AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy key terms

Offspring that can themselves reproduce.

The fusion of male and female gamete nuclei, combining their chromosome sets to form a zygote.

A substance added to soil to supply mineral nutrients needed for plant growth.

A strip at the edge of a crop field where plants such as wild flowers and grasses are allowed to grow.

The area of the specimen visible through a microscope at one time.

The body's preparation to respond to a threat by confronting it or escaping, including an increased heart rate and greater delivery of oxygen and glucose.

A lamp containing a thin metal wire that becomes hot enough to emit light when current passes through it.

The liquid or solution that passes through the filter paper during filtration.

Separation of an insoluble solid from a liquid or solution using a filter.

A natural resource available in limited amounts that is used faster than it is replaced.

How easily a substance ignites and burns.

A rule relating force, magnetic field and conventional current: the left thumb indicates force, the first finger field and the second finger current, with all three held at right angles.

A substance that can flow, such as a liquid or a gas.

The absorption of radiation followed by the emission of light; for example, a fluorescent coating absorbs ultraviolet and emits visible light.

A structure in an ovary in which an egg matures; the developing follicle produces oestrogen.

A representation of feeding relationships in which arrows show the transfer of material and energy from one organism to another.

A network of linked food chains showing feeding relationships between organisms.

A push or pull acting on an object due to its interaction with another object.

A mixture that has been designed as a useful product.

The simplest whole-number ratio of ions represented by the formula of an ionic compound. For example, NaCl represents one sodium ion for every chloride ion.

The reaction that converts reactants into products, read from left to right in a chemical equation.

The preserved remains or traces of an organism from millions of years ago, found in rocks.

Coal, oil or natural gas: fuels formed over millions of years from the remains of living organisms.

All the known fossils, which provide evidence about life in the past and how organisms have changed over time.

A mixture separated from crude oil that contains hydrocarbons with similar numbers of carbon atoms and similar boiling points.

Separation of liquids with different boiling points using a fractionating column, in which vaporisation and condensation occur repeatedly.

A diagram showing a chosen object or system on its own, with labelled arrows representing the external forces acting on it.