Chapter 1 - A View of Life Flashcards
Define Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life.
What are the 5 characteristics of life?
1) Living things are organized.
2) Living things acquire materials and energy.
3) Living things respond.
4) Living things reproduce.
5) Living things have adaptations.
{Living things also maintain homeostasis,which is a characteristic of life according to the textbook, but not the class notes}
What is a cell?
A cell is the basic unit of structure and function of all living things. All living things are made up of cells.
What are the levels of biologic organization, from smallest to largest?
Atom - molecule - cell - tissue - organ - organ system - organism - population - community - ecosystem - biosphere
What is an atom?
An atom is the smallest unit of an element and is composed of electrons, protons and neutrons. Atoms make up molecules.
What is a molecule?
A molecule is two or more atoms of the same or different elements. Molecules make up cells.
What is tissue?
Tissue is a group of cells with a common structure and function. Cells combine to form tissues.
What is an organ?
An organ is composed of tissues functioning together for a specific task (the heart, brain).
What is an organ system?
An organ system is several organs working together (the cardiovascular system, the nervous system)
What is an organism?
An organism is an individual. Complex or multicellular individuals contain organ systems.
What is a population?
A population is organisms of the same species in a particular area
What is a community?
A community is interacting populations in a particular area
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a community, plus the physical environment.
What is the biosphere?
A biosphere is the regions of the Earth’s curst, waters and atmosphere inhabited by living things.
What is energy? What is it used for?
Energy is the ability to do work. It is used to do metabolism.
What is metabolism? What is its purpose?
Metabolism is the chemical reactions that occur in a cell. It helps maintain homeostasis.
What is homeostasis?
Homeostasis is maintaining constant internal conditions (stable body temperature)
What does all life begin as?
A single cell. Life only comes from other life. Bacteria and other unicellular organisms split in two to reproduce; multicellular organisms unite sperm and egg.
What are genes?
Genes are the blueprints for development found in every cell.
What are genes made of?
DNA
What is DNA?
Deoxyribonucleic acid. It is a chemical found in the cell nucleus that looks like a spiral staircase and has 2 jobs: control cell function and control heredity.
What are the 2 jobs of DNA?
1) Control cell function
2) Control heredity
What does adaptation mean?
Adaptation is the modifications that make an organism suited to its way of life. Adaptations to different conditions give rise to different species.
What is a species?
A species is a group of interbreeding individuals.
What is evolution?
Evolution is the process of change over time.
Is evolution a fact or a theory?
Both.
Evolution is a fact in terms of small changes over a short time (penicillin-resistant bacteria).
Large changes over a long time (the big bang theory) are still considered to be a theory.
What is taxonomy?
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and classifying diverse organisms.
It’s basically a filing system with categories that go from larger and more general to smaller and more specific.
Dear King Philip Came Over For Great Sex.
Domain-Kingdom-Phyllum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species.
Who developed taxonomy?
Linnaeus, in the 1700s. He created a filing system (the classification system) and a naming system (binomial nomenclature)
What are the 3 domains?
1) Bacteria.
2) Archae, which are primitive bacteria.
3) Eukarya, which is everyone else, including plants, animals, fungi and protists.
What are the 5 kingdoms?
1) Plantae (all plants)
2) Animalia (animals)
3) Fungi (the 3 Ms: mushrooms, molds, mildews)
4) Protista (protozoa, or single celled organisms like amoeba, pond water)
5) Monera (the bacteria)
What form of life has been around the longest?
Bacteria
What is binomial nomenclature?
A two-part scientific name, like Homo sapiens. The first name comes from the organism’s genus and is capitalized; the second name comes from its species and is lowercase. All scientific names are in Latin and are either italicized or underlined.
What is the Scientific Method?
The scientific method is a set of steps used to gather information.
What are the 6 basic steps of the Scientific Method?
1) Make observations and ask questions.
2) Develop a hypothesis.
3) Conduct experiments to test the hypothesis.
4) Collect and analyze the data.
5) Come to a conclusion.
6) Publish your results.
What are the 3 key parts of a controlled experiment?
1) An experimental group
2) A control group
3) An experimental variable
What is an experimental group?
One of the 3 key parts of a controlled experiment, an experimental group is the group that is experimented upon.
What is a control group?
One of the 3 key parts of a controlled experiment, a control group is the group that is not experimented upon. It is the standard for comparison.
What is an experimental variable?
One of the 3 key parts of a controlled experiement, an experimental variable is a factor of the experiment being tested.
What is a hypothesis?
A hypothesis is an educated guess or possible explanation for an event.
What is a theory?
A theory is a hypothesis supported by many observations, experiments and data. A theory supported more than 100 years can become a Principle or Law.
Can you ever prove a hypothesis to be true?
No. While you can definitively prove it false, you can never prove it to be 100% true because you just can’t know what you don’t know. Instead, you say that your data from your experiment support your hypothesis.
