Introduction: Evolution and the foundations of biology

Question 1

Biology

Answer 1

The scientific study of life.

Question 2

Reductionism

Answer 2

An approach that reduces complex systems to simpler components that are more manageable to study.

Question 3

Biosphere

Answer 3

Earth along with all the life it contains.

Question 4

Ecosystem

Answer 4

Consists of all living things in a particular area, along with all the non-living components of the environment with which life interacts, such as soil, water, atmospheric gases and light

Question 5

Community

Answer 5

The array of organisms inhabiting a particular ecosystem is called a biological community. E.g. various plants, animals, mushrooms and other fungi, bacteria.

Question 6

Species

Answer 6

A group whose members can only reproduce with other members of the group. E.g. Plants, animals, fungi, bacteria.

Question 7

Populations

Answer 7

A population consists of all the individuals of a species living within the bounds of a specific area.

Question 8

Organ

Answer 8

A body part that is made up of multiple tissues and has specific functions in the body.

Question 9

Tissues

Answer 9

Each tissue is a group of cells that work together, performing a specialized function.

Question 10

Cells

Answer 10

A cells is life’s fundamental unit of structure and function. Some organisms consist of a single cell, which performs all the functions of life. Other organisms are multicellular and feature a division of labour among specialized cells.

Question 11

Organelles

Answer 11

(Organeller) Chloroplasts are examples of organelles, the various functional components present in cells.

Question 12

Molecules

Answer 12

A molecule is a chemical structure consisting of two or more units called atoms.

Question 13

Emergent property

Answer 13

(Emergerende egenskaber) When the arrangement of components, determine whether you will get a certain outcome, like all the little different parts working together to create a whole. Molecules can have emergent properties depending on the specific arrangement of their atoms.

Question 14

Systems biology

Answer 14

(System biologi, målet er at lave modeller for dynamikken af biologiske systemer for at kunne forudsige hvorledes ændringer af en komponent påvirker resten af systemet)
The exploration of the network of interactions that underlie the emergent properties of a system. A leaf can be a system, so can a frog, and an ant colony.

Question 15

Eukaryotic cell

Answer 15

Contains membrane-enclosed organelles. Some are organelles such as DNA-containing nucleus, are found in the cells of all eukaryotes; other organelles are specific to particular cell types.

Question 16

Prokaryotic cell

Answer 16

Prokaryotic cells lacks a nucleus or other membrane-enclosed organelles. Prokaryotes are also generally smaller.

Question 17

DNA

Answer 17

It is contained in cells within structures called chromosomes. Deoxyribonucleicacid. Double helix structure.

Question 18

Chromosome

Answer 18

Each contains one very long string of double helix molecule.

Question 19

Genes

Answer 19

Each DNA string contains hundreds or thousands of genes. They control protein production indirectly using a molecule called mRNA. Genes specify all of these RNA’s and their production is referred to as gene expression.

Question 20

Nucelotides

Answer 20

Section of DNA-string. 3 makes a codon.

Question 21

Gene expression

Answer 21

(Gen ekspression) The sequence of nucleotides along a gene is transcribed into mRNA, which then is translated into a chain of protein building blocks called amino acids. Once completed, this chain forms a specific protein with a unique shape and function. Then it can create a new DNA string from the imprint it took.

Question 22

RNA

Answer 22

Some types of RNA are actually components of the cellular machinery that manufacture’s proteins. They also regulate the functions of protein coding genes.

Question 23

Genome

Answer 23

(Genetisk information) The “library” of genetic instructions that an organism inherits is called its genome.

Question 24

Geonomics

Answer 24

An approach where you study the whole sets genes in one or more species.

Question 25

Proteonomics

Answer 25

The study of sets of proteins and their properties. The entire set of proteins expressed by a given cell or group of cells is called Proteome.

Question 26

High-throoughput

Answer 26

A type of technology can analyze many biological samples very rapidly.

Question 27

Bioinfomatics

Answer 27

(Bioinformatik) The use of computational tools to store, organize, and analyze a huge volume of data that results from high-throughput methods.

Question 28

Consumer

Answer 28

A consumer is an organism that obtains its energy by feeding on other organisms or their remains.

Question 29

Energy flow

Answer 29

There is a one way energy flow in an ecosystem. During photosynthesis, plants convert energy from sunlight to chemical energy (stored in food molecules like sugars), which is used by plants and other organisms to do work and is eventually lost from the ecosystem as heat.

