Intro to Biology Flashcards
What is biology?
Biology is the study of life. Combining zoology, microbiology, botany, mycology, and ecology.
What is evolution?
process of change that allows organisms to adapt to their environment.
Common feature amoung all life forms?
Complex organization (highly complex structure), very regulated internal environment (inernal environment is constant despite constantly changing outside environment), ability to grow and develop (inherited genes control growth and development), ability to take in and utilize energy (energy is used to maintain cell function), ability to respond to environmental changes and stimuli, the ability to reproduce ones own kind.
Evolution of adaptation says…
traits best suited for their environment will be passed on to the offspring (over many generations)
Hierarchy of organization
1) Biosphere
2) Ecosysytem
3) Community
4) Population
5) Organism
6) Organs and organ sysytems
7) Tissues
8) Cells
9) Organelles
10) Molecules
Reductionism
Reduction of complex systems to more manageable components.
Biosphere
All environments on earth that support life, eveything on earth is apart of the biosphere.
Ecosystem
All living and non-living components within a certain area (includes all non-living components with which the living interact)
Community
A group of diverse organisms that live in a certain area
Population
All of the organisms within a set species in a certain area
Organism
The individual unit of a population
Organ system
Group of organs within an organism that sustain life
Organ
Indivdual unit of and organ system comprised of tissues.
Tissue
Grouping of cells, each tissue is comprised of cells of similar composistion, each tissue has a specific function
Cell
Membrane bound structure that form the individual units of living matter, smallest unit of life
Organelles
Individual functional components of the cell
Molecules
Cluster of atoms ex) DNA, sugar etc
Producers
Provide food for other organisms
Consumers
Eat plants and other animals within the ecosysytem
Decomposers
Breakdown waste and dead organisms recycling nutrients so they can be used for biosynthesis
How does energy enter an ecosystem?
Sunlight
Which two ways can ecosystems be characterized?
Recycling of chemical nutrients (basic chemical components of life flow from air to soil to producers, consumers and decomposers from soil back to air), energy flow (energy is constatntly gained and lost by the ecosystem, entering as sunlight and exiting as heat)
What is related to the structure of a cell?
It’s function
All living things are composed of either…
Prokaryotes or Eukaryotes
Taxonomy
Branch of biology that names and characterizes species
Three domains
1) Domain archea
2) Domain bacteria
3) Domain Eukarya
Within the domain eukarya what are the 3 kingdoms?
1) Kingdom Plantae
2) Kingdom Fungi
3) Kingdom Animalia
*Kingdom protist no longer exists
Biology is made up of which 2 scientific approaches?
Discovery Science and Hypothesis-based science
Discovery Science
Result of verifiable observations and measurements, result of inductive reasoning (conclusions which are drawn from a large number of observations.)
Hypothesis based science
Observations of discovery science resulting in questions forming a hypothesis, result of deductive reasoning (moves from a general statement down to a specific conclusion)
What is the difference between hypothesis and theory?
Hypotheisi is much more specific whereas theory is broad and describes many observations.
