Unit 1 (Chapter 1, Part 3) Flashcards
What is an organism studied by many different researchers so that they can compare their results and determine scientific principles that apply more broadly to other species?
Model organism. Typically these organisms are easy to reproduce and have some experimental advantages.
What is the scientific method?
A series of steps to test the validity of a hypothesis and often involves a comparison between control and experimental groups.
What is the study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environments?
Ecology. This considers populations, communities, and ecosystems.
What are some areas of study (2) that focus on examining the structures and functions of plants and animals?
Anatomy - The study of the structures of living things.
Physiology - The study of the functions of living things.
What is cell biology?
The study of individual cells and their interactions with each other.
What field of study spawned largely by genetic technology that allows researchers to study the structure and function of the molecules of life?
Molecular biology.
What is the approach that involves reducing complex systems to simpler components as a way to understand how the system works?
Reductionism. In biology, reductionists study the parts of a cell or organism as individual units.
What is an acellular organism?
An organism without a cellular structure. For example, a _ _ _ _ _. :)
What is the field of study in which researchers investigate living organisms in terms of their underlying networks-groups of structural and functional connections-rather than their individual molecular components?
Systems biology. This is research aimed at understanding how emergent properties arise and often applied to the study of cells.
What is a hypthothesis?
In biology, a proposed explanation for a natural phenomenon that is based on previous observations or experimental studies.
For example, with the knowledge of seasonal changes, you might hypothesize that maple trees drop their leaves in the autumn because of shortened amount of daylight. An alternative hypothesis might be that trees drop their leaves because of lower temperatures.
What is an expected outcome based on the hypothesis that can be shown to be correct or incorrect through observation or experimentation?
A prediction.
A useful hypothesis must be ________.
Testable. This refers to a hypothesis that can be accepted or rejected based on experimentation.
What refers to a hypothesis that can be shown to be incorrect based on additional observations or experimentation?
That it is falsifiable
Alternatively, a hypothesis may be correct, so further work will not disprove it. In such cases, what do we say about the researchers?
They failed to reject the hypothesis.
What might a biologist say, after many experiments, where they have failed to reject the hypothesis?
The hypothesis is consistent with known data. They should never say the hypothesis is proven.
In biology, what is a broad explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is substantiated by a large body of evidence?
A theory.
What are the (3) things a biological theory incorporates?
Observations, hypothesis testing, and the laws of other disciplines such as chemistry and physics.
What does a theory make?
Valid predictions.
Consider the theory that DNA is the genetic material and that it is organized into units called genes.
An overwhelming body of evidence has substantiated this theory. Thousands of living species have been analyzed at the molecular level. All of them have been found to use DNA as their genetic material and to express genes that produce the proteins that lead to their characteristics.
This theory makes many valid predictions. For example, certain types of mutations in genes are expected to affect the traits of organisms. This prediction has been confirmed experimentally. Similarly, this theory predicts that genetic material is copied and transmitted from parents to offspring.
What are the two key attributes of a scientific theory?
- Consistency with a vast amount of known data.
2. The ability to make many correct predications.
What is the awareness and understanding of information?
Knowledge. Which is what theories are viewed as.
What is the key phenomenon that sparks scientific inquiry?
Curiosity.
What is the collection and analysis of data without the need for a preconceived hypothesis?
Discovery-based science, or simply discovery science.
This typically leads to hypothesis testing.
What is also known as the scientific method which is a strategy for formulating and testing the validity of a hypothesis?
Hypothesis testing.
What is the five step method of the scientific method?
- Observations are made regarding natural phenomena.
- These observations lead to a hypothesis that tries to explain the phenomena. A useful hypothesis is on that is testable because it makes specific predictions.
- Experimentation is conducted to determine if the predictions are correct.
- The data from the experiment are analyzed.
- The hypothesis is considered to be consistent with the data, or it is rejected.
Consider:
As an example, returning to the question of why maple trees drop their leaves in the autumn. By observing the length of daylight throughout the year and comparing that data with the time of the year when leaves fall, one hypothesis might be that leaves fall in response to a shorter amount of daylight.
This hypothesis makes a prediction-exposure of maple trees to shorter periods of daylight will cause leaves to fall. To test this prediction, researchers would design and conduct an experiment. (Flip Card)
- OBSERVATIONS: The leaves on maple trees fall in autumn when the days get colder and shorter.
- HYPOTHESIS: The shorter amount of daylight causes the leaves to fall.
- EXPERIMENTATION: Small maple trees are grown in 2 greenhouses where the only variable is the length of light.
Control Group: Amount of daily light remains constant for 180 days.
Experimental Group: Amount of daily light becomes progressively shorter for 180 days.
- THE DATA: A statistical analysis can determine if the control and the experimental data are significantly different. In this case, they are.
- CONCLUSION: The hypothesis cannot be rejected.
What is the purpose of the control group?
A researcher can compare the results from the experimental group and the control group to determine if a single variable is causing a particular outcome in the experimental group.
What is the sample in an experiment that is treated just like an experimental groups except that it is not subjected to one particular variable?
The control group.
What is the sample in an experiment that is subjected to some type of variation that does not occur for the control group?
Experimental group
What is a characteristic of an experiment that yields similar results when conducted on multiple occasions?
Repeatability or it is repeatable. A hallmark of science. Data is only valid if repeatable.
What is the procedure in which experts in a particular area evaluate papers submitted to scientific journals?
Peer-review process
What do you call in biology a conceptual, mathematical, or physical depiction of a real-world phenomenon?
A scientific model
Name (5) common scientific models you will probably encounter.
- Structural Models
- Mechanistic Models
- Mathematical Models
- Temporal Models
- Hierarchical Models
What model shows the physical structures of components that make up living organisms?
Structural models
What model describes the workings of the individual parts of a complex system and the manner in which they interact?
Mechanistic models
What model is a description of a process or a system using mathematical concepts, symbols, and diagrams?
Mathematical model. Typically presented as one or more equations.
What model depicts a biological process as it occurs over a short or long period of time?
Temporal models.
What model puts organisms, parts of organisms, or observations into nested levels?
Hierarchical models.
What is an educational approach in which students evaluate or generate models as a way to enhance their understanding of scientific concepts and improve their critical thinking skills?
Model-based learning.
