Big Idea 3 BL

2. Ethylene: (apple) Ethylene is a ripening hormone found in most fruits which induces color change and other processes associated with ripening. Apples contain ethylene, allowing them to continue ripening long after picking.

3. Eukaryote: (common mallow weed) A eukaryote is defined as any orgnism of one or more cells which contain their genetic material in a nucleus. Common mallow is composed of plant cells, which contain their genetic material in nuclei, making the organism a eukaryote.

5. Gamete: (chicken egg) A gamete is a cell that fuses with another cell during fertilization. Chicken eggs fuse with a sperm cell during fertilization of the egg, and thus it is a gamete.

6. Haploid: (chicken egg) A haploid cell is any cell that contains half the number of chromosomes (1n) typical to the species. A chicken egg contains half the usual number of chromosomes in all the diploid cells of the chicken, so the egg is a haploid cell.

8. Flock, herd, or schooling: (ant swarm) Some organisms exhibit the behavior of travelling in groups for protection or efficiency. Ants always travel from the nest in pairs at the least, and in massive swarms at the most, either to attack or to gather food, and therefore they exhibit herding behaviors.

10. Genetically Modified Organism: (cow's milk) A genetically modified organism, or GMO, is an organism changed by humans to exhibit more desirable features such as fruit size in the case of crops, or milk production in the case of cows and goats. The milk jug below was taken from a cow injected with a hormone which induces more lactation, and thus it is taken from a GMO.

14. Mitosis: (onion) Mitosis is the biological process in which cells divide to form two new cells. Onions exemplify mitosis by their rings, which show periodic cell division and growth to form the next outer layer.

16. Phenotype: (chickens) A phenotype is an observable trait inherited genetically. Chickens, for example, exhibit different alleles of the feather color trait, as shown in the picture below; some with dark brown, some with light brown, and others with tan feather coloring.

19. Seed Dispersal Method: (pine cones) Seed dispersal methods include water, wind, or animal dispersal. In the case of pine cones, which open up gradually, the wind is meant to carry away the light seeds as it blows through the ridges of the pine cone. 

20. Tropism: (phototropism/pine tree) Tropism is defined as a response to stimulus. The pine tree in the picture below, having been blown mostly over because of weak roots, has begun to turn in an upward direction so as to catch more sunlight; defined as phototropism.