Biology Chapter: Properties of Water and Homeostasis

Water is most dense as a liquid, not as a solid (ice).

Water dissolves many polar and ionic substances, making it a universal solvent.

Water's ability to absorb and release heat energy without a large temperature change.

Amino acids contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen

Maintaining a stable internal environment.

A fatty acid with no double bonds.

A fatty acid with at least one double bond.

A group of individuals of the same species in a specific area.

All life on Earth and the environments it occupies.

This level represents a group of the same species living in the same area.

A change in a protein's shape that causes it to lose its function.

Proteins have specific shapes that determine their function.

Comparing protein sequences (like hemoglobin) reveals evolutionary relatedness. Fewer differences mean closer related species.

Nucleotides are composed of a nitrogenous base, a sugar, and a phosphate group.

Plants store sugars as starch; animals store sugars as glycogen.

The hierarchical arrangement of living things, from molecules to ecosystems.

All the living organisms (biotic factors) and non-living components (abiotic factors) in a particular area.

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; it serves as a comparison.

Single-celled organisms lacking a nucleus or other membrane-bound organelles.

The process where organisms with traits better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.

An organism, such as a bacterium, lacking a membrane-bound nucleus or organelles.

The basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms.

A weak bond between a hydrogen atom in one water molecule and an oxygen atom in another water molecule.

Long chains of simple sugars (monosaccharides) linked together.

A phospholipid bilayer, where two layers of phospholipid molecules form a barrier.

Steroids are lipids, not proteins.

Lipids are not considered true polymers because they lack a repeating monomer unit.

A strong type of intermolecular attraction between a hydrogen atom covalently linked to a highly electronegative atom (like oxygen or nitrogen) and an electron pair in the adjacent molecule.

A covalent bond that links two amino acids together, formed during dehydration synthesis.

Carbohydrates generally have a 1:2:1 ratio of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms.

Saturated fats have no double bonds between carbon atoms in their fatty acid chains, which makes them straight and tightly packed.

The side chain (R group) attached to the alpha carbon atom is what distinguishes one amino acid from another.

Metabolism refers to all the chemical reactions that occur within a living organism, including both breaking down molecules (catabolism) and building them up (anabolism).

The independent variable is the factor that is manipulated or changed by the researcher in an experiment. It is the variable that is expected to have an effect on another variable.

A hypothesis is a testable prediction or educated guess that attempts to explain a phenomenon or solve a problem. It must be falsifiable, meaning it can be proven wrong.

A carbonyl group is a functional group consisting of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom (C=O).

Dehydration reactions create polymers by removing water molecules, while hydrolysis breaks down polymers by adding water molecules. They are opposite processes.