Biology
Exploring Life
Themes in the study of Biology
Levels of Organization in Biology
• The living world can be “organized” into different
levels.
• At each level complexity increases and new
properties emerge.
• “The Whole is more than the sum of its parts”
• Ex: You may have tires, a motor, a transmission,
axles, etc. in a pile of scrap parts. Individually they
do not function. If you put them together and add a
source of gasoline, will they function? How?
Now You……………
• Think of an example of an “Emergent Property” within
the levels of organization in a “Living” System:
Biosphere
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Organism
Organ System
Organ
Tissus
Cell
Ecology
Working and Living Together
1. * Draw and Label this Example: Producers, Consumers,
Decomposers
2. * Describe the Flow of Energy in this Ecosystem
The Cells
Evolution
• All life forms have common features
– Order
– Regulation
– Growth and Development
– Energy Processing
– Response to the Environment
– Reproduction
– Evolutionary Adaptation
• Think of a Living Example for each of these….
How are species grouped together?
• 3 Domains
5 Kingdoms
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
The 3 Domains
Darwin’s Voyages
Darwin’s Voyages
• In Darwin’s voyages on the Beagle he
observed many different species of animals in
different locations.
• He was amazed by the diversity, but also the
similarities displayed by many of these species
found far apart from one another.Galapagos
Darwin’s Observations
• Darwin’s (and others, let’s give credit)
Observations:
• 1. Individuals in a population vary in traits
• 2. Overproduction of offspring: A population of any
species can produce more offspring than will survive
• Example fish lay thousands of eggs, only a few survive
Darwin’s Inferences
• Inference: A conclusion based on
observations
• 1. Unequal Reproductive Success: Individuals with
traits best suited to their environment will survive until
they can reproduce.
• 2. Therefore, these favored traits will accumulate in
the population
• Write an example that makes sense to you…………..
Darwin’s Theories
• Darwin’s observations and inferences led to
his main theories:
– 1. Natural Selection: The mechanism for
evolution, based in his observations, concluded
that individuals with a favored train survive and
reproduce
– 2. Evolution: The species living today are
descendants of ancestral species that have
modified over time, due to environmental
changes.
The Process of Science
• Discovery Science: Conclusions are based on
careful and verifiable observations and
measurements, collections of data, that often
take place in the natural environment.
• Examples:
– Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and Natural
Selection
– Sequencing the Human Genome
The Process of Science
• Hypothesis Based Science: Researcher
proposes and tests a hypothesis.
– Scientist Uses Deductive Reasoning
– Scientists tests by recording observations or
designing an experiment
– Examples:
• Tests of Predators of the nonpoisonous King Snake,
whose color “mimics” that of the poisonous coral
snake.
Can you tell the difference?