Ch 1- Themes in the Study of Life Flashcards
What are the characteristics that define life?
Life/living organisms display order, evolutionary adaptations, respond to their environment, displays regulatory responses, process energy, grow and develop, & reproduce their own kind.
How do we define/recognize life?
Life is defined/characterized by what living things do
Example of order
The patterns on a butterflies wings.
The structure if a symmetrical flower.
Example of evolutionary adaptations
The aye aye has large eyes for night hunting and large ears/appendages for collecting food.
Example of organisms responding to their environment
Certain organisms like krill alternate between different depths at certain times of day.
Example of life displaying regulatory responses
A frog will minimize its surface area exposed to sunlight because less of its necessary water will evaporate as a direct result
Example of living organisms process energy
Plants turn chemical energy into physical nutrients.
Example of organisms growing and developing
A wasp goes through multiple stages of development, with each form it takes on serving one specific purpose (larva are designed for the collection of nutrients, etc.)
Spontaneous generation
Until well into the 1800s it was commonly thought Taft living organisms could arise spontaneously from no living matter. First, proposed by Jean Baptiste van Helmont
DNA
Life’s “code”; molecular alphabet of Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C), and Guanine (G); produce amino acids and proteins vital to cellular processes.
Biologists explore life on multiple levels. What are the main levels studied?
Molecular (chemical composition), organelle, cells, tissues, organ (tree leaf), community (tree).
Emergent properties
Properties not present in the components, or the preceding level of organization but “emerge” at higher levels; due to the arrangement and interaction of parts as complexity increases; common theme in biology and can be observed at all levels of organization.
Example of emergent property
Schooling of fish.
Flocking of birds.
Functioning of social insect colonies.
Why is it important to study groups, not just individuals?
It is important to study groups because it teaches you about important dynamics of a species
Common characteristics of all cells
All enclosed by a membrane and all use DNA as genetic information
