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INTRODUCTION: TEN THEMES IN THE
STUDY OF LIFE
I.
EXPLORING LIFE ON ITS MANY LEVELS
A. Each level of biological organization has emergent properties
Note: the concept of this section is for you to be able to sit back and think, visualize and be
able to “see” with your mind’s eye how the structure or order of a biological entity (a cell,
leaf, insect, etc) elicits certain properties.
1. A Hierarchy of Organization: be able to describe how living systems are organized (Fig
1.2) and then how organisms continue this level of organization.
2.
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Emergent Properties: be able to describe in a paragraph how the structure of a biological
entity provides certain properties.
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3.
Reductionism in Biology
B. Cells are an organism’s basic units of structure and function
1. The Cell Theory
2.
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Two Main Cell Types: be able to discuss the basic cellular differences between pro-and
eukaryotic cells. Although prokaryotic cells do not contain membrane-enclosed
organelles, remember that they do contain ribosomes. Ribosomes are NOT membraneenclosed. How would bacteria be able to make proteins if they didn’t have ribosomes?
So the phrase “membrane-enclosed” becomes very important.
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C. The continuity of life if based on heritable information in the form of DNA
D. Structure and function are correlated at all levels of biological organization.
E. Organisms are open systems that interacted continuously with their environments.
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1.
Ecosystem Dynamics
2.
Energy Conversion
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F.
II.
Regulatory mechanisms ensure a dynamic balance in living systems
1. Be able to describe the basics of a negative and positive feedback system (fig 1.8).
EVOLUTION, UNITY AND DIVERSITY
Note: EVOLUTION IS
CHANGE THROUGH
TIME: supported by facts and always
subject to change as more facts are discovered, evolution simply relates organisms over the past 4
billion years. Although we have over 99% of our genome in common with monkeys, we did not
evolve from monkeys. We do share a common ancestor however.
A. Diversity and unity are the dual faces of life on Earth
1.
Grouping Species: The Basic Concept
2.
The Three Domains of Life
a) Bacteria
b) Archaea
c)
3.
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Eukaryotes: Fungi, plants and animals
(i) distinguished by the mode of nutrition
Unity in the Diversity of Life
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B. Evolution is the core theme of biology
1.
Darwin and Natural Selection
a) Concept #1:
b) Concept #2
(i) What were Darwin’s observations and his inference?
2.
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Natural Selection and the Diversity of Life
a) Be able to explain how organisms that are “different” are also similar. That is, how does
change over time support the unity of organisms?
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III.
The Process of Science
A. Science is a process of inquiry that includes repeatable observations and testable hypotheses.
1. Introduction
a) Science meaning, “to know”
(i) but how do scientists find out what they know? What is their process? Does the
process the text wants you to believe as valuable make sense to you or is
something missing?
2.
Discovery Science and Induction
a) Science seeks natural causes for natural phenomena.
(i) this should be repeated over and over again. You see this is saying that natural
causes are sought not a “belief”.
-natural causes can be described, measured, directly or indirectly
-other people can confirm scientist’s explanations when looking at the same
data.
b) Verifiable observations and measurements are the data of discovery science.
(i) you’ve got to have some data in your experiment
(ii) you’ve got to have a procedure that other scientists will follow and come up
with the same results and conclusions
(iii) sometimes your discovery is by accident, that is, serendipitous.
(iv) A discovery can allow you to make a general statement about a natural
phenomena-inductive reasoning. Here you have many specific pieces of
evidence and you make a general statement, which can be proven or
disproved as time passes.
3.
Hypothetico-Deductive Science
a) Scientists really don’t follow the scientific method. Things don’t really work that
way but they establish a hypothesis, set up a procedure and collect some results.
(i) Hypothesis: I know that Campbell states that “a hypothesis is an educated
guess” but I won’t accept that on a test and you are required to remember this.
A hypothesis is a statement about how an experiment will turn out-a answer to a
question.
(ii) The AP Committee loves to see “If. . . then” statements for a hypothesis. “If
plant cells are exposed to increasing amounts of heat, then more heat-shock
proteins will be produced.” Or “heat shock proteins will be produced above
35 degrees Centigrade in Arabidopsis.”
-there is no explanation in the hypothesis; just the “if. . . then” statement.
-you are stating what you predict will happen and going out on a limb
-hypotheses do not have to be correct to be great hypotheses.
(iii) Control vs. Experimental Group
-the control group has all the same circumstances as the experimental group but
there is no change in a variable or treatment (i.e., different amounts of heat
exposed to plant cells
-the control group is a very important component of an experiment.
-the experimental group or groups demonstrates what happens when a variable
or factor is changed. It is very important for the experimental group(s) to
have only one factor that is changing.
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4.
a)
Theories in Science: this is a very important distinction.
What’s the point of saying that “a telephone book is a collection of facts but it isn’t
science.” ?
b) Is a theory just a guess? What does it really represent?
c)
How does a theory differ from a hypothesis?
d) When does a “theory” become a “theory”?
e)
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I have heard biology teachers state that “Evolution is just a theory” as a way of
describing its credibility. How would you challenge that instructor? What different ways
can people define a theory?
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5.
Science as a Social Process
6.
The Cultural Context of Science
a) remember the goal is to “know” nature, describe and explain it. It is crucial that you
realize that scientific experiments must be repeatable by different research groups and if
the results are to be become part of a theory, those results must be the same amongst the
groups.
B. Science and technology are functions of society
1. Economics is strongly affected by science. If a new discovery, such as a pharmaceutical drug
that lowers cholesterol, is made, new equipment or a new production line may be required to
produce this drug. So science discoveries add to the value of goods and services.
2. Not all technology can be described as applied science. Sometimes we don’t know how
technology may be used but it may be there when needed.
3. Technology keeps people healthy
End of Chap 1 Notes
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