Life and Living Glossary

• abiotic: non-living elements of the environment such as soil, water and air

• adapt / adapted: to change the way that something looks or the way something is done based on the surroundings / environment

• amphibian: any of a class of vertebrate animals that live on land and in water at different times in its life-cycle, are ectothermic and have a naked skin, and that the larvae hatch in water and has gills, which later transforms into the adult that breathes with lungs

• angiosperm: a plant that has flowers and produces seeds that are enclosed in a fruit

• antenna (antennae): one of two long thin parts on the head of some arthropods (like insects and crustaceans) used for touch, smell and taste

• anther: the part of the male sex organ of a plant that contains the pollen

• aquatic: being in or near water

• arthropod: any of a large group of animals with a hard body, no backbone and legs that are divided into sections

• asexual reproduction: reproduction of plants and fungi that doesn't require male and female sex cells to fuse in order to make a new organism

• atmosphere: the layers of gas that surround the Earth

• biosphere: the parts of the Earth's surface, water and atmosphere in which life can exist (and where plants, animals and organisms can live)

• bulb: a type of underground stem with one or more buds that are covered by leaves or scales - like onions and tulips

• cartilage: strong, flexible tissue similar to bone

• cell: the smallest structural unit or building block of life that can sustain the seven life processes

• cellularrespiration: the process in living organisms by which oxygen is used to release energy from food and carbon dioxide is given off as a by-product

• characteristic: a typical feature or quality that makes one thing different from another

• class: the major taxonomic rank below phylum and above order that includes groups of vertebrate animals such as fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, and the invertebrate groups such as insects and arachnids

• classify: a systematic grouping of objects, items or organisms based on characteristics, relationships and processes

• component: one of the parts that something is made of

• conception: moment of fertilisation when the male sperm and the female egg cell fuse and a new individual is formed

• cotyledon: the seed leaf that is involved in the storage or absorption of food reserves

• depend / dependent: to need something or somebody to do their part in providing a shelter, food, air, etc. for an organism's survival

• dependent variable: the variable of interest that is measured to get the results

• dicotyledon: a plant that has a seed with two cotyledons, nodes and internodes on its stem, a tap root and generally leaves on small stalks called petioles; the leaves have a net-type leaf vein

• disperse: spread over a wide area

• diversity: the number and variety of species present in an area and the location of their different habitats

• ectothermic: relating to animals that have a blood temperature that changes if the temperature of their surroundings change

• ejaculate: when a male releases sperm from the penis

• embryo sac: structure within the ovule that contains the egg cell; contains the newly developing plant and endosperm after fertilisation

• endothermic: relating to animals that have a blood temperature that does not change if the temperature of their surroundings change

• environment: the external surroundings, conditions, resources, stimuli, etc. in which an organisms lives and interacts

• exoskeleton: the hard outer covering that protects the body of certain arthropods

• fair test: an experiment where only one independent variable is changed each time the experiment is repeated

• fallopian tube(oviduct): a tube lying close to each ovary that receives the mature ova (egg) and transports it to the uterus

• favourable: good, suitable or acceptable

• fertilisation: the process when a male sex cell fuses with a female sex cell to make a new, unique individual with half the genetic material from the male and half from the female parent organisms

• filament: the stalk-like structure of the stamen that holds and supports the anther

• fuse: to join or blend to form a single entity

• genetic information (DNA): the inherited information coded into the cell that determines what type of cell it is and what it needs to do

• gill: the organ in fish and other water-breathing animals that allows them to breathe underwater

• gravity: the force that attracts a body towards the centre of the Earth or towards any other physical body having mass

• habitat: the natural place where a plant or animal lives

• herbaceous: a plant that has a non-woody stem and which normally dies at the end of the growing season

• hormone: chemical messengers that travel in the bloodstream to tissues and organs to affect many different reactions in the body.

• hydrosphere: the water on the Earth's surface, including the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and dams

• hypothesis / hypotheses: a statement that is an educated guess about the outcome of the experiment; an idea that is suggested as the possible explanation for something that has not yet been proved to be true or correct

• independent variable: those variables that will be changed one at a time to see what effect they will cause in the dependent variable; variables that are under the control of the investigator

• inheritance: something that is passed on genetically from one generation to another

• invertebrate: an animal without a line of bones (backbone) going down its back

• jointed (segmented) limbs: separate parts of the leg is covered in a hard exoskeleton with clear joints between them

• kingdom: refers to five major divisions of living organisms; plants, animals, fungi, protists and bacteria that is in turn composed of smaller groups called phyla

• larva / larvae: a stage in the development of insects and other animals where it has come out of the egg and is mainly concerned with consuming food

• leaf vein: little tubes that branch throughout a leaf carrying water and dissolved substances

