Ch 1: Biology and You

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How do you define life? What are the characteristics of life? How do you know if something is “alive”?

1.1 What is life? Living organisms are diverse but share certain characteristics. 7 themes unify the science of biology: 1.cellular structure & function 2. reproduction 3. metabolism 4. homeostasis 5. heredity 6. evolution 7. interdependence

Unifying Themes of Biology 1. Cellular Structure and Function All living organisms are composed of cells. 2. Reproduction Living organisms reproduce, producing offspring similar to themselves. 3. Metabolism Living organisms obtain and use energy to stay alive, grow, and develop. 4. Homeostasis All living organisms respond to their environment and are able to maintain homeostasis.

5. Heredity All living things are able to pass on traits to their offspring through genes that are passed from parent to offspring each generation. 6. Evolution Evolution has shaped all of life’s diversity. 7. Interdependence All living organisms depend on one another and their environment. Unifying Themes of Biology

1.2 Bio in our world … BRAINSTORM

Some Examples Solving Real-World Problems Preserving Our Environment - Pollution, extinction, growing demand for food. Improving the Food Supply - Genetic engineering to improve crops- fewer fertilizers and pesticides- create new crops. Understanding the Human Genome – Completion of human genome project 4/03 - Scientists are sequencing genes for many organisms.

Fighting Disease AIDS and Cancer - research & new technologies will help scientists battle diseases, AIDS and cancer. Emerging Diseases - new diseases from other parts of the world – West Nile in CA, Ebola outbreak summer 2014 Gene Therapy – removing “bad genes” - help scientists fight genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and hemophilia.

Scientific Method – Essential Questions What makes a question scientific? What constitutes evidence? How do you know what to believe in science? Why is it necessary to justify and communicate an explanation?

1.3 Scientific processes Science is a way of understanding the universe CRITICAL THINKING IS KEY!!!

What is critical thinking? Definitions: “Critical thinking is… –“deciding rationally what to believe or not to believe. (S. Norris, 1985) –“the formation of logical inferences.” (Simon and Kapplan, 1989) –“careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.” (Moore and Parker, 1994)

Roots of critical thinking Socrates – method of probing & questioning –Importance of asking deep questions & seeking evidence Plato, Aristotle, and Greek skeptics –Think systematically, trace implications broadly Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Sir Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Darwin many more!

The questioning mind

Newton – at 19 drew up a list of questions under 45 heads Darwin – in response to classes in Biology and Geology.. “they were incredibly dull… the sole effect was to never read a book on the subject.” Einstein – “ I have never been able to remember for more than a few days a single date or line of poetry” instead he had “the patience to reflect or ponder for any number of years over any unexplained problem…” –Commented that his schooling required “the obedience of a corpse”

SCIENCE Science - An orderly, methodical approach to investigating phenomena while suggesting testable explanations for those phenomena. –Assumes the world is knowable, and that systematic investigations can yield meaningful insights.

Brainstorm or draw your own figure of the scientific process

reject original hypothesis make observations, ask questions, and form hypothesis make predictions and perform controlled experiments data support hypothesis form theory Scientific Method - bio. book Know terms & how to use them to perform your own experiment! p. 14 – 20 in book

Scientific method – my thoughts… Many ways to teach scientific method – is a PROCESS. Not everyone or every level is the same. Scientific process is a road map.

ObservationBackground research Patterns Recognition Data Explanation QuestionHypotheses Design / test Interpret Conclusions Questions Communication Scientific method – my thoughts…

Independent variable The independent variable is controlled by the experimenter –splits the subjects into different groups, with each group being associated with a different treatment (or value) of the independent variable. –In graphs – along the x -axis

Dependent variable The dependent variable changes in response to the change the scientist makes to the independent variable. The new value of the dependent variable is caused by and depends on the value of the independent variable. –In graphs – along the y-axis

Control or control group A group that serves as a standard of comparison with another group to which the control is identical except for one factor –A standard for comparison –No treatment group

Constant Variables that are kept constant (the same) for all treatments Ex: all plants in every treatment had the same amount of water and same amount of sunlight Remember these definitions for your HW!