The Basics
The study of life
What is Biology?
Considered the unifying concept of biology because it explains almost every aspect of life, including life’s tremendous diversity on our planet, life’s adaptations to the myriad environments it thrives in, and how living organisms arose from a since ancestor
What is Evolution?
Biochemical evidence suggests that there are only three domains of life
What is domain Bacteria, domain Archaea, and domain Eukarya?
A formal way of watching the natural world. Scientists rely on their senses (sight, hearing, touch) to make observations, but also extend the ability of their senses by using instruments; for example, a microscope enables them to see objects that could never be seen by the naked eye.
What is an observation?
All the chemical reactions that occur in a cell.
What is Metabolism?
Transforms solar energy into chemical energy of nutrient molecules
What is Photosynthesis?
Classifies organism according to presumed evolutionary relationship
What is Systematics?
Capable of living in extreme environments. Ex. Methanoscarcina mazei.
What is Domain Archaea?
Occurs whenever a person uses creative thinking to combine isolated facts into a cohesive whole
What is Inductive Reasoning?
The discipline of naming and classifying organisms according to certain rules
What is Taxonomy?
Levels of biological organization from simplest to most complex
Atom, Molecule, Cell, Tissue, Organ, Organ System, Organism, Species, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biosphere.
Sums up the process of evolution. Descent occurs from common ancestors to different species, each of which is adapted to a particular environment.
What is “common descent with modification”?
The process in which populations adapt to pressures imposed by their environments. Overtime, those individuals having adaptations that make them well-suited to their environment will live and produce more offspring than others.
What is Natural Selection?
Occurs within organisms and ecosystems. Define how ecosystems function. One flows through an ecosystem and is dissipated as heat. The other recycled in an ecosystem.
What is energy flow and chemicals cycling?
Many insects cannot see the color red, and as a result many insect-pollinated flowers are colors other than red. The flower color would be considered this
What is an adaptation?
The Kingdom that includes both unicellular and multicellular organisms
Kingdom Protista
Sample that goes through all the steps of an experiments but it not exposed to the experimental variable; a standard against which the results of an experiment are checked
What is the control group?
A condition of the experiment that is deliberately changed
What is the Independent Variable/Experimental Variable?
Characteristics of all living organisms
What is levels of organization, the ability to acquire materials and energy, the ability to maintain an internal environment, the ability to respond to stimuli, the ability to reproduce and develop, and the ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?
Considered the unifying concept of biology because it pertains to many different aspects of organisms. The theory enables scientists to understand the history of lie, the variety of organisms, and the anatomy, physiology, and development of organisms. Some biologists refer to this theory as a principle, since it has been supported by so many observations and experiments for over 150 years.
What is the theory of evolution?
Domain Eukarya divided into four Eukaryotic Kingdoms
What is Kingdom Protista (can be single or multicellular), Kingdom Fungi (mostly multicellular), Kingdom Plantae (multicellular), and Kingdom Animalia (multicellular)?
Stimulation of a process; aids conceptual understanding until the process can be studied firsthand; a hypothesis that describes how a particular process might be carried out
What is a model system?
Single-celled, and lack the membrane-bound nucleus found in the eukaryotes of domain Eukarya
What are prokaryotes?