Nature of Science: Scientific Inquiry, Methods, Techniques, and History Flashcards
Making observations
–quantitative: can be measure, such as number, length, mass, volume
–qualitative: cannot be measured, color, shape, texture
Formulating and Testing Hypotheses
–a proposed explanation for natural phenomena
Identifying Experimental Variables and Controls
- -experimental variable: can manipulate
- -experimental controls: variables kept constant
Conclusions: proof vs support
- -evidence is not known as scientific proof
- -scientific conclusions and evidence are not accepted as final proven knowledge
Scientific resources & communicating findings
- -findings: maintain accuracy and clarity
- -properly citing, to build new findings
Chemical nature of biology
- -chemistry: study of matter or any physical substance that takes up space or has mass
- -all living things made of matter, all matter made of atoms
- -living organisms made of: C, H, N, O, S, & P
- -biochemistry: study of how these elements combine into biomolecules
- -biomolecules: carbs, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids
- -actions and rxns of the biomolecules drive photosynthesis, cell resp, and digestion
Calculations in biology
–mathematical models: simulate natural phenomena and predict their future
–statistics: summarize and draw conclusions about data in biological experiments
–mathematical biology: inspired by complex biological processes
–theoretical biology: uses data from complex models to develop theoretical assessment of biological processes
Physical Laws and Principles Governing Biological Systems
- -physical biology: understanding natural processes
- -physics: study of matter, energy, and motion
- -includes laws of motion and thermodynamics, and laws of conservation
biophysics: describe and explain patterns in biological processes
Testable nature of hypotheses
- -scientific facts: objective observations not explanations, confirmed by data repeatedly
- -facts accepted as truth, not proof
–hypotheses (proposed and testable) and theories: explanations of natural phenomena
Formulation of theories based on accumulated data
- -hypotheses: tested and confirmed time and time again, data accumulated to be considered theory
- -many sources of evidence needed
- -theory: valid explanation of phenomena
Durability of laws
- -not explanations of phenomena
- -description of natural phenomena
- -distinguished by their durability
- -durability: ability to stay constant over time and their predictive nature
Cell theory and germ theory
Cell theory: all living things are made of cells
–Robert Hooke: used microscope to identify, describe, name cells
Germ theory:
- -Louis Pasteur
- -discovered microorganisms cause food spoilage and disease
- -confirmed cell theory by showing cells come from other cells
Heredity, evolution, and ecology
Heredity: how genes pass thru generations
- -Gregor Mendel
- -observed variation in pea plants by cross breeding plants for specific traits
- -concluded plants get one allele from each parent and one of these will be expressed as trait
Evolution: how sp change over time
-Charles Darwin
Identified driving forces
- -descent with modification
- -natural selection
Both heredity and evolution play major role in ecology
Structure and nature of genetic material
–genetics: studies structure and fn of genetic material as chromosomes and how passed on
Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
-confirmed DNA has the genetic material
James Watson and Francis Crick
- DNA is double helix
- Rosalind Franklin contrib data to this discovery
Classification of organisms
Biological Classification
- -group organisms based on similarities
- -taxonomy
- -based on hierarchical system by Carl Linnaeus
- -Carl Linnaeus system grouped species
- –Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
- -system modified by Carl Woese
- discovered Archaea
- added Domain