Principles of Biology - Biology 110
Winter Qtr.
Lake Tahoe Community College
Instructor: Sue Kloss
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Course Introduction/The Scope of Biology
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
I. Course Introduction
A. Review organizational information on syllabus.
B. Review course schedule
C. Org of text
1. Get to know this book. It will be your reliable reference when you move on to other courses. The book
applies the concepts you are learning about to a particular organism. It provides an outline, telling you
basically what will be covered. The book is organized into modules, so you can do your learning in
smaller, more manageable increments. The illustrations and figures reinforce the concepts that you are
being introduced to in the text. The authors provide an excellent chapter summary and review questions.
2. Media Aid. A CD/website included with your textbook that will help reinforce the concepts you learn in
class and in the text.
II. The scope of biology
Intro: So, we are in a biology class. A major’s intro biology class. And biology is the study of life.
A. But what is life?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
order - complex organization
regulation - organism has a steady internal environment
growth and development - pattern of g & d species specific
energy utilization - take in and transform for currency of life
response to the environment
reproduction - precise replication for each organism
evolution - change over time
III. Chapter 1
A. Levels of organization
0. molecules 1. organelles .
2. cell
3. tissue
4. organ
5. organ systems, e.g. cardiovascular system
6. organism
7. population
8. community
9. ecosystem
10. biosphere
B. The increase in complexity in hierarchical structure of living systems creates increased function exponentially =
emergent properties.
So you can be a biologist and study in any of these areas.
C. Closer look at ecosystems
1. Ecosystem Dynamics
a. energy flow
b. nutrient cycling
2. Closer look at cells
D. Eukaryotic vs. prokaryotic cells
1. eukaryotic
2. prokaryotic
E. The Diversity of Life: Domains - There are currently 1.8 million species cataloged – total number is estimated
btn. 10 and 200 million spp.
5200 prokaryotes
100 k fungi
290 k plants
52 k vertebrates
1 million insects.
1. Taxonomy groups organisms with similar traits together.
3 domains
A. Bacteria
 These domains are composed of Prokaryotes
B. Archaea
C. Eukarya
Domain Eukarya split into 4 agreed upon kingdoms:
Protista
Fungi
Plants
Animals
F. The Unity of Life:
G. In science, nothing is ever considered “proven”,
Discovery science
Hypothesis-driven science
1. Scientists use many different methods in investigations, but use a similar process.
a. observations
b. form a question
c. form a hypothesis
d. make predictions “If - then” form of prediction – deductive science
e. test the hypothesis
f. refine your observations, hypotheses etc. and keep going.
Ch 1 Lesson Objectives/Homework Questions
1. Briefly describe the unifying themes that characterize the biological sciences.
2. Diagram the hierarchy of structural levels in biological organization.
3. Explain how the properties of life emerge from complex organization.
4. Describe two major dynamic processes of any ecosystem.
5. Distinguish between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
6. Describe the basic structure and function of DNA.
7. Explain the importance of regulatory mechanisms in living things.
8. Distinguish among the three domains of life. List and distinguish among the three kingdoms of multicellular, eukaryotic life.
9. Explain the phrase: “life’s dual nature of unity and diversity”.
10. Distinguish between discovery science and hypothesis-based science. Explain why both types of exploration contribute to
our understanding of nature.
11. Distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning.
12. Explain why hypotheses must be testable and falsifiable but are not provable.
13. Distinguish between the everyday meaning of the term ‘theory’ and its meaning to scientists.
14. Explain how science is influenced by social and cultural factors.