BOTANY
What is the primary green pigment in plants that absorbs light energy for photosynthesis?
Chlorophyll
What is the process of transformation from an immature larval form to an adult form, seen in amphibians and insects, called?
Metamorphosis
What type of microscopic organism causes common illnesses like strep throat and can be treated with antibiotics?
Bacteria
What basic ecological model illustrates "who eats whom" in a linear sequence within an ecosystem?
A food chain
What gas-carrying protein in red blood cells gives human blood its characteristic red color?
Hemoglobin
What structural tissue in vascular plants is responsible for transporting water and dissolved minerals upward from the roots?
Xylem
What anatomical structure do fishes and amphibians use to detect movement, vibration, and pressure changes in the surrounding water?
The lateral line system
What micro-organism is added to bread dough to feed on sugars and produce carbon dioxide bubbles that make the dough rise?
Yeast (a single-celled fungus)
What global biome is characterized by low rainfall, sparse vegetation, and extreme daily temperature swings?
A desert
What digestive organ produces bile to help break down fats in the small intestine?
The liver
What are the tiny pores on the surface of plant leaves that regulate gas exchange and transpiration called?
Stomata (singular: stoma)
How many hearts does an octopus have?
Three
What culinary process heats milk or juice to a specific temperature to kill harmful pathogens without curdling the liquid?
Pasteurization
What term describes a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment?
Ecosystem
What involuntary contraction mechanism triggers the knee-jerk response directly through the spinal cord without waiting for the brain?
A reflex arc
What is the specific term for the sweet liquid produced by flowers to attract pollinators like bees and hummingbirds?
Nectar
What protein makes up the scales of reptiles, the feathers of birds, and human hair and fingernails?
Keratin
What antibiotic—the first widely used medical antibiotic—was famously discovered by Alexander Fleming from mold in 1928?
Penicillin
What do ecologists call organisms like fungi and bacteria that break down dead organic material?
Decomposers
What type of blood vessel carries oxygenated blood away from the heart to the rest of the body?
Arteries (except for the pulmonary artery).
What plant hormone gas causes fruits like bananas and apples to ripen and can trigger surrounding fruits to ripen faster?
Ethylene
Which flightless bird species lays the largest egg relative to its overall body size?
The Kiwi
What single-celled freshwater organism is famous for changing its shape by extending false feet called pseudopodia?
Amoeba
What is the primary source of energy that drives almost all food chains on Earth?
The Sun
What fundamental physiological state describes the body's ability to maintain stable internal conditions (like temperature and pH) despite external changes?
Homeostasis