ThirdQuarter Science Vocabulary - Sixth Grade - Mr. Benton
Directions: click on a word to see its definition Printable version 2nd qtr vocab
Current week's vocabulary list is highlighted in blue.
| 71. carbohydrate |
81. matter |
91. gene |
| 72. calorie | 82. energy | 92. allele |
| 73. trophic level | 83. carbon dioxide | 93. dominant / recessive |
| 74. autotroph / heterotroph | 84. biodiversity | 94. genotype, phenotype |
| 75. herbivore, carnivore, omnivore |
85. interdependence |
95. homozygous / heterozygous |
| 76. reproductive potential | 86. trait | 96. express |
| 77. limiting factor | 87. feature | 97. ratio |
| 78. carrying capacity | 88. variation | 98. Punnett square |
| 79. "10% rule" | 89. DNA | 99. heredity |
| 80. detritivore | 90. chromosome | 100. partial dominance |
energy - the ability to do work; comes in many forms - chemical energy, heat energy, electrical energy, etc.
carbon dioxide - a gas which makes up less than 4% of our atmosphere, but is necessary for photosynthesis; chemical symbol: CO2
autotroph/ heterotroph - an autotroph is an organism which makes its own food (like a plant); a heterotroph is an organism that must eat other organisms for its energy needs
trophic level: the position of an organism in an ecosystem related to its feeding habits; e.g.: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, etc.
carbohydrate - a sugar or starch; the source of energy in many foods; chemical formula contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
. calorie - the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one milliliter of water one degree Celsius
herbivore, carnivore, omnivore - consumers in a food web: herbivores eat producers (plants). carnivores eat meat (other consumers), omnivores (like bears and humans) eat both plants and animals
reproductive potential - the theoretical unlimited growth of a population over time
limiting factor - any influence which reduces the reproductive capacity of a population
carrying capacity- the ability of an ecosystem to sustain (keep alive) a certain number of individuals
"10% rule" - on average, only 10% of energy and matter consumed by an organism at a lower trophic level is passed on to the next higher consumer level because most energy is used by any given organism to perform life processes.
detritivore - an organism like a worm or beetle that eats dead material (detritus) but doesn't break the material down into its simplest form (and is therefore not referred to as a decomposer in our book)
matter - the substance that anything is made of; molecules and atoms, "building blocks," chemicals
energy - the ability to do work; comes in many forms - chemical energy, heat energy, electrical energy, etc.
biodiversity - the presence of many different types of organisms in an ecosystem
interdependence - the connections between all living things which result in the need for biodiversity to maintain a healthier ecosystem
trait - the specific way a feature is expressed in an individual: for example, eye color is a feature; blue eyes are a trait
feature - a structure, characteristic or behavior of an organism, such as eye color, fur pattern, or timing of migration, which helps to identify the organism as a certain species
variation - the range of differences in a trait in any population; for example, there are variations in the color of walking sticks: brown, green-brown and green.
DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid; the complex chemical, of which chromosomes are made, that carries genetic information to the next generation ( DNA is shaped like a twisted ladder, or double helix)
global warming - a rise in the average temperature in the Earth's atmosphere, partly caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
microbe - name for bacteria and fungi, especially those that cause disease
chromosome - a structure in a cell's nucleus that is made of DNA and which transfers hereditary information to the next generation ( a part of a chromosome that controls a trait is called a "gene")
allele - a gene identified as either dominant or recessive
gene - a section of a chromosome that carries a chemical code for features of organisms, when the trait of an organism shows up (for example, brown eyes) the gene is said to be "expressed"
dominant, recessive - in genetics, 'dominant' refers to the form of a gene that is expressed or shows up whenever it is present and 'recessive' is the form of the gene that doesn't show up unless there is no dominant gene present
genotype, phenotype - genotype refers to the letters that represent the genes of a trait of an organism, for example: TT is the genotype for tall pea plants. Phenotype means the trait that is expressed, for example: 'tall' is a phenotype in pea plants
heterozygous gene, homozygous gene - heterozygous genes have two different alleles, one dominant and one recessive, for example: Tt, Aa, Ff; homozygous genes have two identical alleles, for example, both dominant or both recessive: TT, aa, FF, ff
homologous pair - two "matching" chromosomes, one originally from the male parent, one originally from the female parent, which code for the same features but which may have differences in their alleles (dominant or recessive)
express - to cause to show up; when an allele creates a protein that results in a trait, the gene (allele) is being 'expressed'
ratio - a comparison of two numbers, for example, if there are 3 striped larkeys and 1 spotted larkey, the ratio is 3:1
Punnett square - a diagram which shows the possible offspring genotypes when two particular parents breed
heredity - the passing on of traits from one generation to the next
partial dominance - type of inherited characteristic in which a heterozygous gene results in a trait unlike the dominant trait or the recessive trait, for example the larkey fur pattern: Ff (heterozygous) results in solid patterned fur rather than striped (dominant) or spotted (recessive).
selective breeding - humans choosing to breed organisms for their beneficial characteristics
natural selection - process in nature that allows well-adapted organisms to survive and reproduce and reduces the probability that poorly-adapted organisms will survive