Vocabulary

Chemistry

1) Compound: A substance produced when elements chemically combine and whose properties are different from each of the elements in it
2) Density: measurable physical property that can be found by dividing the mass of an object by its volume. The amount of matter in a substance
3) element: a substance that can not be broken down into a simpler substance.
4) Homogeneous: two or more substances combined to form a new substance that does not change the identity of the substance. Homogeneous mixtures are the same throughout and often look like one substance
5) Heterogeneous: two or more substances combined to form a new substance that does not change the identity of the substance. Heterogeneous mixtures have parts that are different from each other and you can see
6) Mixture: two or more substances combined to form a new substance that does not change the identity of the substance. And can be mechanically separated.
7) Pure Substance: matter that has the same properties and composition throughout
8) Solubility: the ability for a substance to be dissolved
9) Solute: the substance that is dissolved
10) Solvent: The substance that dissolves another
11) Atomic Mass: average mass of all the isotopes for a particular element, average of the atoms of that particular element.
12) Atomic Number: it is the top number in the periodic table and gives the number of protons in the atom of any given element.
13) Atom: the smallest particle of an element that still contains the properties of the element
14) Chemical Formula: Combination of symbols that indicates the chemical composition of a substance.
15) Chemical Symbol: The abbreviated one or two letter combination used to signify an element. Where the first letter is always capitalized and the second is always lower case
16) Electron: negatively charged particle that exists in the electron cloud around the nucleus of an atom.
17) Neutron: electrically neutral particle that has the same mass as a proton and is located in the nucleus of an atom.
18) Period: horizontal rows of the periodic table whose properties change gradually and predictably. The period number indicates the number of shells (Energy levels)an atom contains.
19) Proton: Positively charged particle located in the nucleus of an atom.
20) Reactivity: the ability or likelihood for an atom or substance to react or combine with another atom or substance.
21) Valence Electrons: Electrons located in the outer shell of an atom
22) Alkali Metals: Highly reactive metals that do not occur freely in nature. All are silvery solids that are soft, have low density, and low melting points. These elements become more reactive as you move from the top to the bottom of the group in the periodic table
23) Alkali Earth Metals: elements in group 2 of the periodic table. They are reactive and readily react with other elements. Each one is slightly denser, harder, and has a slightly higher melting point than its alkali neighbors in the same period.
24) Energy Levels: The shells of the atom on with electrons travel around the nucleus Of an atom. The electrons on the shells farther from the nucleus have more energy.
25) Group/Family: Columns of the periodic table that have element with similar Physical or chemical characteristics. All of the elements in the same family/group have the same number of valence electrons in the outer shell.
26) Halogens: All the elements in group 7 (17), all are non metals except for radioactive Astatine which is a metalloid. Halogen means salt former, all the Halogens form salts With the Alkali Metals, getting less reactive as you move down the group/family.
27) Isotopes: two or more atoms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons in their nucleus.
28) Malleable: the ability of a material to be hammered or rolled into sheets.
29) Metalloids: elements that share some properties of both metals and non-metals
30) Metals: element that is malleable, ductile, a good conductor of electricity, and generally has a shiny or metallic luster.
31) Nobel Gasses: Stable inert gasses that are in group 8 (18) of the periodic table. They have a complete outer energy level( shell) and do not readily form compounds.
32) Non-Metals; are brittle, do not conduct electricity or heat very well are not ductile or malleable (can not be rolled into sheets or stretched into wire).
33) Transition Metals: elements with in the B groups or group 3-12 of the periodic table. All are metals. These bond when forming compounds differently.
34) Matter: anything that occupies space and has mass
35) Molecule: group of two or more atoms that form the smallest identifiable unit into which a pure substance can be divided and still retain the composition and chemical properties of that substance.
36) Melting point: the temperature at which a given solid will melt
37) Boiling Point: the temperature at which a liquid boils and turns to vapor
38) Catalyst: a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction, but is not consumed by the reaction.
39) Precipitate: an insoluble solid that emerges from a liquid during a chemical reaction.
40) Sublime: to pass directly from the solid state to the gas state
41) Physical Change: are changes that affect the form of a chemical substance, but not its chemical composition. Physical changes are used to separate mixtures into their component compounds, but can not be used to separate compounds into chemical elements or simpler compounds
42) Physical Property: any property that is measurable; whose value describes a state of a physical system. The changes in the physical properties of a system can be used to describe its transformation or evolutions between it changes of states but does not change its chemical identity.
43) Chemical Change: Any change that results in a new chemical substance.
44) Chemical Property: A property or characteristic that is observed during a reaction in which the chemical composition or identity of the substance is changed.
45) ductile: (of a metal) able to be drawn out into a thin wire.
46) luster: a gentle sheen or soft glow, especially that of a partly reflective surface.
47) Exothermic: Any chemical reaction in which through the breaking of chemical bonds energy is released often in the form of heat or an explosive reaction.
48) Endothermic: Any chemical reaction in which through the formation of bonds energy is absorbed often observed as a decrease of temperature
49) Open System: An open system can exchange both energy and matter with its surroundings. The stovetop example would be an open system, because heat and water vapor can be lost to the air.

