Chapter 1 - Themes in the Study of Life

Question 1

The levels in the Biological Hierarchy

Answer 1

The Biosphere → Ecosystems → Communities → Populations → Organisms → Organ systems → Organs → Tissues → Cells → Organelles → Molecules → Atoms

Question 2

Emergent properties

Answer 2

New properties that arise with each step upward in the hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases. Result from the arrangement and interaction of parts within a system.

Question 3

Reductionism

Answer 3

The reduction of complex systems to simpler components that are more manageable to study.

Question 4

Systems biology

Answer 4

An approach to studying biology that aims to model the dynamic behavior of whole biological systems on a study of the interactions among the system’s parts.

Question 5

Eukaryotic cell

Answer 5

A type of cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclosed organelles. Organisms with eukaryotic cells (protists, plants, fungi, and animals) are called eukaryotes.

Question 6

Prokaryotic cell

Answer 6

A type of cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nubleus and membrane-enclosed organelles. Organisms with prokaryotic cells (bacteria and archaea) are called prokaryotes.

Question 7

Gene expression

Answer 7

The process of converting information from gene to cellular product.

Question 8

Genome

Answer 8

An organism’s entire set of genetic instructions.

Question 9

Genomics

Answer 9

The study of sets of genes within and between species.

Question 10

Bioinformatics

Answer 10

The use of computers, software, and mathematical models to process and integrate biological information from large data sets.

Question 11

Feedback mechanisms

Answer 11

Allow biological processes to self-regulate.

Question 12

Negative feedback

Answer 12

Feedback mechanism where as more of a product accumulates, the process that creates it slows and less of the product is produced.

Question 13

Positive feedback

Answer 13

Feedback mechanism where as more of a product accumulates, the process that creates it speeds up and more of the product is produced.

Question 14

Taxonomy

Answer 14

The branch of biology that names and classifies species into groups of increasing breadth. Domain → Kingdom → Phylum → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species

Question 15

Domain Bacteria and domain Archaea compose…

Answer 15

prokaryotes

Question 16

The three domains

Answer 16

Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya.

Question 17

Domain “Eukarya”

Answer 17

• All eukaryotic organisms
• Includes three multicellular kingdoms; plants, fungi, and animals

Question 18

Darwin’s three broad observations about life…

Answer 18

The unity of life, the diversity of life, and the match between organisms and their environment.

Question 19

Descent with modification

Answer 19

Darwin’s view that all organisms are related through descent from an ancestor that lived in the remote past.

Question 20

Artificial selection

Answer 20

Selecting and breeding individuals with desired traits.

Question 21

Darwin’s 2 observations:

Answer 21

Members of a population often vary in their inherited traits and all species can produce more offspring than the environment can support, and many of these offspring fail to survive and reproduce.

Question 22

Darwin’s 2 inferences:

Answer 22

Individuals whose inherited traits give them a higher probability of surviving and reproducing in a given environment tend to leave more offspring than other individuals. This unequal ability of individuals to survive and reproduce will lead to the accumulation of favorable traits in the population over generations

Question 23

The four types of data that document the pattern of evolution:

Answer 23

• Direct observations
• Homology
• The fossil record
• Biogeography

Question 24

Scientific process

Answer 24

Includes making observations, forming logical hypotheses, and testing them.

Question 25

Making Observations

Answer 25

Biologists describe natural structures and processes.

Question 26

Qualitative data

Answer 26

Descriptions rather than measurements.

Question 27

Quantitative data

Answer 27

Recorded measurements, which are sometimes organized into tables and graphs.

Question 28

Inductive reasoning

Answer 28

A type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of specific observations.

Question 29

Hypothesis

Answer 29

A tentative answer to a well framed question that leads to predictions that can be tested by observation or experimentation that must be testable and falsifiable. Hypothesis-based science often makes use of two or more alternative hypotheses. Failure to falsify a hypothesis does not prove that hypothesis.

Question 30

Deductive reasoning

Answer 30

A type of logic in which specific results are predicted from a general premise.

Question 31

Controlled experiment

Answer 31

An experiment in which an experimental group is compared with a control group that varies only in the factor being tested.

Question 32

Theory

Answer 32

• Broader in scope than a hypothesis
• General, and can lead to new testable hypotheses
• Supported by a large body of evidence in comparison to a hypothesis