| A | B |
|---|
| acquired trait | a characteristic an organism picks up during its lifetime |
| adaptation | a body part or behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment |
| body fossil | the actual remains of an organism, in whole or in part |
| carnivore | an organism that mainly eats animals |
| cell | the smallest structure that can carry out all the processes of a living thing |
| cell membrane | the flexible covering of a cell |
| cell wall | the rigid covering that surrounds all plant cells |
| chlorophyll | a green material in plant cell that traps the sun's energy |
| chloroplast | an organelle in plant cells that uses the energy in sunlight to make food for the plant |
| commensalism | a relationship in which one kind of organism benefits, but the other is not helped or harmed |
| consumer | an organism that eats other organisms to get energy |
| cytoplasm | a thick watery liquid that fills a cell |
| decomposer | an organism that gets energy by consuming and breaking down dead organisms and wastes |
| ecosystem | a community of living things and the nonliving environment around them |
| fossil | the preserved remains or traces of a living thing |
| gene | a tiny piece of material in the nucleus of a cell that controls how a certain trait develops |
| herbivore | an organism that mainly eats plants |
| heredity | the process of passing traits from parents to offspring |
| host | an organism that is harmed in a parasitic relationship |
| inherited trait | a characteristic passed from parents to offspring before the offspring are born |
| learned trait | a skill gained by learning |
| life cycle | all the stages an organism goes through from beginning of life to death |
| mitochondria | cell organelles that help provide cells with energy |
| mutualism | a relationship in which both organisms benefit |
| nucleus | the control center of a cell |
| omnivore | a living thing that eats both plants and animals |
| organelle | a structure inside a cell that does a certain job |
| paleontologist | a scientist who studies fossils in order to learn about ancient organisms and environments |
| parasite | an organism that benefits from parasitism at the expense of a host |
| parasitism | a relationship in which one kind of organism benefits and the other is harmed |
| photosynthesis | the process by which plants use sunlight to make their own food |
| pollutant | an unwanted substance that is added into the environment |
| predator | an animal that hunts and eats other animals for food |
| prey | an animal that is hunted and eaten by other animals as food |
| producer | a living thing that is able to make its own food |
| symbiosis | any relationship between two different kinds of organisms |
| trace fossil | details preserved in rocks, including footprints, burrows, and nests |
| trait | a quality or characteristic of a living thing |
| vacuole | a membrane-covered sac that stores materials, chemicals, and wastes inside a cell |
| vertebrate | an animal with a backbone |
