Biology

Ch.1 Section 1 In-Class Note

Section 1: Introduction to Biology

Main Idea:

The Science of Life

• Biology comes from the Greek bio, meaning life, and from logos, meaning study

• Biology is the study of:

o origins and history of _______________ and _______________

o _______________ of living things

o how living things _______________ with one another

o how living things ___________________

The Characteristics of Life

• Life or Non-life?

• What are the characteristics of life?

• Anything that ___________________ all of the characteristics of life is called an

___________________.

(1) _________________________________________________________

• A ___________________ is the basic unit of structure and function in all living things.

• Living things can be ___________________ (one cell) or ___________________ (many cells).

(2) _________________________________________________________

• Reproduction = ______________________________________

• Organisms that can breed with one another and produce fertile offspring are known as a

______________________________________.

(3) _________________________________________________________
• Most organisms begin as a single cell.

• The addition of mass to an organism, often in the form of new cells and structures, is called

___________________.

• The process of natural changes over the lifetime of an organism is called

______________________________________.

(4) _________________________________________________________

• Living things get their ___________________ from food.

• Most plants and some unicellular organisms use light energy from the Sun to make their own

food. → _______________________

• Organisms that cannot make their own food get energy by consuming other organisms.

→ _______________________

(5) _________________________________________________________

• Anything that is part of the internal or external environments and causes a reaction by the

organism is called a ___________________.

• The reaction to a stimulus is a ___________________.

(6) _________________________________________________________

• Regulation of an organism’s internal conditions to maintain life is called

______________________________________.

• If anything happens within or to an organism that affects its normal state, processes to restore

the normal state begin.

(7) _________________________________________________________

• An ___________________ is any inherited characteristic that enables species to survive and

reproduce more successfully.

(8) _________________________________________________________

• Living things display ___________________, which means they are arranged in an orderly way.