Question 30

Chemical cycling

Answer 30

Chemicals cycle between organisms and the physical environment. For instance, plants take up chemicals from soil and air, chemicals in plants are passed on to organisms that eat the plants and decomposers such as fungi and bacteria break down leaf litter and dead organisms, returning chemicals to the soil.

Question 31

Climate change

Answer 31

The ongoing global warming is a major aspect of climate change, a directional change to the global climate that lasts for 3 decades or more, (as opposed to short term changes in the weather). It is also extreme weather such as storms and droughts occurring more often.

Question 32

Evolution

Answer 32

An organism’s adaptions to its environment, such as a mouse’s protective camouflage, are the result of evolution, the process of change over time that has resulted in the astounding array of organisms found on Earth.

Question 33

Domain bacteria

Answer 33

Bacteria are the most diverse and widespread prokaryotes, and are now classified into multiple kingdoms. They are for instance, rod-shaped.

Question 34

Domain archaea

Answer 34

It includes multiple kingdoms. Some of the prokaryotes known as archaea live in Earth’s extreme environments, such as salty lakes and boiling hot springs. They can for instance be round structures.

Question 35

Domain eukarya

Answer 35

This domain includes kingdom plantae, kingdom fungi, protists and kingdom animalia.

Question 36

Kingdom plantae

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Kingdom fungi

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Protists

Answer 38

They are mostly unicellular eukaryotes and some relatively simple multicellular relatives. Scientists are currently debating how to classify protists in a way that accurately reflects their evolutionary relationships.

Question 39

Kingdom animalia

Answer 39

They consist of multicellular eukaryotes that ingest other organisms.

Question 40

Natural selection

Answer 40

Over many generations, a higher and higher proportion of individuals in a population will have the advantageous traits. Darwin called this mechanism of evolutionary adaptation natural selection because the natural environment consistently “selects” for the propagation of certain traits among naturally occurring variant traits in the population.

Question 41

Science

Answer 41

Science is a way of knowing - an approach to understanding the natural world. It developed out of curiosity about ourselves, other life forms, our planet and the universe.

Question 42

Inquiry

Answer 42

At the heart of science is inquiry, a search for information and explanations of natural phenomena. There is no formula for successful scientific inquiry, no single scientific method that researchers must rigidly follow.

Question 43

Data

Answer 43

Recorded observations are called data. Data are items of information on which scientific inquiry is based. Some data are qualitative , such as descriptions of what is observed.

Question 44

Inductive reasoning

Answer 44

From specific to general. Collecting and analyzing observations can lead to important conclusions based on a type of logic called inductive reasoning.

Question 45

Hypothesis

Answer 45

In science, hypothesis is an explanation, based on observations and assumptions, that leads to a testable prediction. It is an explanation on trial.

Question 46

Experiment

Answer 46

An experiment is a scientific test, often carried out under controlled conditions, where we test hypothesis to see whether or not the results are as predicted.

Question 47

Deductive reasoning

Answer 47

From general to specific. A type of logic called deduction is also built into the use of hypotheses in science. From general premises, we extrapolate to the specific results we should expect if the premises are true.

Question 48

Testable

Answer 48

A scientific hypothesis must be testable, there must be some observation or experiment that could reveal if such an idea is more likely to be true.

Question 49

Control group

Answer 49

When carrying out an experiment, you need a control group to have a norm to compare to, since you can’t assume what the norm is. This is called a controlled experiment.

Question 50

Controlled experiment

Answer 50

A controlled experiment is one that I designed to compare an experimental group with a control group. Both the factor that is manipulated and the factor that is subsequently measured are experimental variables.

Question 51

Variables

Answer 51

A feature or quantity that varies in an experiment.

Question 52

Independent variable

Answer 52

The factor manipulated by the researchers.

Question 53

Dependent variable

Answer 53

The factor being measured that is predicted to be affected by the independent variable.

Question 54

Theory

Answer 54

A scientific theory is much broader in scope than a hypothesis. You can derive specific hypothesis from a theory.

Question 55

Experimental group

Answer 55

The group that is manipulated.

Question 56

Technology

Answer 56

The goal of technology is to apply scientific knowledge for some specific purpose. Because scientists put new technology to work in their research, science and technology are interdependent.