Chapters 1 &2

The Scope & Science of Biology

Enduring Understandings:
•Biology explores life from the global to the microscopic scale
•Biology explores life in its diverse forms
•Ten themes unify the study of life
 Characteristics of Living Things

• Biology: The study of

life or living and once-
living things.
• Living things share 8
characteristics.
• No single
characteristic
sufficiently describes
a living thing.
 Characteristic Description
Made of cells Many microorganisms such as bacteria are unicellular; Plants
and animals are multicellular

Reproduce Maple trees reproduce sexually; Hydra reproduce asexually

through budding

Based on a universal genetic
code (DNA)
Obtain and use materials and
energy
Grow and develop
Flies produce flies, dogs produce dogs, seeds from maple trees
produce maple trees
Plants obtain their energy from the sun; Animals obtain their
energy from the food they eat
Flies begin life as eggs, then become maggots, then become
adult flies.

Respond to their environment Leaves and stems of plants grow towards light

Maintain homeostasis Despite changes in the temperature of the environment, a robin

maintains a constant body temperature.

As a group, change over time Plants that live in the desert survive because they have become
adapted to the conditions of the desert.
(evolution)
What are cells?
• Cells – collection of
living matter enclosed
by a barrier that
separates the cell
from its surroundings.

• Organisms consisting
of only one cell are
unicellular
(bacteria)
• Organisms consisting
of more than one cell
are multicellular
(dogs, trees, humans)
 2 Types of Reproduction
Sexual reproduction: Asexual reproduction:
requires two cells from a single organism can
different individuals reproduce without the
unite to produce the aid of another.
first cell of a NEW
organism.
 Growth and Development
• Most living things go through a
cycle of change called development.
• A single cell that starts an
organism’s life divides and changes
again and again to form the many
and varied cells of an adult
organism.
• As this process continues,
organisms experience a process
called aging in which the organism
becomes progressively less efficient
and eventually dies.
 Obtaining and Using Energy
• All organisms require energy
to build the substances that
make up their cells.
• Metabolism: the total sum
of all chemical reactions in
the body. Catabolism
• Anabolism: process in a
living thing that involves
putting together or
synthesizing, complex Anabolism
substances from simpler
ones (Example?) Catabolism
• Catabolism: process in a
living thing that involves the
breakdown of complex
substances into simpler ones
(Example?)
Responding to Their
Environment
• Stimulus - anything in the
environment that causes an
organism to react. (Examples?)
• Irritability – the ability of living
things to respond to stimuli.
(Plant leaves, stems & roots)
• Homeostasis – an organism’s
ability to maintain constant or
stable conditions that are
necessary for life. . . Examples?
Organizational Levels of Life
Hierarchal System of Classification
Three Domains of Life
• Biological systems
• Cellular Basis of Life
• Form & Function
• Reproduction & Inheritance
• Interaction with the Environment
• Energy & Life
• Regulation
• Adaptation & Evolution
• Biology & Society
• Scientific Inquiry
Biological Systems
 Cellular Basis of Life

Euglena
Form & Function
Reproduction & Inheritance
Interaction with the Environment
Energy & Life
Regulation
Adaptation & Evolution
Biology & Society
Scientific Inquiry
 Self-Assessment
• Use an example to describe one of the
ten themes of biology discussed.

• Identify and explain a way you have

interacted with the environment
today.

• In biological terms, are you a producer

or consumer? Explain.
 Self-Assessment
• Which of the following levels of
organization includes all the others?
– Organisms, cells, biosphere, molecules, ecosystems

• Explain the relationship between the terms

species and organism

• Identify the categories of classification

from largest to smallest.
 State the Problem

Form a Hypothesis

Set Up a Controlled Experiment

Record Results

Analyze Results

Draw a Conclusion

Publish Results
• A hypothesis should be tested by an experiment in
which only one variable, the independent variable,
variable is
changed at a time.
– The set up with the I.V. introduced is the
experimental set-up.
– The control set-up does not have the I.V. introduced
and is used for comparison
• The result that you measure is called the dependent
variable
• All other variables, the controls or controlled variables,
variables
should be kept unchanged, or controlled.
In 1668, Francisco Redi proposes an experiment to
prove that
Section 1-2 maggots do not arise from meat “out of
nowhere.”

Controlled Variables:
jars, type of meat,
location, temperature,
time

Manipulated Variables:
gauze covering that
Identify the following components of Redi’s experiment:
keeps flies away from
meat
•Dependent variable
•Independent variable
•Controlled variables
According to the diagram, what should Redi conclude?
• A hypothesis is a prediction, or educated
guess about why or how something occurs
in nature.
• A theory is when a particular hypothesis
is supported by many scientists after
rigorous testing.