50) Closed System: In chemistry, a closed system is where no reactants or products can escape, only heat can be exchanged freely (e.g. an ice cooler). A closed system can be used when conducting chemical experiments where temperature is not a factor

51) Law of Conservation of Mass: “The mass in an isolated system can neither be created nor be destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another”.

52) Chemical Equation: a representation of a chemical reaction using symbols of the elements to indicate the amount of substance, usually in moles, of each reactant and product.

53) Conductivity: Conductivity is the measure of the ease at which an electric charge or heat can pass through a material. A conductor is a material which gives very little resistance to the flow of an electric current or thermal energy.

54) Reaction Rate: the speed at which a chemical reaction proceeds.

55) Inhibitor: a substance that slows down a chemical or corrosion reaction and may become a part of the final product.

56) Reactants: The substances which participate in a chemical reaction, substances initially present in a chemical reaction that are consumed during the reaction to make products.

57) Products: is a substance that is formed as the result of a chemical reaction.

58) Subscript: a small-sized number on the bottom right of the symbol. It refers to the number of atoms of the element.

59) Coefficient: are used to balance chemical equations. A coefficient is a number placed in front of a chemical symbol or formula. It shows how many atoms or molecules of the substance are involved in the reaction

60) Electron Cloud: the system of electrons surrounding the nucleus of an atom

Hydrosphere

Adhesion: –attraction of water molecules to other polar molecules (ex. water to glass)
Aquifer: Layer of rock or sediment with usable groundwater (ex. open space in rocks)
Cohesion: The attraction between water molecules (ex. water droplet)
Groundwater: Water in the ground, in the soil, or in pores and crevices in rock
Impermeable: not allowing fluid to pass through.
Infiltration: is the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil, the rate at which soil is able to absorb rainfall or irrigation.
Permeable: (of a material or membrane) allowing liquids or gases to pass through it.
Polarity: molecule has a charge that pulls other molecules towards it
River Basin: is the portion of land drained by a river and its tributaries
Surface Tension: the tension of the surface film of a liquid caused by the attraction of the particles in the surface layer
Transpiration: is the process by which moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere
Universal Solvent: water is able to dissolve many substances
Water Cycle: the process of evaporation, condensation, transpiration, and precipitation
Watershed: area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place
Abiotic: physical rather than biological; not derived from living organisms.
Bio-Indicator: organisms that are used to monitor the health of an environment (ex. lichens – algae found on rocks and tree trunks – if disappear – indicator that the environment is not healthy)
Biotic: relating to or resulting from living things, especially in their ecological relations.
Dissolved Oxygen: amount of oxygen dissolved in ocean, greatest near ocean surface because of oxygen gas in atmosphere and photosynthesis
Eutrophication: excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.
Nitrates: nitrogen compounds involved in eutrophication – too many nitrates leads to less oxygen which leads to fish death
Phosphates: It is an essential element for plant life, but when there is too much of it in water, it can speed up eutrophication (a reduction in dissolved oxygen in water bodies caused by an increase of mineral and organic nutrients) of rivers and lakes. Soil erosion is a major contributor of phosphorus to streams.
Temperature: Temperature is a critical water quality and environmental parameter because it governs the kinds and types of aquatic life, regulates the maximum dissolved oxygen concentration of the water, and influences the rate of chemical and biological reactions.
Turbidity: cloudiness or haziness of a liquid caused by particles (Ex. Ocean – too much salt or nutrients or large quantities of sediments and organic materials in rivers, lakes, or streams)
Coagulation: when chemicals such as alum which produces positive charges to neutralize the negative charges on the particles are added to water for treatment. the particles can stick together, forming larger particles that are more easily removed.
