Biology

• is the scientific study of life

• Biologists ask questions such as
– How a single cell develops into an organism
– How the human mind works
– How living things interact in communities
Questions :
How would you  define what it means to be alive?
 What properties  do all living things share?

Life is recognized by what living things do

 Properties of Life
Order

Response
to the
environment
Evolutionary
adaptation

Regulation

Reproduction
Energy
processing Growth and
development
 All forms of life share common properties

• Properties of life include

1. Order—the highly ordered structure that typifies life,
2. Reproduction—the ability of organisms to
reproduce their own kind,
3. Growth and development—consistent growth and
development controlled by inherited DNA,
4. Energy processing—the use of chemical energy to
power an organism’s activities and chemical
reactions,
All forms of life share common properties

5. Response to the environment—an ability to respond

to environmental stimuli,
6. Regulation—an ability to control an organism’s
internal environment within limits that sustain life, and
7. Evolutionary adaptation—adaptations evolve over
many generations as individuals with traits best suited
to their environments have greater reproductive
success and pass their traits to offspring.
 Themes connect the concepts of biology

• Biology consists of more than memorizing

factual details
• Themes help to organize biological information
 Themes in the Study of Life
Five unifying themes—ways of thinking about life
• Organization
• Information
• Energy and Matter
• Interactions
• Evolution
 Theme: New properties emerge at each level in
the biological hierarchy
• Life can be studied at different levels from molecules to
the entire living planet
• The study of life can be divided into different levels of
biological organization

The hierarchy of life

◦ Extends through many levels of biological organization
 A Hierarchy of Biological Organization

• Biological organization :
– Biosphere—all of the environments on Earth that
support life,
– Ecosystem—all the organisms living in a particular area
and the physical components with which the organisms
interact,
– Community—the entire array of organisms living in a
particular ecosystem,
– Population—all the individuals of a species living in a
specific area,
 The biosphere

Ecosystems

Communities

Populations
Organisms
Organs and organ Cells
systems 10 µm

Cell

Organelles

1 µm

Tissues Atoms
50 µm

Molecules
– Organism—an individual living thing,
– Organ system—several organs that cooperate in a specific
function,
– Organ—a structure that is composed of tissues and that
provides a specific function for the organism,
– Tissues—a group of similar cells that perform a specific
function,
– Cells—the fundamental unit of life,
– Organelle—a membrane-bound structure that performs a
specific function in a cell, and
– Molecule—a cluster of small chemical units called atoms held
together by chemical bonds.
Theme: Life’s Processes Involve the Expression and
Transmission of Genetic Information

Eukaryotic cell

Prokaryotic cell
 DNA is the Basis of Inheritance
Nucleus

Nucleotide
DNA
Cell

(a) DNA double helix (b) Single strand of DNA

 Sexual Reproduction provides Genetic Diversity

Sperm cell

Nuclei
containing
DNA

Fertilized egg Embryo’s cells with

with DNA from copies of inherited DNA
Egg cell both parents
Offspring with traits
inherited from
both parents

Sexual reproduction involves the union of gametes

 Theme: Life requires the transfer and
transformation of energy and matter
• Work requires a source of energy
• Energy can be stored in different forms, for example,
light, chemical, kinetic, or thermal
• The energy exchange between an organism and its
environment often involves energy transformations
• Energy flows through an ecosystem, usually entering as
light and exiting as heat
 Energy Flow through Ecosystems
SUNLIGHT HEAT
When energy is used to
Producers absorb light do work, some energy
energy and transform it into is converted to thermal
chemical energy. energy, which is lost as
heat.

An animal’s muscle
cells convert
Chemical chemical energy
energy from food to kinetic
energy, the energy
of motion. A plant’s cells use
chemical energy to do
Chemical energy in work such as
food is transferred growing new leaves.
from plants to
consumers.

