The Science of Biology
Chapter 1
Ch 1.1-What is Science?
- An organized way of gathering evidence about the natural world
- Goals:
1) Provide natural explanations for events in the natural world
2) Use those explanations to understand patterns in nature
3) Make useful predictions about natural events
“Think something that
nobody has thought
yet, while looking at
something that
everybody sees”—
Arthur Schopenhauer
1. Make an Observation
Scientific Methodology
2. Ask a Question
Types of Observations:
1) Qualitative: using your senses (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste)
2) Quantitative: using instruments and tools (rulers, beakers,
graduated cylinders, etc)
Scientific Methodology
1. Make an Observation
2. Ask a Question
3. Make an Inference
4. Form a Hypothesis
Inference:
A logical interpretation based on what scientists already know (General)
Hypothesis:
A scientific explanation for a set of observations that can be tested in ways that
support or reject it (More specific)
Inferences and Hypotheses
- Observation: Larger species of barnacles are
found lower in the intertidal than the larger
species of barnacles
- Question: Why are barnacle species that are
different sizes found in different areas?
- Inference: There is something that
influences where a species of barnacles lives
- Hypothesis: Barnacle location is influenced
by predation (or many other factors)
Scientific Methodology
1. Make an Observation
2. Ask a Question
3. Make an Inference
4. Form a Hypothesis
5. Test the Hypothesis with
Controlled Experiments
Controlled Experiments
- Keep track of factors, or variables, that naturally change
- Examples: temperature, light, time, etc
- Independent Variable: the variable that is deliberately changed
(manipulated variable; the variable that will produce an effect)
- Dependent Variable: the variable that is observed and changes in response
to the independent variable (responding variable; the variable that
depends on the manipulation of the other variable)
- Control Group: the group that is not treated with the independent variable
but is exposed to all other conditions
Scientific Methodology
1. Make an Observation
2. Ask a Question
3. Make an Inference
4. Form a Hypothesis
5. Test the Hypothesis with
Controlled Experiments
6. Collect and Analyze Data
Data Collection-Tools
Data Collection-Graphs
Line Graph
Bar Graph
Scatter
Plot
Pie
Chart
Scientific Methodology
1. Make an Observation
2. Ask a Question
3. Make an Inference
4. Form a Hypothesis
5. Test the Hypothesis with
Controlled Experiments
6. Collect and Analyze Data
7. Develop Conclusions
Ch 1.2:
Science in Context
Asking the right kinds of questions
1) Curiosity
2) Skepticism
3) Open-Mindedness
4) Creativity
5) Identifying practical problems
6) Using advances in technology
Communicating Results
- Peer Review
- Scientific Journals
- New Ideas and Questions
- Replication of Results
Scientific Theories
- Well-tested explanations that unify
many observations and hypotheses
- Enable scientists to make accurate
predictions about new situations
- Examples:
- Gravitational Theory
- Evolutionary Theory
- Cell Theory
Science and Society
- How does science relate to us?
- Make a list of any current scientific issues that directly influence you
- We cannot study science without understanding its role in society
What is science and what isn’t?
- Ethics and Morality
- How life works
- Applying scientific knowledge
- Bias: a particular preference or point of view that is personal, rather
than scientific
Who makes decisions
about laws and public policy?
Ch 1.3 Studying Life
Is it alive?
8 Characteristics of Living Things
1. Living things are based on a
universal genetic code.
2. Living things reproduce.
3. Living things grow and
develop.
4. Living things respond to their
environment.
8 Characteristics of Living Things
5. Living things maintain a
stable internal
environment.
6. Living things obtain and
use material and energy.
7. Living things evolve.
8. Living things are made
of cells.