Filtration: of separating suspended solid matter from a liquid, by causing the latter to pass through the pores of some substance, called a filter.
Hardness: the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water. Hard water is high in dissolved minerals, both calcium, and magnesium. When using hard water, more soap or detergent is needed to get things clean, be it your hands, hair, or your laundry.
Non-Point Source Pollution: Diffuse runoff from large areas of land. Pollution that is from the landscape is carried on runoff from a non-specific source.
Point Source Pollution: Discharge entering a stream at a specific, detectable point such as a pipe or outfall
Run-Off: pulled by gravity across land's surface, replenishing groundwater and surface water as it percolates into an aquifer or moves into a river, stream, or watershed. As the water travels over the surface it will pick up materials, sediment, pollutants, and other items
Stewardship: being a good citizen (ex. picking up trash, recycling, protecting the environment) is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. It can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, property, information, theology, etc.
Water Treatment: any process that improves the quality of water to make it more acceptable for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, including being safely returned to the environment.
Sedimentation: Water polluted with sediment becomes cloudy, preventing animals from seeing food. ... Sediment increases the cost of treating drinking water and can result in odor and taste problems. Sediment can clog fish gills, reducing resistance to disease, lowering growth rates, and affecting fish egg and larvae development.
Estuary: the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream.
Brackish Water: Water that is more saline than freshwater but less saline than true marine environments. Often these are transitional areas between fresh and marine waters. An estuary, which is the part of a river that meets the sea, is the best-known example of brackish water.
pH: The pH of water determines the solubility (amount that can be dissolved in the water) and biological availability (amount that can be utilized by aquatic life) of chemical constituents such as nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon) and heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium, etc.)

Energy Conservation

Consequences- The effects, results, or outcome of something occurring earlier.

Conservation- careful use of resources to reduce damage to the environment through such methods as composting and recycling materials.
Depletion- To decrease seriously or to exhaust the abundance of supply
Energy Transformation- the transformation of energy from forms provided by nature to forms that can be used by humans
Nonrenewable- natural resource, such as fossil fuels, that cannot be replaced by natural processes as quickly as it is used
Renewable- natural resources, such as water, sunlight, and crops, which are constantly being recycled or replaced by nature
Solar Energy- Solar energy is the energy received by the earth from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which makes the production of solar elect
Coal:a combustible black or dark brown rock consisting mainly of carbonized plant matter, found mainly in underground deposits and widely used as fuel.
coal ash: Coal ash, also referred to as coal combustion residuals or CCRs, is produced primarily from the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants. Coal ash includes a number of by-products produced from burning coal.
geothermal: Geothermal energy is a type of renewable energy taken from the Earth's core. It comes from the heat generated during the original formation of the planet and the subsequent radioactive decay of materials. This thermal energy is stored in rocks and fluids in the center of the earth.
hydraulic fracturing: the forcing open of fissures in subterranean rocks by introducing liquid at high pressure, especially to extract oil or gas.

hydropower: Hydropower is electrical energy produced through the power of moving water. In modern technology, hydropower moves turbines that pass on their energy to a generator which then produces electric power. Hydropower is a type of renewable energy, and once the power plant is constructed it produces little to no waste