(a) Energy flow from sunlight to (b) Using energy to do work

producers to consumers

Energy flow through ecosystems is one way:

sunlight producers consumers … HEAT

HEAT HEAT
Energy Flow through Ecosystems
Theme: From Molecules to Ecosystems,
Interactions are Important in Biological Systems
Regulation of Biological Processes
 Theme: Organisms interact with their
environments, exchanging matter and energy

• Every organism interacts with its environment,

including nonliving factors and other organisms
• Both organisms and their environments are
affected by the interactions between them
– For example, a tree takes up water and minerals
from the soil and carbon dioxide from the air; the
tree releases oxygen to the air and roots help form
soil
Ecosystems: An Organism’s Interactions with
Other Organisms and the Physical Environment
Leaves absorb
Sunlight
light energy from Leaves take in
the sun. carbon dioxide
from the air
CO2 and release
oxygen.

O2

Cycling
of
chemical

nutrients
Animals eat
Leaves fall to Water and
minerals in leaves and fruit
the ground and
are decomposed the soil are from the tree.
by organisms taken up by
that return the tree
minerals to the through
soil. its roots.
Theme: Evolution accounts for the
unity and diversity of life
 Evolutionary adaptation, or simply adaptation,
is the adjustment of organisms to their particular
environment in order to improve their chances at
survival in that environment

 the concept that the

organisms living on Earth today are the modified
descendants of common ancestors
 The Domains of Life
(a) Domain Bacteria (b) Domain
Archaea

2 m
2 m
(c) Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia

100 m

Kingdom Plantae

Protists

Kingdom Fungi
 Unity in the Diversity of Life

• A striking unity underlies the diversity of life; for

example:
– DNA is the universal genetic language common to all
organisms
– Unity is evident in many features of cell structure

15 µm 5 µm
Cilia of Cilia of
Paramecium windpipe
0.1 µm
cells
Cross section of a cilium, as viewed
with an electron microscope
 Diversity via Evolution
Evolution explains the diversity of
life, both past and present

• first proposed by Charles

Darwin and Alfred Wallace

• descent with modification

through Natural Selection explains
the diversity of life today as well as
the fossil record
 The Process of Natural Selection

1 Population with 4 Increasing

2 Elimination of 3 Reproduction of
varied frequency of
individuals with survivors
inherited traits traits that
certain traits
enhance
survival and

reproductive
success
• selective factors in the environment favor the
survival of individuals with certain traits and the
transmission of those traits to the next generation
In studying nature, scientists make observations and
form and test hypotheses

Jane Goodall: Living with chimpanzees

Jane Goodall: Living with chimpanzees

 Scientists use two main forms of inquiry in their study of
nature

• The word Science is derived from Latin and

means “to know”
• Inquiry is the search for information and
explanation
• Two main types of scientific inquiry:
1. Discovery science and
2. Hypothesis-based science
1. Discovery science
– Describes natural structures and processes as
accurately as possible through careful observation
and analysis of data

2. Hypothesis-Based Science
- Usually involves the proposing and testing of
hypothetical explanations, or hypotheses
 1. Discovery Science

• Discovery science describes natural structures

and processes
• This approach is based on observation and the
analysis of data
Types of Data

• Data are recorded observations or items of

information
• Data fall into two categories
– Qualitative, or descriptions rather than
measurements
– Quantitative, or recorded measurements, which are
sometimes organized into tables and graphs
 2. Hypothesis-Based Science

• Observations can lead us to ask questions and propose

hypothetical explanations called hypotheses
• A hypothesis is a tentative answer to a well-framed
question
• A scientific hypothesis leads to predictions that can be
tested by observation or experimentation
• For example,
– Observation: Your flashlight doesn’t work
– Question: Why doesn’t your flashlight work?
– Hypothesis 1: The batteries are dead
– Hypothesis 2: The bulb is burnt out
• Both these hypotheses are testable
 Observations

Question

Hypothesis #1: Hypothesis #2:

Dead batteries Burnt-out bulb
 Hypothesis #1: Hypothesis #2:
Dead batteries Burnt-out bulb

Prediction: Prediction:
Replacing batteries Replacing bulb
will fix problem will fix problem

Test prediction Test prediction

Test falsifies hypothesis Test does not falsify hypothesis