Download Exploring the Study of Life: Biology, Cells, Ecosystems, and Evolution and more Slides Biology in PDF only on Docsity! • Ch. 1Themes in the study of life • Biology – Is the scientific study of life Docsity.com • Concept 1.1: Biologists explore life from the microscopic to the global scale • The study of life – Extends from the microscope scale of molecules and cells to the global scale of the entire living planet Docsity.com Ecosystem Dynamics • The dynamics of any ecosystem include two major processes – Cycling of nutrients, in which materials acquired by plants eventually return to the soil – The flow of energy from sunlight to producers to consumers Docsity.com Energy Conversion • Activities of life – Require organisms to perform work, which depends on an energy source Docsity.com • The exchange of energy between an organism and its surroundings – Often involves the transformation of one form of energy to another Docsity.com The Cell’s Heritable Information • Cells contain chromosomes made partly of DNA, the substance of genes – Which program the cells’ production of proteins and transmit information from parents to offspring Docsity.com • The molecular structure of DNA – Accounts for it information-rich nature Docsity.com Two Main Forms of Cells • All cells share certain characteristics – They are all enclosed by a membrane – They all use DNA as genetic information • There are two main forms of cells – Eukaryotic – Prokaryotic Docsity.com • In negative feedback – An accumulation of an end product slows the process that produces that product Docsity.com • In positive feedback – The end product speeds up production Docsity.com • Concept 1.2: Evolution- Biologists explore life across its great diversity of species • Diversity is a hallmark of life Docsity.com • Domain Bacteria and domain Archaea – Consist of prokaryotes • Domain Eukarya, the eukaryotes – Includes the various protist kingdoms and the kingdoms Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia Docsity.com Unity in the Diversity of Life • As diverse as life is – There is also evidence of remarkable unity Docsity.com • Evolution accounts for life’s unity and diversity • The history of life – Is a saga of a changing Earth billions of years old Docsity.com Natural Selection • Darwin proposed natural selection – As the mechanism for evolutionary adaptation of populations to their environments Docsity.com • Natural selection is the evolutionary process that occurs – When a population’s heritable variations are exposed to environmental factors that favor the reproductive success of some individuals over others Docsity.com • The products of natural selection – Are often exquisite adaptations of organisms to the special circumstances of their way of life and their environment Docsity.com The Role of Hypotheses in Inquiry • In science, a hypothesis – Is a tentative answer to a well-framed question, an explanation on trial – Makes predictions that can be tested Docsity.com Deduction: The “If…then” Logic of Hypothesis-Based Science • In deductive reasoning – The logic flows from the general to the specific • If a hypothesis is correct – Then we can expect a particular outcome Docsity.com A Closer Look at Hypotheses in Scientific Inquiry • A scientific hypothesis must have two important qualities – It must be testable – It must be falsifiable Docsity.com
