Vocabulary

CATALYST: something that precipitates a process or event

COMMUNITY: an integrated group of species inhabiting a given area that influences one another's distribution, abundance and evolution

CULTURE: (to culture) to cultivate a growth of microorganisms

DECOMPOSE: to separate or break apart into component parts

ECOSYSTEM: the living members of a particular habitat interacting together along with the non-living physical environment such as soil, rocks, water, heat, and light

EVOLVE: to change physically or behaviorally through successive generations until a new species develops

FOSSILS: remnants or traces of organisms from a past geologic age

METABOLISM: chemical reactions that occur within cells and organisms

NICHE: the functional position of an organism in its environment

ORGANISM: a living body made up of separate parts which work together to carry on the various processes of life

PHOTOSYNTHESIS: production of organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water by using light energy captured by chlorophyll and other pigments

PROTOZOANS: free-living, single-celled microorganisms that are not plants or animals