Science!!!!

OK, I decided to bore you ALL TO DEATH (MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!) and do a blog post consisting ONLY OF SCIENCE VOCABULARY TERMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dramatic dying scream from blog readers* And another evil laugh, just because they are fun to do: MWAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Really though, I needed to study the 27 terms and definitions so I have them memorized for my test on Friday, but I also wanted to do a blog post, so now I combine both!

At least I'll have fun.

Metabolism: The sum of all processes in an organism which convert energy and matter from outside sources and use that energy and matter to sustain the organism's life functions.

Anabolism: the sum total of all processes in an organism which use energy and simple chemical building blocks to produce large chemicals and structures necessary for survival.

Catabolism: The sum total of all processes in an organism which break down chemicals to produce energy and simple building blocks.

Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants and some other organisms use the energy of sunlight and simple chemicals to produce their own food.

Herbivores: Organisms that eat only plants.

Carnivores: Organisms that eat only organisms other than plants.

Omnivores: Organisms that eat plants and other organisms.

Producers: Organisms that produce their own food. (Well our garden failed... but not quite! So we are almost producers.)

Consumers: Organisms that eat producers and/or other consumers.

Decomposers: Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms. (My brother smashes dead crickets...)

Autotrophs: Organisms that make their own food. (So... does that mean I am an autotroph? I made my self lunch today!)

Heterotrophs: Organisms that depend on other organisms for their food. (Like my 3 yr old brother... can't quite make himself a sandwich yet.)

Receptors: Special structures that allow living organisms to sense the conditions of their internal or external enviroment.

Asexual reproduction: reproduction accomplished by a single organism.

Sexual reproduction: reproduction that requires two organisms.

Inheritance: The process by which physical and biological characteristics are transmitted from the parent (or parents) to the offspring. (This goes for money too.)

Mutation: An abrubt and marked change in the DNA of an organism compared to that of its parents. (So if you have drastically different jeans then your mom, you are a mutant!)

Hypothesis: An educated guess that attempts to explain an observation or answer a question.

Theory: A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data.

Scientific Law: A theory that has been tested by and is consistant with generations of data.

Microorganisms: Living creatures that are too small to see with the naked eye.

Abiogenesis: The idea that long ago, very simple life forms spontaneously appeared through chemical reactions. (Spontaneous Generation: same song, 2nd verse. They acutally used to think that mice would form from a sweaty shirt and grains of wheat!)

Prokaryotic cell: a cell that has no distinct membrane-bound organelles.

Eukaryotic cell: a cell that has distinct membrane-bound organelles.

Species: a unit of one or more populations of individuals that can reproduce under normal circumstances, produce fertile offspring and are reproductivlly isolated from other such units.

Binomial nomenclature: Nameing an organisim with it's genus and species name. (Don't you just love saying that? Binomial nomenclature. So distinguished.)

Taxonomy: The science of classifying organisms. (At first I thought this was some form of taxidermy, until I read the definition.)

Andddd... that's it! See, it wasn't so bad. But to make it up to you, if you were bored out of your mind, I shall scamper off and find this beautiful song I heard again yesterday.