Biology Introduction
 Understand
your world
 Make informed decisions
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Self
Family
Medical
Diet
 Make
informed votes
 Understand significance of accomplishments
 Bios
= life
 ology = study of
 Biology
= study of life
 Organization
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Atom
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Molecule
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Cell
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Tissue
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Organ
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Organ system
 Organization
(cont.)
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Multicelled organism
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Population

Community

Ecosystem
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Biosphere
 Acquire


energy
Autotrophs
Heterorophs
 Metabolize
 Maintain
homeostasis
 Grow
 Reproduce
 Respond
 Adapt
 Taxonomy—ID
and organize into logical
groups
 Nomenclature—name organisms
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Binomial nomenclature (Genus, species)
Homo sapiens
Canis lupus
Felis concolor
 Domain
 Kingdom
 Phylum
 Class
 Order
 Family
 Genus
 Species
Eukarya
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Danaidae
Danaus
plexippus
Monarch Butterfly
 Eubacteria
 Archaebacteria
 Eukarya
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Kingdom Protista
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Animalia
 Gather
information about the world
 Do it objectively
 Explain the natural world using rules or
patterns in the natural world
 Explanations that are testable
 Can use information for prediction
 No conclusion drawn in science is final!

However, can say many things with high
probability
 Observation
 Hypothesis
 Test
 Analyze
 Repeat
 Theory
& Interpret
 Control
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Group
Standard of Comparison
Identical to testing group other than the variable
being tested
 Sampling
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Error
Certain amount of error in any study
Try to minimize by taking large sample sizes
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Observation: Some students fall asleep in Dr. Bern’s class
Hypothesis: Dr. Bern is the most boring Biology instructor
Test: Count number of sleeping students in Dr. Bern’s and
Mr. Harnden’s classes
Results: 3/48 Students sleeping in Dr. Bern’s class, 4/48
students sleeping in Mr. Harnden’s class
Repeat: Count sleeping students in Dr. Bern’s and Ms.
Henderson’s classes
Results: 3/48 students sleeping in Dr. Bern’s class, 2/48
students sleeping in Ms. Henderson’s
Analysis: 4% of students sleep in Ms. Henderson’s class, 6%
in Dr. Bern’s, 8% in Mr. Harnden’s. There is a 3% margin of
error.
Conclusion: Student’s sleep in Dr. Bern’s class at the same
rate as other Biology instructors
Theory: Whether or not students fall asleep in class
doesn’t depend on the instructor
 Can
we use viruses that attack bacteria
(bacteriophages) to fight infections?
 Hypothesis
- Bacteriophages can protect
mice against infectious bacteria
 Prediction
- Mice injected with
bacteriophages will not die as a result of
bacterial injection
 Experimental

Inject with bacteria and bacteriophage
 Control

group
group
Inject with bacteria and saline
 Experimental
group
All mice lived
 Control
group
All mice died
 Conclusion
- Bacteriophage injections protect
mice against bacterial infections
 Prediction
- Bacteriophage injections will be
more effective treatment than single dose of
the antibiotic streptomycin
 Test
- Mice injected with bacteria, then with
saline, streptomycin, or bacteriophage
 With
2nd injection:
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Bacteriophage - 11 of 12 mice lived
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60 mg/gm streptomycin - 5 of 12 lived
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100 mg/gm streptomycin - 3 of 12 lived
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Saline - all mice died
 Conclusion
- Bacteriophage treatment can
be as good or better than antibiotic
 Limited
to our knowledge and understanding
of the natural world
 Cannot answer philosophical, moral, or
ethical questions
 Limited by man’s falibility