Chapter 1: Themes in the study of life

Question 1

1. An organism’s adaptation to the environment, such as adaptations for conserving water, are the result of _____.
2. The process of change that has transformed life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to the diversity of organisms living today.
3. The fundamental organizing principle of biology.

Answer 1

Evolution

Question 2

The scientific study of life

Answer 2

Biology

Question 3

Due to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases. Example: Although photosynthesis occurs in an intact chloroplast, it will not take place in a disorganized test tube mixture of chlorophyll and other chloroplast molecules. Photosynthesis requires a specific organization of these molecules in the chloroplast.

Answer 3

emergent properties

Question 4

An approach that attempts to model the dynamic behavior of whole biological system’s parts.

Answer 4

eystems biology

Question 5

Has already had dire effects on life-forms and their habitats all over planet Earth.

Answer 5

global climate change

Question 6

Subdivided by internal membranes into various membrane-enclosed organelles.

Answer 6

Eukaryotic cell

Question 7

DNA is not separated from the rest of the cell by enclosure in a membrane-bounded nucleus.

Answer 7

Prokaryotic cell

Question 8

Deoxyribonucleic Acid

Answer 8

DNA

Question 9

Substance of DNA: The units of inheritance that transmit information from parents to offspring.

Answer 9

genes

Question 10

Entire process by which the information in the gene directs the production of a cellular product.

Answer 10

gene expression

Question 11

The entire “library” of genetic instructions that an organism inherits.

Answer 11

genome

Question 12

Rather than investigating a single gene at a time, these researchers have shifted to studying whole sets of genes of all species as well as comparing genomes between species.

Answer 12

genomics

Question 13

Use of computational tools to store, organize, and analyze the huge volume of data that result from high-throughput methods.

Answer 13

bioinformatics

Question 14

1. Most common regulation in living systems.

2. Accumulation of an end product of a process slows that process.

Answer 14

negative feedback

Question 15

End product speeds up its own production.

Answer 15

positive feedback

Question 16

The most diverse and widespread prokaryotes and are now classified into multiple kingdoms. Each rod-shaped structure in this photo is a bacterial cell. (prokaryotes)

Answer 16

(Domain) Bacteria

Question 17

Live in Earth’s extreme environments, such as salty lakes and boiling hot springs. Includes multiple kingdoms. Each round structure in this photo is an archaeal cell. (prokaryotes)

Answer 17

(Domain) Archaea

Question 18

Consists of terrestrial multicellular eukaryotes (land plants) that carry out photosynthesis, the conversion of light energy to the chemical energy in food.

Answer 18

Kingdom Plantae

Question 19

Defined in part by the nutritional mode of its members (such as this mushroom), which absorb nutrients from outside their bodies.

Answer 19

Kingdom Fungi

Question 20

Consists of multicellular eukaryotes that ingest other organisms.

Answer 20

Kingdom Animalia

Question 21

Mostly unicellular eukaryotes and some relatively simple multicellular relatives.

Answer 21

Protists

Question 22

Natural environment “selects” for the propagation of certain traits among naturally occurring variant traits in the population.

Answer 22

Natural selection

Question 23

A way of knowing- an approach to understanding the natural world.

Answer 23

Science

Question 24

Search for information and explanation, often focusing on specific questions. Drove Darwin to seek answers in nature for how species adapt to their environments.

Answer 24

Inquiry

Question 25

Derive generalizations from a large number of specific observations. “The sun always rises in the east” or “All organisms are made of cells.”

Answer 25

Inductive reasoning

Question 26

A tentative answer to a well-framed question– an explanation on trial. Usually a rational accounting for a set of observations, based on the available data and guided by inductive reasoning. Leads to predictions that can be tested by making additional observations or by performing experiments.

Answer 26

Hypothesis

Question 27

Generally used after the hypothesis has been developed involves logic that flows in the opposite direction, from the general to the specific. “If all organisms are made of cells, and humans are organisms, then humans are composed of cells.”

Answer 27

Deductive reasoning

Question 28

Designed to compare an experimental group. Without it, the researchers would not have been able to rule out other factors as causes of the more frequent attacks on the artificial kingsnakes.

Answer 28

Controlled experiment

Question 29

Broader in scope than a hypothesis. “Evolutionary adaptations arise by natural selection.” General enough to spin off many new specific hypotheses that can be tested.

Answer 29

Theory

Question 30

A species that is easy to grow in the lab and lends itself particularly well to the questions being investigated.

Answer 30

Model organism