BACTERIA: Organisms found in one of two kingdoms of life (archaebacteria or eubacteria). Bacteria are unicellular prokaryotes. Some bacteria are pathogens (they can make us sick), but many bacteria are beneficial. Good bacteria help treat our waste water, help us digest our food, and help us produce antibiotics.
BACTERIOPHAGE: Also called phages, these are viruses that infect and destroy bacteria.
BALANCED: A chemical equation is balanced when there is an equal number of each type of atom on either side of a chemical equation (reactants and products).
BASE: A substance that has a pH greater than 7 on the pH scale.
BASE PAIRING RULE: Rule that dictates how nitrogen bases can pair (AT GoCo)
****In DNA: Adenine pairs with Thymine (Apple Trees)
Guanine pairs with Cytosine (Go Carts)
****In RNA: Adenine pairs with Uracil
Guanine pairs with Cytosine
****In DNA: Adenine pairs with Thymine (Apple Trees)
Guanine pairs with Cytosine (Go Carts)
****In RNA: Adenine pairs with Uracil
Guanine pairs with Cytosine
BILATERAL SYMMETRY: Animals with a body plan that can be divided down its length into two similar right and left halves that form mirror images of each other.
BINARY FISSION: Asexual reproduction in which one cell divides into two separate genetically identical cells, creating clones.
BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE: Two-word naming system developed by Linnaeus to name species; first word identifies the genus of the organism, the second word is the species name. Together this is the scientific name of an organism.
BIODIVERSITY: A measure of the number of species in an area.
BIOGENESIS (Theory of): Life can only be created from living things. This was proven by Francesco Redi.
BIOINDICATOR: An organism whose presence or relative abundance can be used to determine water quality
BIOLOGY: The study of life that seeks to provide an understanding of the natural world.
BIOSPHERE: All living things on earth
BIOTIC FACTORS: Living things that can affect organisms. Examples: predators, prey, and other organisms in a habitat
BOHR MODEL: A picture of an atom that includes the protons, neutrons, and ALL the electrons
BUDDING: A type of asexual reproduction in unicellular yeasts and some other organism in which a cell or group of cells pinch off from the parent to form a new identical individual.