Natural Gas: flammable gas, consisting largely of methane and other hydrocarbons, occurring naturally underground (often in association with petroleum) and used as fuel.
Water Consumption: Water consumption” is the portion of water use that is not returned to the original water source after being withdrawn. ... For example, irrigated agriculture accounts for 70 percent of water use worldwide and almost 50 percent of that is lost, either evaporated into the atmosphere or transpired through plant leaves.
Water Withdrawal: Water withdrawals, or water abstractions, are defined as freshwater taken from ground or surface water sources, either permanently or temporarily, and conveyed to a place of use. ... Mine water and drainage water are included, whereas water used for hydroelectricity generation is normally excluded.
Wind Power: Wind power or wind energy describes the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water), or can be converted into electricity by a generator.
Biofuel: Biofuel, any fuel that is derived from biomass—that is, plant or algae material or animal waste. Since such feedstock material can be replenished readily, biofuel is considered to be a source of renewable energy, unlike fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas.
Fossil Fuels: Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil shales, bitumens, tar sands, and heavy oils. All contain carbon and were formed as a result of geologic processes acting on the remains of organic matter produced by photosynthesis, a process that began in the Archean Eon (4.0 billion to 2.5 billion years ago).
Recycle: Recycling is the process of recovering material from waste and turning it into new products. The original product is destroyed in this process, usually through a melting process, but it used to form new products.

Molecular Biology Vocabulary

•Carbohydrates- Organic compounds containing only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; starches, glycogen, cellulose and sugars

•Chemical Digestion- breaking down the food into simpler nutrients that can be used by the cells. begins in the mouth when food mixes with saliva. Saliva contains an enzyme (amylase) that begins the breakdown of carbohydrates.

•Glucose- a simple sugar that is an important energy source in living organisms and is a component of many carbohydrates

•Lipids- Organic compound with the same elements as carbohydrates but in different proportions. They are fatty acids or their derivatives and are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents

•Mechanical Digestion- involves physically breaking the food into smaller pieces. Begins in the mouth as the food is chewed

•Cellular Respiration- biochemical process in which the cells of an organism obtain energy by combining oxygen and glucose, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide, water, and ATP, the currency of energy in cells.

•Mitochondria- Cell organelle that breaks down food and releases energy. The biochemical processes of respiration and energy production occur in these organelles

•Proteins- Biological polymer made up of amino acids: catalyzes many cell reactions and provided the structural materials for many parts of the body.

•Aerobic: living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen

•Anaerobic: (of an organism or tissue) living in the absence of air or free oxygen. pertaining to or caused by the absence of oxygen.

Oceans

Abyssal Plain: An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 m. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge,
Benthos/Benthic: a region including the bottom of the sea or organisms (plants and animals) that live at or near the bottom of a sea
Bioluminescence: Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates
Brackish: slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water)
Chemosynthesis: In biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon molecules and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic molecules or methane as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis
Estuary: semi-enclosed coastal body of water, sea and freshwater, filters pollutants, breeding area
Hydrothermal Vents: heat escaping from inside Earth, underwater, near volcanoes, supports diverse life
Intertidal Zone: the intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore and seashore and sometimes referred to as the littoral zone, is the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide
Neritic Zone: The neritic zone, also called coastal waters, the coastal ocean or the sublittoral zone, is the part of the ocean extending from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf, with a relatively shallow depth extending to about 200 meters.
Ocean Acidification: Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
Plankton: the combination of small plant and animal organisms that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or saltwater
Salinity: measure of the amount of salts dissolved in seawater
SONAR: Sound Navigation and Ranging, technique that uses sound to navigate (ex. dolphin, bat)
Submersible: A small nonmilitary, non-nuclear submarine for exploration.
Upwelling: current that brings deep, cold water to the ocean surface, mixes nutrients also

Ecology.

