 Biology Meaning (Greek)

o Bios = Life
o Logy = Study of
 All living things are 
o Made of basic units (cells)
o Based off of a universal genetic code
o Obtain and use materials and energy
o Grow and develop
o Reproduce
o Respond to environments
o Keep a stable internal environment (Temp, etc.)
o Evolve
 Viruses
o Exist on the border of living thing and nonliving things
 What is a living thing?
o These are very difficult to describe, so usually one will describe things they have
in common to decide whether or not it is living.
 Living things have genetic code which depicts what the living thing is and
how it behaves. (DNA)
 That information is passed to the living things offspring almost
exactly.
 Living things grow and develop
 Development begins with a single fertilized egg multiplies and
becomes a fetus. As the cells divide, they slowly become more
and more different from their genetic parents, but usually stay
similar in appearance.
 Living things respond to their environments
 Stimulus
 The signal in which an organism responds
 Ex. humans shiver to create heat when in an environment
that is too cold.
 Living things reproduce
 Types
 Most multicellular beings reproduce with sexual
reprodution
 Two organisms come together and form the first
cell of a new organism.
 Another type is asexual reproduction
 An organism makes a genetic copy of itself and
expels it from its body.
 Living things keep internal environment constant
 This is called homeostasis
 Living beings use material and energy to grow and develop
 This is called metabolism
 Ex. A human eating food to survive and grow.
 Living organisms are made of one or more cells 
 They are very small but highly organized.
 Organisms evolve and adapt to changes in their environment
 Evidence of these claims are found in fossils 
  Biology is a study of large interlocking ideas revolving around
living things
 Cellular Basis of Life
o Many organisms are made of one cell
 We call them unicellular organisms
o Plants and animals are multicellular and come in many
different shapes and sizes
o Genetic code
 DNA
 DNA is the genetic code that determines your characteristics,
blood type, hair color, etc.
 Matter and Energy
o Life on earth requires nutrients to build itself and energy to
live and interact with the world
 Most animals eat other organisms to obtain energy
 Most Plants consume water, sunlight and nutrients from the soil
 Growth, Development and Reproduction
o All living things reproduce and develop further as they
mature.
 Homeostasis
o Organisms maintain a stable environment inside of
themselves to keep themselves alive
 Evolution Groups of things change slowly over time making their
offspring more advanced and more adjusted to its surroundings
 Each major group of organisms have generated a usual basis on
which they make their body’s appear, these make their functions
easier and more efficient.
 Each organism is different but at a molecular level, they are very
similar
 All organisms are connected through a biosphere
o Each type is linked in its own way to land water and air
o This way depends on the organisms abilities and physical
structure.
 Different Fields of Biology
o Global Ecology
 How living organism’s effects on the world’s climate and atmosphere
o Biotechnology
 This field is mainly overwhelmed by our ability and knowledge of editing
genetic code
o “Tree of life”
 This “branch” (See what I did there?) of biology focuses on the different
types of species around the globe. Both discovered and not.
o Diseases
 This form of biology focuses of diseases and their evolution and effects of
their surroundings.
o Genomics and Molecular Biology
 This branch studies the DNA of cells of a wide range of organisms
 These studies open different mysteries of growth, development, aging,
cancer, and the history of life on Earth.
 Performing Biological Investigations
 o Scientific Measurement
 Most scientists use the metric system as the basic unit of measurement
o Common Metric Units
 Length: Meters
 Mass: Grams
 Volume: Liters
 Temperature: Celcius
o Safety During Experiments
 Make sure to read all the steps in procedures and follow them exactly
 Always follow the teachers instructions and if in need of serious
assistance notify the teacher and ask for help
 Wash hands thou\\orouly after scientific activities
 Wear protective gear (Glasses, Gloves, etc.)