• lithosphere: the crust or outer part of the Earth

• mammary gland: milk producing glands in female mammals

• marine: of or relating to the sea

• mate: come together for breeding, copulating

• matter: the physical substances from which all things are made, such as rocks, soil, air, water, plants and animals

• maturing: to become physically mature and fully developed

• menstruation: a recurring monthly event where the lining of the uterus breaks down and is discharged as menstrual blood

• microorganism: an organism that is too small to see without a microscope

• monocotyledon: a plant that has a seed with one cotyledon, adventitious, generally shallow roots and leaves that forms sheaths around the stem; the leaves have a parallel leaf vein

• natural selection: a process in which organisms with more suitable features survive and reproduce more successfully in a particular environment, resulting in more offspring that carry the same traits

• order: a taxonomic rank below class and above family that classifies organisms based on specific characteristics, such as diet and tooth structure, such as herbivores, carnivores and primates

• organic: produced by or formed from living organisms

• organism: an individual living thing that can react to stimuli, reproduce, grow, etc, such as a bacterium, protist, fungus, plant or animal

• ovary: the female reproductive organ in which the female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone as well as female sex cells (ova) are produced and stored; in a flower it is the thickened part at the base of the flower that contains the ovules

• ovule: the part of the ovary of the flower that contains the female sex cell and that becomes the seed after fertilisation

• ovulating: when a mature egg (ova) is ready and gets released (and is in the right place) for fertilisation to take place

• peduncle: the stalk or stem of a flower

• penis: the male sex organ for the transfer of sperm cells to the female

• petal(s): each of the modified leaf sections of a flower that are typically coloured to attract animals

• photosynthesis: the process by which green plants (and some bacteria) use energy from light to turn carbon dioxide and water into food and oxygen

• phyla: a taxonomic rank in biological classification that is below kingdom and above class, that divides organisms according to major body similarities, such as chordates, molluscs and arthropods

• pistil (carpel): the female organs of a flower containing the stigma, style and ovary

• pollen: a fine powdery substance that is often yellow and contains the male sex cells

• pollen tube: a hollow tube that develops from a pollen grain and grows into the stigma and down the style to deliver the male sex cells to the ovary of the flower

• pollination: the transference of pollen from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower of the same species

• pollinator(s): an agent that carries pollen from one flower to another (bees, butterflies, birds or the wind for instance)

• puberty: the period between childhood and adulthood when the sex organs mature causing changes in the body that prepare the body to be able to reproduce

• receptacle: the place where a flower is attached to the peduncle (stalk or stem)

• requirement: something that you need or must have

• respire: to take oxygen into the body and release carbon dioxide; to breathe

• rhizome: a horizontal stem underground that has both roots and shoots

• roots: the part of a plant that is (mostly) underground and responsible for anchoring the plant, and for absorbing water and minerals from the soil

• scientific method: a set way of doing / conducting a scientific investigation allowing you to gain new knowledge by collecting measurable evidence based on observation, measurement and experiment based on the formulation, testing and changing of the hypotheses

• scrotum: the external sac of skin that encloses the testes in males

• seeds: the reproductive organ formed in gymnosperms and angiosperms from which a new plant can grow; it is usually covered by a protective coat and also contains food reserves for the young plant

• sepal(s): small green leaves that protect the developing bud

• sexual intercourse: when the male sperm is introduced into a woman's body

• sexual reproduction: the process of producing new individuals of a species by fusing the genes of two individuals

• shoot: a young branch that sprouts from the main stem of a plant

• sperm: the male sex cell produced by the testes

• spore: the reproductive cell of mosses and ferns (and other organisms) that under the right conditions can develop into a new individual fern or moss

• stamen: the male reproductive organ of a flower containing the filament and anther

• stem: the long thin part of a plant that rises from the ground and from which smaller branches can grow; it supports the leaves, flowers and fruit

• stigma: the sticky tip of a flower pistil where the pollen is deposited during pollination

• style: the stalk-like slender part of the pistil joining the stigma and the ovary, and holding the stigma in a favourable position to receive pollen; the pollen tube grows through the style to deliver the male sex cells to the ovules

• sustain: to keep things alive or healthy

• symbiotic: a type of relationship between organisms in which one or both organisms benefit

• tap root: the main root of a plant that grows deep into the soil of a plant that has a single, dominant main stem

• testes: sperm producing glands of the male body

• umbilical cord: the cord- or tube-like structure that connects the foetus from its abdomen with the placenta of the mother; it transports nourishment and oxygen to the foetus and removes waste

• uterus: the hollow muscular organ in the pelvic area of female mammals in which the fertilised egg implants and develops (also known as the womb)

• vagina: an elastic muscular tube or canal that connects the neck of the uterus (cervix) with the external sexual opening

• variables: any factor that can affect the outcome of the investigation and can be measured, controlled or varied in some way

• variation: differences between living organisms of the same species

• vertebrate: an animal that has a backbone (spine) that holds the nerve or spinal column