Aquatic: An organism that lives most of its life in the water, either vertebrate or invertebrate, that can either breath air or obtain oxygen through using dissolved oxygen from the water.
Carrying Capacity: the number of biological species in an environment that is the maximum population of that specific species that the environment can sustain indefinitely.
Community: all of the populations of different species in a given area that interact in some way and depend on on another for food, shelter, and other needs.
Density-dependent factor: Any factor limiting the size of a population whose effect is dependent on the number of individuals in the population. For example, disease will have a greater effect in limiting the growth of a large population, since overcrowding facilitates its spread. Density-independent factor: Any factor limiting the size of a population whose effect is not dependent on the number of individuals in the population. An example of such a factor is an earthquake, which will kill all members of the population regardless of whether the population is small or large.
Ecosystem: All of the communities in a given area and the abiotic factors that affect them.
Emigration: The act of leavings one home/environment for permanent residence in another place
Exponential Population Growth: of a system in which the amount being added to the system is proportional to the amount already present: the bigger the system is, the greater the increase. Note : In everyday speech, exponential growth means runaway expansion, such as in population growth.
Immigration: The action of coming to live permanently in a foreign area.
Logistic Population Growth: the growth rate of a population decreases as the number of individuals increases
Population: comprises all the individuals of a given species in a specific area or region at a certain time
Terrestrial: an inhabitant of the earth, ecosystems that are on land
Commensalism: class of relationships between two organisms where one organism benefits from the other without affecting it.
Competition: an interaction between organisms or species in which the fitness of one is lowered by the presence of another. Limited supply of at least one resource (such as food, water, and territory) used by both can be a factor.
Consumer: organisms of an ecological food chain that receive energy by consuming other organisms.
Decomposer: An organism, often a bacterium or fungus, that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, thus making organic nutrients available to the ecosystem.
Habitat: an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or othertype of organism
Mutualism: the way two organisms of different species exist in a relationship in which each individual benefits from the activity of the other
Niche: The place or function of a given organism within its ecosystem
Parasitism: a non-mutual symbiotic relationship between species, where one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host.
Predation: a biological interaction where a predator (an organism that is hunting) feeds on its prey (the organism that is attacked)
Producer: An autotrophic organism that serves as a source of food for other organisms in a food chain
Symbiosis: the intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship; especially mutualism
Autotroph: organism that serves as a primary producer in a food chain, Autotrophs obtain energy and nutrients by harnessing sunlight through photosynthesis (photoautotrophs) or, more rarely, obtain chemical energy through oxidation (chemoautotrophs) to make organic substances from inorganic ones.
Biomass: the mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time
Carbon Cycle: The combined processes, including photosynthesis, decomposition, and respiration, by which carbon as a component of various compounds cycles between its major reservoirs—the atmosphere, oceans, and living organisms.
Denitrification: The conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas which is then released into the atmosphere. This is caused by bacteria and how they obtain their energy.
Energy Pyramid: graphical model of energy flow in a community. The different levels represent different groups of organisms that might compose a food chain. From the bottom-up, they are as follows: Producers — bring energy from nonliving sources into the community.
Food Chain: A succession of organisms in an ecological community that are linked to each other through the transfer of energy and nutrients, beginning with an autotrophic organism such as a plant and continuing with each organism being consumed by one higher in the chain.
Food Web: a series of organisms related by predator-prey and consumer-resource interactions; the entirety of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.
Heterotrophs: are unable to produce organic substances from inorganic ones. They must rely on an organic source of carbon that has originated as part of another living organism.
NItrification: is the biological oxidation of ammonia or ammonium to nitrite followed by the oxidation of the nitrite to nitrate, an important step in the nitrogen cycle in soil.
NItrogen Cycle: The series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms, including nitrogen fixation and decomposition. This symbiosis, mediated by chemical communication between the plant and the bacteria, is a vital component of the global nitrogen cycle.
Photosynthesis: Use by green plants of the energy in sunlight to carry out chemical reactions, such as the conversion of carbon dioxide into oxygen. Photosynthesis also produces the sugars that feed the plant. Note: Green plants depend on chlorophyll to carry out photosynthesis.
Respiration: is the production portion of carbon dioxide in an ecosystem's carbon flux.
Trophic Levels: the position of organisms within the food webs, trophic levels are not always simple integers, because organisms often feed at more than one trophic level.
10% rule: law is the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next, according to this law, during the transfer of energy from organic food from one trophic level to the next, only about ten percent of the energy from organic matter is stored as flesh.

Natural Selection and Adaptation

-Biological classification: hierarchical system is used for classifying organisms to the species level. This system is called taxonomic classification. The broadest classifications are by domain and kingdom; the most specific classification is by genus and species. The hierarchical groupings in between include phylum, class, family, and order.

