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(meter) Mass(gram) Volume(liter) Time(second) Temp(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.