Week 1

Question 1

Properties of living organisms (7)

Answer 1

1. Order - all living organisms are composed of cells
2. Evolutionary adaptation
3. Response to environment - sense their environment and respond to environmental signals
4. Regulation - homeostasis
5. E processing - absorb E from their environment
6. Growth & development
7. Reproduction (using DNA)

Question 2

1. All living organisms are made of cells

Answer 2

• unicellular (ex: amoeba)
• multicellular

Question 3

2. Living organisms reproduce using DNA

Answer 3

genetic material - DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - transferred from parents to offspring

Question 4

4. Living organisms absorb energy from their
   environment

Answer 4

1. Plants - autotrophs, preform photosynthesis - convert sunlight to chemical E (sugars)
2. Animals - heterotrophs, do not perform photosynthesis, use E from their food

Question 5

6. Regulation of their systems

Answer 5

Homeostasis: maintenance of constant internal conditions

ex1) thermoregulation - maintenance of constant body T regardless external factors

ex2) maintenance of constant osmotic P (Paramecium)

Question 6

7. Evolutional adaptation (what is evolution and an ex)

Answer 6

Evolution: changes in organisms over successive generations (over time)

ex: development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria

Question 7

Hierarchy of Biological Organization

Answer 7

Molecules (DNA, proteins) <=> Cells (many diff cell types in multicellular organism) <=> Tissues (made up by diff types of cells) <=> Organs (made up by diff types of tissues) <=> Organ system (made up by diff types of organs) <=> Organism (individual form of life)

Question 8

Ecosystem Dynamics

Answer 8

includes 2 major processes
- cycling of nutrients (materials acquired by plants eventually return to the soil);
- energy flow (sunlight → producers → consumers)

producers: organisms that convert light E to chem E

consumers: feed on producers or other consumers

Question 9

Energy flows through an ecosystem:

Answer 9

Usually entering as sunlight and exiting as heat;
ex:
- producers: heat => photosynthesis => glu + heat
- consumers: glu => ATP => heat

Question 10

The Cell (definition)

Answer 10

• the basic structural and functional unit of every organism; the lowest level of organization that can perform all activities required for life

Question 11

Genetic material: The Cell’s Heritable Information

Answer 11

• Cells contain chromosomes which partly consist of DNA
• Each chromosome contains thousands of genes (1000-1100 per cell)

Question 12

Genes (function)

Answer 12

• direct the production of proteins (gene expression)
• transmit information from parents to offspring

Question 13

Genome

Answer 13

The entire set of genetic information in a cell

Question 14

Cell types: Two Main Forms of Cells

Answer 14

All cells: enclosed by a membrane, use DNA as genetic information

Prokaryotic: Bacteria and Archaea domains, unicellular

Eukaryotic: Protists, Fungi, Plants, Animals
kingdoms

Question 15

Prokaryotic versus Eukaryotic cells

Answer 15

Eukaryotic cells: contain nucleus with DNA and nucleolus (r-RNA) and are subdivided by internal membranes into various membrane-enclosed organelles.

Prokaryotic cells lack a nucleus (instead - nucleiod w/ single chromosome) and membrane-enclosed organelles

Question 16

Classifying living organisms

Answer 16

Species
Genus
Family
Order
Class
Phylum
Kingdom
Domain

Question 17

Classifying human organism:

Answer 17

Domain - Eukarya
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Mammalia
Order - Prmates
Family - Hominidae
Genus - Homo
Species - sapiens

Question 18

Organism nomenclature: Binomial nomenclature

Answer 18

• established by Carolus Linnaeus
• spp organism name = Genus + characteristic property

Question 19

The Three Domains of Life

Answer 19

At the highest level, life is classified into three
domains:
– Bacteria (unicellular prokaryotes)
– Archaea (unicellular prokaryotes)
– Eukarya - divided into kingdoms, uni- and multicellular eukaryotes

Question 20

4 kingdoms of domain Eukarya:

Answer 20

1. Protists: mostly unicellular eykaryotes (include Protozoa and Algae)
2. Fungi: unicellular (e.g. yeasts) or multicellular (e.g. mushrooms) eukaryotes
3. Plants: multicellular eukaryotes
4. Animals: multicellular eukaryotes

Question 21

Evolution by Charles Darvin

Answer 21

the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations

(c) Charles Darvin, On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection

Question 22

The Origin of Species: 2 main points

Answer 22

1. Descent with modification
   • Contemporary species arose from a succession of ancestors
   • Modifications happened along the way
2. Natural selection
   • Individuals who are better fit will survive and reproduce
   • A population will have an increasing proportion of individuals with “better” traits

Question 23

Natural selection as the mechanism f/ evolutionary adaptation:

Answer 23

Population of organisms => Hereditary variations + Overproduction & struggle f/ existence => Diff in reproductive success => Evolution of adaptations in the population

Question 24

Natural selection (definition + ex)

Answer 24

evolutionary process that occurs when a population’s heritable variations are exposed to environmental factors that favor the reproductive success of some individuals over others

ex: light and dark beetles on the black background

Question 25

Inquiry

Answer 25

a search for information and explanations, often focusing on specific questions

Question 26

Scientific hypothesis and 2 impt qualities

Answer 26

– It must be testable – It must be falsifiable

Question 27

Scientific method:

Answer 27

Observations of nature => Hypothesis => Prediction => Test => => If Support hypothesis, then => Test again => If Reject hypothesis, then => new or revised hypothesis

Question 28

Deductive reasoning

Answer 28

The logic flows from the general to the specific

Question 29

Designing controlled experiments

Answer 29

Experiments must be designed to test the effect of one variable by testing control groups and experimental groups in a way that cancels the effects of unwanted variables

Question 30

Scientific theory:

Answer 30

– broad in scope – generates new hypotheses – is supported by a large body of evidence

Question 31

Limitations of science:

Answer 31

Science cannot address supernatural phenomena, b/c hypotheses must be testable and falsifiable and experimental results must be repeatable

Question 32

Characteristics of Hypotheses (5)

Answer 32

• Hypotheses are possible explanations • Hypotheses reflect past experience • Multiple hypotheses should be proposed whenever possible • Hypotheses must be testable • Hypotheses can be eliminated but not confirmed with absolute certainty

Question 33

Variables -

Answer 33

anything that is expected to change during the experiment

Question 34

Independent variables -

Answer 34

conditions that the investigator deliberately changes => WHAT WE CHANGE

Question 35

Dependent variables:

Answer 35

the conditions that the investigator measures during the experiment. They are dependent on the independent variables => WHAT WE OBSERVE/MEASURE

Question 36

Standardized (controlled) variables -

Answer 36

conditions that the investigator keeps the same => WHAT WE KEEP THE SAME variables that the investigator keeps constant in order to eliminate the effect of anything else that might influence the dependent variable => Any changes in the dependent variables may be attributed to the changes the investigator made to the independent variable

Question 37

Control treatments -

Answer 37

independent variable is constant or eliminated

Question 38

Replication in experiment-

Answer 38

repetition of the experiment several times (usually at least three times)