Analogous Structure: structures in different species having the same function but have evolved separately, thus do not share common ancestor. ... Examples: wings of insects and birds used for flying

-Comparative anatomy: Comparing the body structures of two species. The similarity of anatomical structures such as organs, tissues, and skeletal features of seemingly unrelated animals to tell how related they are

-Evolution: how things change over time. the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.

-Homologous structures: example of an organ or bone that appears in different animals, showing anatomical similarities showing descent from a common ancestor. In other words, it's when very different animals have bones that appear very similar in form but have a different function and seem to be related

-Vestigial structures: anatomical feature or behavior that no longer seems to have a purpose in the current form of an organism of the given species.

-Adaptation: change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.

-Diversity: diversity is important because it helps maintain the health of a population, by including alleles that may be valuable in resisting diseases, pests and other stresses. Maintaining diversity gives the population a buffer against change, providing the flexibility to adapt.

-Extinct: the disappearance of a species

-Natural selection: process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

-Phenotype: the physical appearance of the chemical genetic interaction between the genes and the organism's environment

-Traits: Characteristics or attributes of an organism that are expressed by genes

Biotechnology

Biotechnology: Biotechnology is the branch of applied science that utilizes living organisms and their derivatives in order to produce products and processes. ... Biotechnology (biotech) companies derive their products from the extraction or manipulation of living organisms, and comprise an important industry sector in the economy.

Cloning: The term cloning describes a number of different processes that can be used to produce genetically identical copies of a biological entity. The copied material, which has the same genetic makeup as the original, is referred to as a clone.

Ethics: At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. ... Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition.

Bioethics: Ethics is a philosophical discipline pertaining to notions of good and bad, right and wrong—our moral life in community. Bioethics is the application of ethics to the field of medicine and healthcare.

Genetic engineering: Genetic engineering is the process of using recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology to alter the genetic makeup of an organism. Traditionally, humans have manipulated genomes indirectly by controlling breeding and selecting offspring with desired traits.

Genetically modified organism: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination.

Infectious Disease Vocabulary

Antibiotic: An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria that can inhibit or kill a bacteria

Inhalation: the process or act of breathing in, taking air and sometimes other substances into your lungs

Virus: microscopic parasites, generally much smaller than bacteria. They lack the capacity to thrive and reproduce outside of a host body.

Bacteria: microscopic, single-celled organisms that thrive in diverse environments. These organisms can live in soil, the ocean and inside the human gut.

Ingestion: is the consumption of a substance by an organism

Epidemic a disease “affecting many persons at the same time, and spreading from person to person in an area temporarily.” The World Health Organization (WHO) further specifies epidemic as occurring at the level of a region or community.

Carrier A person or animal that has a specific infectious agent without visible disease symptoms and serves as a potential source of spread of the infection.

Microbe A pathogen is a micro-organism that has the potential to cause disease. Disease-causing microbes can also be called pathogens, germs or bugs and are responsible for causing infectious diseases.

Parasite Parasites are living things that use other living things - like your body - for food and a place to live. You can get them from contaminated food or water, a bug bite, or sexual contact. Some parasitic diseases are easily treated and some are not.

Vaccine A suspension (mixture, usually a liquid)) of live or inactivated microorganisms (example. bacteria or viruses) or part of the microbes that are given to provide or start immunity and prevent infectious diseases and their coming back

Fungi a living microbe that can be very large (ex. mushroom), many contain hyphae (long, branch-like cells), ex. athlete’s foot, ringworm

Pathogen any microbe that causes disease

Host cell a living cell invaded by or capable of being invaded by an infectious agent (such as a bacterium or a virus)

Pandemic disease is an epidemic that has spread over a large area, that is, it’s “prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world.”

Immunity situation in which you are protected against disease

Vector: an animal that carries and transmits a disease

Geology

Absolute Age: The geologic age of a fossil, or a geologic event or structure expressed in units of time, usually years.

Carbon Dating: the determination of the age or date of organic matter from the relative proportions of the carbon isotopes carbon-12 and carbon-14 that it contains. The ratio between them changes as radioactive carbon-14 decays and is not replaced by exchange with the atmosphere.

