Question 15

bacteria

Answer 15

extremely small, single- celled organisms that usually have a cell wall and reproduce by cell division

Question 16

fungus

Answer 16

an organism whose cells have nuclei rigid cell walls and no chlorophyll and belongs to the kingdom of fungi

Question 17

protist

Answer 17

a diverse group of both unicellular and multi-cellular organisms. Some, such as amoebas, are animal-like. Others, suchas the kelp and diatoms

Question 18

gymnosperms

Answer 18

woody plants that produce seeds, but their seeds are not enclosed in fruits. Gymno sperms such as pinetrees are also called conifers because their seeds are inside cones

Question 19

angiosperms

Answer 19

flowering-plants that produce seeds in fruit.

Question 20

invertebrates

Answer 20

Animals that lack backbones

Question 21

vertebrates

Answer 21

animals that have backbones