1. NOTE SHEET 1 – Introduction to Biology

2. What is biology? Biology is the study of living things
An organism is a living thing

3. Some examples of organisms:
Animals (humans, insects, birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians)

4. Some examples of organisms:
Plants (trees, grasses, bushes, shrubs)

5. Some examples of organisms:
Fungi (mushrooms, mold, yeast)

6. Some examples of organisms:
Bacteria

7. Some examples of organisms:
Protists

8. Over 1.4 million species of living things have been identified

9. Why study biology?
Humans depend on other living things for food, medicines, materials

10. Why study biology?
To understand human health and the health of the Earth

11. Why study biology?
Careers in Biology (medical, agricultural, forensic)

12. What is this?
It’s a human spine

13. Who is this?
It’s Mr. Vigliotti’s brother Dan

14. What is he doing? Dan is a mechanical engineer
He designs tools used during back surgery, and does many different labs in order to better understand the anatomy and physiology of the back

15. What does it mean to be living
What does it mean to be living? ● All organisms share some basic characteristics:
Reproduction – living things make more living things that are like themselves by passing genetic information (DNA) from one generation to the next

16. What does it mean to be living
What does it mean to be living? ● All organisms share some basic characteristics:
Organization - Living things are made of one or more cells that use energy and are put together in a specific way to do specific things (structure & function)

17. Organization Continued…
In multicellular organisms, similar cells are arranged into tissues, similar tissues arranged into organs, organs arranged into organ systems, and organ systems arranged into large, complex organisms.

18. What does it mean to be living
What does it mean to be living? ● All organisms share some basic characteristics:
Adjust to the environment - Living things can respond to their surroundings in different ways (ex. sweating, hibernation, movement)

19. What does it mean to be living
What does it mean to be living? ● All organisms share some basic characteristics:
Development and Growth - Living things use energy to get larger (growth) and change over a lifetime (development)

20. Reproduction, Growth, & Development

21. Adjust to the environment Develop and Grow
The ROAD to life…
Reproduction
Organization
Adjust to the environment
Develop and Grow

22. Is fire a living thing?
Nonliving things may have some of the characteristics of life, but they DO NOT have all 4

23. Some of the fields of Biology:
Cell Biology – Study of cell structure and function
Botany – Study of plants
Zoology – Study of animals
Genetics – Study of heredity (how traits are passed from one generation to another)
Ecology – Study of living things and their interactions with the environment
Evolution – Study of how species change over time