Geological Time Scale: (GTS) is a system of chronological dating that relates geological strata (stratigraphy) to time. It is used by geologists, paleontologists, and other Earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships of events that have occurred during Earth's history.

Half-Life: the time taken for the radioactivity of a specified isotope to fall to half its original value.

Index Fossil: a widely distributed fossil, of narrow range in time, regarded as characteristic of a given geological formation, used especially in determining the age of related formations.

Law of Superposition: a basic law of geochronology, stating that in any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom, each layer being younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it.

Precambrian Era: From about 3.8 billion to 540 million years ago., primitive forms of life first appeared on Earth.

Radioactive or Radiometric Dating: technique used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed.

Relative Dating: is the science of determining the relative order of past events (i.e., the age of an object in comparison to another), without necessarily determining their absolute age (i.e. estimated age).

Carbon Film: an organism outline of a fossil. It is a type of fossil found in any rock when organic material is compressed, leaving only a carbon residue or film

Fossil: the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock

Cast/Mold: formed when an animal, plant, or other organism dies, its flesh decays and bones deteriorate due to chemical reactions; minerals gradually enter into the cavity,

Mesozoic Era: geologic time from about 251 to 66 million years ago. This Era includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods and is characterized by the development of flying reptiles, birds, and flowering plants and by the appearance and extinction of dinosaurs.

Petrified: the process by which organic material becomes a fossil through the replacement of the original material and the filling of the original pore spaces with minerals.

Preserved Remains: may be an actual remain, such as bones or leaves, or the result of activity, such as footprints. They are also known as a "true form fossil,"they are one that remains intact, or nearly intact, because of the method in which it was fossilized.

Trace Fossil: consisting of an imprint of or a mark left by an organism, as opposed to physical remains. These are produced in soft sediments and include surface tracks, molded impressions left by organisms or tissues that later decayed, and subsurface burrows or tunnelings.

Ice Core: long cylinder recovered by drilling through glaciers in Greenland, Antarctica, and high mountains around the world. Scientists retrieve these to look for records of climate change over the last 100,000 years or more.

Sedimentary Rock: that has formed through the deposition and solidification of sediment, especially sediment transported by water (rivers, lakes, and oceans), ice (glaciers), and wind. These are often deposited in layers, and frequently contain fossils.

Intrusion: when magma cools and solidifies before it reaches the surface.

Extrusion: breaking-out of igneous rock from below the Earth's surface.

Unconformity: contact between two rock units in which the upper rock layer is usually much younger than the lower unit. These typically buried erosional surfaces that can represent a break in the geologic record of hundreds of millions of years or more.

Uniformitarianism: Earth's geologic processes acted in the same manner and with essentially the same intensity in the past as they do in the present and that such uniformity is sufficient to account for all geologic change.

Cross Cutting:the geologic feature which cuts another is the younger of the two features. It is a relative dating technique in geology.

Fault: fault is a crack in the Earth's crust. Typically, these are associated with, or form, the boundaries between Earth's tectonic plates.

Igneous Rock: Rocks formed by the cooling and solidifying of molten materials. Igneous rocks can form beneath the Earth's surface, or at its surface

Metamorphic Rock: type of rock which has been changed by extreme heat and pressure. ... Sedimentary rock which has been near such forces often looks as if a giant had twisted it and heated it over a fire, such as Marble

Original Horizontality: States that sediments are deposited in horizontal layers that are parallel to the surface on which they were deposited.

Chemical Weathering: The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes.

Mechanical Weathering: Weathering that occurs when rock is physically broken down into smaller pieces.

Cenozoic Era: third of the major eras of Earth's history, beginning about 66 million years ago and extending to the present. It was the interval of time during which the continents assumed their modern configuration and geographic positions and during which Earth's flora and fauna evolved toward those of the present

Paleozoic Era: which ran from about 542 million years ago to 251 million years ago, was a time of great change on Earth. The era began with the breakup of one supercontinent and the formation of another. Plants became widespread. And the first vertebrate animals colonized land.

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