Ch 1: Biology Today
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46 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Biology | the scientific study of life. |
| science | a way of knowing based on inquiry. |
| central dogma of biology | first articulated by Francis Crick. It is an irreversible process of transferring sequence information from DNA to RNA to protein. |
| cell theory | states that cells are the smallest structural and functional unit of life; all living things are composed of one or more cells, and that all cells come from preexisting cells (biogenesis). |
| characteristics of life | 1. order (organized) 2. maintains homeostasis (regulation) 3. growth and development (changes over a lifespan) 4. energy utilization (metabolize) 5. response to the environment (irritability) 6. reproduction (offspring) 7. evolves (changes over many generations). |
| prokaryotic cells | "no" small, simple structures, DNA concentrated in nucleoid regions, lack most membrane-bound organelles (except ribosomes, which are tiny and are needed to synthesize proteins). |
| eukaryotic cells | "true" larger, more complex structures, with true nuclei (nucleus), composed of many types of organelles. |
| domains of life | Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya |
| kingdoms of the eukaryotes | Plantae (producers), Fungi (decomposers), Animalia (consumers) and Protists (catch-all for those that do not fit into the scheme). |
| Did King Philip Come Over From Geneva Switzerland? | a mnemonic device for taxonomy. It stands for the following terms: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. |
| species | a group of orgaisms having common characteristics who are capable of reproduction resulting in viable (fertile) offspring. |
| nutrients | are recycled within an ecosystem by way of its organisms interacting as producers, consumers, and decomposers. |
| energy | flows through an ecosystem in the folowing forms: light, chemical food, and finally, loss of heat. |
| hierarchy of life | 1. Biosphere 2. Ecosystems 3. Communities 4. Populations 5. Organisms 6. Organ systems and organs 7. Tissues 8. Cells 9. Organelles 10. Molecules and atoms |
| biosphere | the global ecosystem; the entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; all of life and where it lives. |
| ecosystem | all the organisms in a given area, along with the nonliving factors with which they interact; biological communities and their environment. |
| community | all the organisms inhabiting and potentially interacting in a particular area; an assemblage of populations of different species. |
| population | a group of interacting individuals belonging to one species and living in the same geographic area at the same time. |
| organism | an individual living thing that can react to stimuli, reporduce, grow, and maintain homeostasis. It can be a virus, bacterium, protist, fungus, plant or an animal. |
| organ system | a group of organs that work together to carry out a particular task. |
| organ | a group of tissues that perform a specific function or group of functions. |
| tissue | an aggregate of cells in an organism that have similar structure and function. |
| cell | an autonomous self-replicating unit that may exist as functional independent unit of life, or as a sub-unit (in plants and animals) that is specialized into carrying out particular functions towards the cause of the organism as a whole. |
| organelle | a membrane-enclose structure with a specialized function within a eukaryotic cell. |
| molecule | is formed when two or more atoms join together chemically. Held together by covalent bonds, they can consist of the same element or different elements (compounds). |
| atom | is the smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of an element; the basic building block of ordinary matter; from Latin meaning indivisible. |
| evolution | is the unifying theme of Biology. Descent with modification; the genetic change in a population or species over generations; the heritable changes that have produced Earth's diversity of organisms. |
| The Origin of Species | finally published in 1859 by Charles Darwin; established the ideas of evolution (descent with modification) via natural selection (unequal reproductive success). |
| natural selection | a theory explaining the process by which organisms with certain characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce. It is based on two observations: 1. overpopulation and competition; 2. individual variation within species; concluding that unequal reproductive success is the mechanism of evolution. |
| unequal reproductive success | sometimes called natural selection; begins with a "population with varied traits." Calamity facilitates the "elimation of individuals with certain traits." Followed by the "reproduction of surviors." Resulting in the "increasing frequency of favorable traits." |
| adaptation | is a favorable trait; any inherited trait that gives an individual some sort of survival advantage, allowing it to become better suited for its environment. |
| artificial selection | the selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals by humans. We have modified other species for millennia by utilizing the power of unequal reproduction. |
| discovery science | the process of scientific inquiry that focuses on describing nature. It uses verifiable observation and measurements to study structures and phenomena. |
| hypothesis-driven science | the process of scientific inquiry that uses the steps of the scientific method to answer questions about nature. Sometimes called experimental science. |
| scientific method | scientific investigation involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of an hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis and results that validate or modify the hypothesis. |
| steps of the scientific method | 1. Observation 2. Question 3. Hypothesis 4. Prediction 5. Experiment |
| controlled experiment | a component of the process of science whereby a scientist carries out two parallel tests, an experimental test and a control test. The experimental test differs from the control by one factor, the variable. The control serves as a basis of comparison. |
| theory | a widely accepted explanatory idea that is broad in scope and supported by a large body of evidence. |
| hypothesis | a tentative explanation that a scientist proposes for a specific phenomenon that has been observed. |
| inductive reasoning | starts with specific examples and applies them to a larger (more general) situation; used in an attempt to discover new concepts. |
| deductive reasoning | starts with a general principle and applies that principle to a specific case; used to prove new concepts. |
| placebo | an inactive substance or preparation used as a control in an experiment or test to determine the effectiveness of a medicinal drug. |
| blind study | a method in which either the investigator(s) or the subject(s) is kept ignorant of the group to which the subjects are assigned. |
| double-blind study | a method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment. |
| law | an empirical truth of great generality, conceived of as a physical necessity; a constant of nature. |
| Unifying Principles of Biology | 1. Cell Theory (biogenesis and structure is related to function); 2. Central Dogma (continuity and inheritance); 3. Laws of physics and chemistry apply (energy, matter, and feedback); 4. Living systems are Dynamic (development and ecology); 5. Emergence (new properties at level in hierarchy); 6. Evolution (core theme of biology). |
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