Vocabulary Basics
These are things that have all the characteristics of life.
What are organisms?
This system gives every organism a two-word scientific name.
What is binomial nomenclature?
These microscopes use light and lenses to enlarge an object.
What are light microscopes?
The two words in a scientific name represent these two levels of classification.
What are genus and species?
This is the smallest unit of life.
What is a cell?
This is the most specific group, made of organisms that can produce fertile offspring.
What is a species?
These microscopes use a magnetic field to focus a beam of electrons.
What are electron microscopes?
All living things are made up of these.
What are cells?
A living thing made of only one cell is called this.
What is unicellular?
This is the broader group that contains similar species.
What is a genus?
This type of microscope would be best for studying tiny cell structures inside a bacterium.
What is an electron microscope?
This allows your body to stay around 98.6°F even on a hot day.
What is homeostasis?
Living things made of two or more cells are called this.
What is multicellular?
This tool uses pairs of descriptions to identify an unknown organism.
What is a dichotomous key?
This microscope lets you view a live organism in color.
What is a light microscope?
This term describes an organism made of many cells, like a human.
What is multicellular?
This describes an organism’s ability to keep stable internal conditions even when the environment changes.
What is homeostasis?
This branched diagram shows evolutionary relationships among organisms.
What is a cladogram?
This kind of microscope gives higher magnification: light or electron?
What is electron?
Scientists use these diagrams to show evolutionary history and shared characteristics.
What is a cladogram?