BIOLOGY The Study of Life What is Biology

BIOLOGY The Study of Life

What is Biology? • Bio = Life • logy = The study of • Biology = The study of Life

What Do Biologists Study? • How do living things work?

• What kinds of living things are there? • How do living things interact?

• How do living things interact with the environment? • Study how living things can be used to solve problems.

Characteristics of Living Things

Living Things are Organized • Show an orderly structure. • Composed of one or more cells. • All of its parts function together.

Livings things Reproduce. • Essential for the survival of the species but not the individual. • Species = a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce viable offspring.

Living things Grow • Leads to an increase in living material. • All changes that take place during the life of the organism are known as its development.

Living things adjust to their environment. • Any condition in the environment that requires an organism to adjust is a stimulus. • A reaction to a stimulus is a response.

• Homeostasis - Process of maintaining stable conditions within a changing environment.

Living things use Energy • Energy = Ability to do work.

Living things adapt. • Any change an organism makes that helps it better survive is an adaptation.

Living things Evolve. • The gradual accumulation of adaptations over time is evolution.

ASSIGNMENT • SA 1. 1, pg. 10, # 1 -6. • Vocabulary words pg 29.

The Nature of Biology • Kinds of Research –Quantitative Research • Research that includes counts or measurements.

Quantitative Data • Easy to graph • Measurements obtained by using the metric (SI) system.

Common Metric Units • Length • Mass • Volume • Time • Temp (meter) (gram) (liter) (second) (Celsius)

Descriptive research • Observational data –Written descriptions of observations.

Science and Society • Ethics - refers to the moral principles and values held by humans.

• Science - attempts to explain how and why things happen. • Technology - the application of scientific research to society’s needs and problems.

ASSIGNMENT • SA 1. 3#1 -6 page 25

The Methods of Biology • Scientific Methods: Common steps the biologists use to gather information and answers to questions.

Observation • By observing the world around us scientists identify problems and or answers to problems.

Hypothesis • An explanation for a question or a problem that can be formally tested.

Collect Data • Information that can possibly be used to help explain or support your hypothesis. • Sometimes the data disagrees with your hypothesis.

Experimenting • A procedure that tests a hypothesis by the process of collecting information under controlled conditions.

Controlled Experiments • The CONTROL GROUP is the group in which all conditions are kept the same. • The EXPERIMENTAL GROUP is the test group.

Using Variables • Independent Variable: Condition in an experiment that is changed. Only variable that affects the outcome. (Cause) • see example on the board.

• Dependent variable: is any change that results from manipulating the independent variables. (Effect) • See example on the board.

• Not all experiments are or can be controlled experiments. • Sometimes only data obtained from observations can be used.

TOOLS • Beakers • Test tubes • hot plates • metric rulers • Balances

• Microscopes • centrifuges • radiation detectors • spectrophotometers • DNA analyzers • gas chromatographs

Gathering Data • Information obtained from experiments is called data.

Analyzing Data • Usually takes the most time. • Helps the scientist to decide what has been learned. • Was the hypothesis supported? • Do we need more data?

Reporting Results • Results and conclusions of experiments are reported in scientific journals where they are open to examination by other scientists.

Verifying Results • Once the data and conclusions are shared others can verify the results to determine if what you concluded is valid.

THEORY • An explanation of a natural phenomenon that is supported by a large body of scientific evidence obtained from many different investigations and observations.

LAW • A Fact of Nature, that is generally known to be true.

Assignment • SA 1. 2 page 20 #1 -6. • Measuring work sheets. • CA 1 page 29 #1 -23. • Lab: Microscopes • Test: Chapter 1.