Midterm Flashcards
What is life’s hierarchical levels?
Biosphere > Ecosystem > Community > Population > Organism > Organ system > Organ > Tissue > Cell > Organelle > Molecule
Biosphere
ex) Earth
consists of all environments on Earth that support life– most regions of land, bodies of water, and the lower atmosphere
Ecosystem
ex) Florida Coast
consists of all organisms living in a particular area, as well as, the nonliving physical components such as air, soil, water, and sunlight
Community
ex) All organisms on the Florida Coast
the entire array of organisms inhabiting an ecosystem
Population
ex) Group of Brown Pelicans
an interacting group of individuals of one species
Organism
ex) Brown Pelican
an individual learning thing
Organ System
ex) Nervous System
consists of several organs that work together in performing a specific function
Organs
ex) Brain
Tissue
ex) Nervous tissue
each with a specific function and made up of a group of similar cells
Cell
ex) Nerve Cell
a unit of living matter separated from its environment by a boundary called a membrane
Organelle
ex) Nucleus
a structure that performs a specific function in the cell
Molecule
ex) DNA
a cluster of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Which of the following levels of biological organization includes all others in the list: cell, molecule, organ, tissue
Organs
Producers
ex) plants
provide the food for a typical ecosystem
Consumers
eat the producers and other animals
Decomposers
act as recyclers, changing the complex dead matter into simple mineral nutrients that plants can use
What two major processes does an ecosystem include?
- the recycling of chemical nutrients
2. flow of energy
Explain how the photosynthesis of plants functions in both the cycling of chemical nutrients and the flow of energy in an ecosystem?
Photosynthesis uses light to convert CO2 and H20 to energy-rich food, making it the pathway by which both chemical nutrients and energy become available to most organisms.
Emergent Properties
“the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
the properties of life that arise from the structural level of a cell
System
when a combination of components forms a more complex organization
Prokaryotic Cell
cells of microorganisms we call bacteria; simpler and smaller than Eukariotic Cells
Eukariotic Cell
plants, animals, and fungi; is subdivided by internal membranes into many different functional compartments, or organelles, including the nucleus that houses the cell’s DNA
What to both prokaryotic and eukariotic cells share?
every cell is enclosed by a membrane that regulates the passage of materials between the cell and its surroundings
Explain why cells are considered the basic units of life?
They are the lowest level in the hierarchy of biological organization at which the properties of life emerge
What properties are common to all organisms?
- DNA
- Order
- Regulation
- Growth and development
- Energy utilization
- Response to the environment
- Reproduction
- Evolution
What is the property “order” ?
All living things exhibit complex organization
What is the property “regulation” ?
With a changing external environment, organisms are able to regulate their internal environment– maintaining within the limits to sustain life
What is the property “growth and development” ?
inherited information carried by genes controls an organisms patterns of growth and development
What is the property “energy utilization” ?
organisms take in energy and transform it to perform all of life’s activities
What is the property “response to the environment” ?
all organisms respond to environmental stimuli
What is the property “reproduction” ?
organisms reproduce their own kind
What is the property “evolution” ?
reproduction underlies the capacity for species to change (evolve) over time.
What is the chemical basis for all of life’s kinship?
DNA as the genetic material
Species
the term used for a particular type of organism
Taxonomy
the branch of biology that names and classifies species and arranged them into a hierarchical group
What are the six kingdoms?
- Protists (multiple kingdoms)
- Kingdom Fungi
- Kingdom Animalia
- Kingdom Plantae
- Domain Eukarya (eukaryotes)
What are the three domains in the kingdom of life?
- Bacteria
- Archaea
- Eukarya
Characteristics of the Bacteria and Archaea domains?
- both consist of prokaryotes
- unicellular and microscopic
- most widespread of all living organisms
- different DNA
Eukarya domain?
eukaryotic cells have a nucleus and other internal structures called organelles
Protists
- diverse collection of mostly single celled organisms
- some make their own food (algae) through photosynthesis
- some eat other organisms
Kingdom Plantae
- consists plants
- produce their own food
- have cells with rigid walls made of cellulose
Kingdom Fungi
- diverse group that includes molds, yeasts, and mushrooms
- mostly decomposers
Kingdom Animalia
animals obtain food by ingestion, which means they eat other organisms
To which of the three domains of life do we belong?
Eukarya
Theories
Comprehensive ideas
Natural Selection
evolutionary adaptations; heritable variations are exposed to the environmental factors that favor the reproductive success of some individuals more than others
Who published a book about Natural Selection?
Charles Darwin
How does natural selection enable a population of organisms to adapt to its environment?
On average, those individuals with heritable traits best suited to the local environment produce the greatest number of offspring that survive and reproduce. This increases the frequency of those traits in the population.
What two main approaches do scientists use to learn about nature?
- Discovery Science
2. Hypothesis- based Science
What is Discovery Science?
- verifiable observations and measurements
- inductive reasoning ex) “all organisms are made of cells” since they are found in every microscopic specimen
What is Hypothesis-based Science?
- ask questions and seek explanations
- deductive reasoning
What is the difference between Discovery Science and Hypothesis-based Science?
Discovery science uses inductive reasoning an Hypothesis-based science uses deductive reasoning.
What best describes the logic of the scientific process?
If my hypothesis is correct, I can expect certain test results
Amoebas and bacteria are grouped together into different domains because of…?
bacterial cells lack a nucleus
A biologist studying interactions among protists in an ecosystem could not be working at which level in life’s hierarchy?
the organ level
What question is outside the realm of science?
What is the nature of the supernatural?
What statement best distinguishes hypothesis from theories in science?
Hypothesis usually are narrow in scope; theories have broad explanatory power
The organisms in your backyard include trees, shrubs, grass, ants, mushrooms, birds, spiders, beetles, flies, and bacteria. Together, all these organisms make up…?
A community
The core idea that makes sense of all of biology is…?
evolution
In an ecosystem, how is the movement of energy similar to that of chemical nutrients, and how is it different?
Both energy and chemical nutrients are passed through an ecosystem from producers to consumers to decomposers. But energy enters an ecosystem as sunlight and leaves as heat. Chemical nutrients are recycled from the abiotic soil and atmosphere through plants, consumers, and decomposers and returned to the soil and water.
Explain the role of heritable variations in Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
Darwin hypothesized that natural selection operates in populations whose individuals have varied traits that are inherited. When natural selection favors the reproductive success of certain individuals in a population more than others, it changes the proportions of heritable variations in the population, gradually adapting a population to its environment.
Explain what is meant by this statement: The scientific process is not a rigid method.
A scientist uses a logical thought process involving the key elements: observations about natural phenomena, questions derived from observations, hypotheses posed as tentative answers to questions, logical predictions of the outcome of tests if the hypotheses are true, and actual tests of hypotheses.
Contrast technology with science. Give an example to illustrate the difference.
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Explain what is meant by this statement: Natural selection is an editing mechanism rather than a creative process.
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Biology can be described as having both a vertical scale and a horizontal scale. Explain what that means.
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