Evolution, the Themes of Biology & Scientific Inquiry Flashcards
Science
Study of Knowledge
System of Knowledge using the scientific method
Scientific Method
Problem ☛ Data ☛ Hypothesis ☛ Law
⇡ ⇣ ⇣
←←←←←← Theory
A mathematical and experimental technique employed in the sciences based on a series of observations.
Inductive Reasoning
A method of drawing conclusions by going from the specific to the general.
Observational
(Less reliable)
Deductive Reasoning
A method of drawing conclusions by going from general to the specific.
If ☛ then
Testable
Data
Information that has been translated into a form that is efficient for movement or processing.
Hypothesis
A testable, controllable and falsifiable explanation for a set of observations based on the available data and guided by inductive reasoning. A hypothesis is narrower in scope than a theory.
Theory
Best explanation for observed phenomenon. A conditional fact that could be proven wrong, but rarely does.
Life
Any system capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolizing, excreting, breathing, moving, growing, reproducing, and responding to external stimuli.
Organization
Has definite shape and structure
Biosphere
The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; the sum of all the planet’s ecosystems.
Ecosystem
The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; the sum of all the planet’s ecosystems.
Community
All the organisms that inhabit a particular area; an assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction.
Population
A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area and interbreed, producing fertile offspring.
Organism
A form of life composed of mutually interdependent parts that maintain various vital processes.
Organ
A grouping of tissues into a distinct structure, as a heart or kidney in animals or a leaf or stamen in plants, that performs a specialized task.
Tissue
Any of the distinct types of material of which animals or plants are made, consisting of specialized cells and their products.
Cell
The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism, typically microscopic and consisting of cytoplasm and a nucleus enclosed in a membrane.
Organelle
Any of several membrane-enclosed structures with specialized functions, suspended in the cytosol of eukaryotic cells.
Molecule
Two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds
Atom
The smallest unit of matter retains the properties of an element.
Sub-atomic
a particle which is smaller than an atom in size.
Metabolism
The chemical changes that take place in a cell or an organism.
Anabolism
A biochemical process in metabolism where the simple molecules combine or build up to generate complex molecules. Negatively charged, addition of electrons.
Catabolism
All chemical or enzymatic reactions involved in the breakdown of organic or inorganic materials such as proteins, sugars, fatty acids, etc. Positively charged, removal of electrons.
Energy
The ability to do work.
Producers
Photosynthesizing organisms. Organisms that can make their own food.
Consumers
Any organism that can’t make its own food. Consumers have to feed on producers or other consumers to survive.
Recyclers
Decomposers
Response to Stimuli
Any process that results in a change in state or activity of a cell or an organism (in terms of movement, secretion, enzyme production, gene expression, etc.)as a result of a stimulus.
Reproduction
A reaction in which electrons are added to a compound.
Growth
The increases in cell size and number that take place during the life history of an organism.
Adaptation
Inherited characteristic of an organism that enhances its survival and reproduction in a specific environment.
Evolution (Darwin)
Descent with modification; the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from the present-day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the genetic composition of a population from generation to generation. Natural selection.
Spontaneous Generation
The first experiment done correctly, using the scientific method. Disproven by Franceso Redi in 1668 observing the hypothetical process by which living organisms develop from nonliving matter.
Taxonomy
DKPCOFGS
Diddy. Domain
Kong. Kingdom
Poops. Phylum
Carefully. Class
Over. Order
Foreign. Family
Ground. Genus
Silently. Species
Lamarck vs. Darwin
Lamarck inheritance of aquired characteristics whereas Darwinism is based on variation directly caused by an environmental cue and resulting in a specific response to that cue
Domain
(1) A taxonomic category above the kingdom level. The three domains are Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
(2) A discrete structural and functional region of a protein.
Prokaryote
A type of cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclosed organelles. Organisms with prokaryotic cells (bacteria and archaea) are called prokaryotes.
Eukaryote
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.
Miller-Urey Experiment
Experiment by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey replicating the conditions of primal earth in a chamber, revealing amino acids as the building blocks of life.
Cell
Fundamental unit of life, contains heritable information.
