Biology Chapter 1 Flashcards
Give three examples of how biology is woven into the fabric of society.
- Molecular Biology is used to help solve crimes.
- Ecology helps us address environmental issues.
- Neuroscience is reshaping what we know about psychology and sociology.
What are the 7 properties of life?
- Order
- Regulation
- Growth and Development
- Energy Utilization
- Response to the Environment
- Reproduction
- Evolution
List the levels of biological organization from ecosystem to atom.
- Ecosystem
- Community
- Populations
- Organism
- Organs and Organ Systems
- Tissues
- Cells
- Organelles
- Clusters of Atoms
- Atoms
Ecosystem`
All living organisms and the nonliving components with which they interact in a specific area
Community
All the living organisms in one specific environment within an ecosystem (example: a tide pool)
Populations
Groups of interacting individuals of 1 species within a community
Organism
An individual living thing
Organs and Organ Systems
The organs within a living thing that perform 1 specific function (example: respiratory system, brain, nervous system)
Tissues
Groups of similar cells performing a specific task (example: muscle)
Cells
smallest unit that can display all characteristics of life
Organelles
Functional components of cells
Clusters of Atoms
Atoms grouped together
Atoms
smallest chemical unit in a cell
What are the 2 main dynamic processes in an ecosystem?
Recycling of Nutrients and Flow of Energy
Compare Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells
Prokaryotic cells are simpler and smaller with no organelles (example: Bacteria)
Eukaryotic cells are larger and more complex, and they have organelles (example: plants, animals)
Three Domains of Prokaryotic Life
- Bacteria
- Archaea
- Eukarya
Define “Biology”
The scientific study of life
Describe the 2 main points in Darwin’s Origin of Species
- Descent with modification (evolution)
- Natural selection (organisms best adapted to environment survive to pass on their genes)
Describe two observations that led Darwin to his “inescapable conclusion”
- Over-production and competition (organisms will reproduce as much as possible, and there will be too many for the environment to support, so only some will survive to reproduce again)
- Individual Variation (each organism will possess slightly different combinations of genes)
- Conclusion: Unequal reproductive success (natural selection–organisms best adapted to an environment survive to pass on their genes)
Compare artificual and natural selection
Both artificial and natural selection result in only a specific set of traits being passed on.
- Artificial: traits selected by humans (example: dog breeds)
- Natural: traits selected by environment (traits that help organisms survive)
Discovery Science
- Based on observing nature
- Descriptive
- Inductive reasoning (inferring general laws from specific instances)
Hypothesis Driven Science
- Based on Scientific Method
- Uses experimentation
- Deductive reasoning (using a general law to infer about particular instances)
Hypothesis vs. Theory
-
Hypothesis:
- specific
- an “educated guess” about something that might happen
-
Theory
- broad
- A prediction supported by evidence
What distinguishes science from other forms of inquiry?
- Dependance on observations and measurements that can be verified
- Requirement that ideas are testable by experiments others can repeat
