Biology Vocabulary

Biology Vocabulary Word Group IV

PROPERTY A quality that describes an object

ORGANISM A living thing that can carry out all the basic life activities

KINGDOM One of the five groups into which living things are classified

TAXONOMY The science of classifying organisms based on the features they share

MICROORGANISM An organism that is too small to be seen without a microscope

PROTIST An organism that usually is one-celled and has plant-like or animal-like properties

ALGAE Protists that make their own food and usually live in water

PROTOZOAN A protist that has animal-like qualities

FLAGELLUM A whip-like tail that helps some one-celled organisms move (plural is flagella)

CILIA Hair-like structures that help some one-celled organisms move

PSEUDOPOD Part of some one-celled organisms that sticks out like a foot to move the cell along

AMOEBA A protozoan that moves by pushing out parts of its cell

FUNGUS An organism that usually has many cells and decomposes material for its food (plural is fungi)

DECOMPOSE To break down or decay matter into simpler substances

PARASITE An organism that absorbs food from a living organism and harms it

MONERAN An organism, usually one-celled, that does not have organelles