1 Biology is the organised study of life and living things, and their interactions with the natural environment.

2 Living things are also known as organisms. 3 The word Biology originates from the reek words !ios and logosBios means life and logos means study, hence Biology is the study of life. " Biology #rovides an understanding of the structure and function of organisms, how they interact with each other and with the environment, $ The science of Biology covers the scientific study of life, the environment and the interaction !etween living things and the environment. 1 The study of living organisms and their living #rocesses ena!les us to have a !etter understanding a!out life on %arth. &e will !e a!le to a##reciate the many diverse s#ecies of life on %arth and understand how each s#ecies fits into the dynamic #attern of life on %arth. 2 Biological research, which is a very im#ortant as#ect of Biology, has !rought a!out many !enefits to our lives and the environment, 'ome of these include (a) a !etter understanding of how the human !ody functions, (h) finding cures for diseases, (c) saving animal and #lant s#ecies which are facing e*tinction, (d) a !etter management of #ro!lems related to the environment, 3 (a) The a##lication of !iological knowledge and #rinci#les has !rought ma+or develo#ments in the fields of !iotechnology, genetic engineering and food technology. (!) These develo#ments have contri!uted to advances in the fields of medicine, agriculture and industry. (c) ,or instance, in the field of genetic engineering, studies carried out on genes and chromosomes hel# scientists identify genes that cause diseases. &ith the advances in -./ technology, medical e*#erts !elieve that genetic diseases can !e treated with gene thera#y. The study of the structures and functions of living organisms, such as0 1 cytology which is the study of the structure and function of cells. 1 anatomy which is the study of the internal structure and organisation of living organisms. 1 !iochemistry which is the study of the chemistry of living organisms, es#ecially the structure and function of their chemical com#onents. The study of living things and the environment, such as0 1 ecology which is the study of organisms in their natural surroundings, how they are ada#ted to their environment and how they interact with !oth living and non2living things in the environment. 1 !iogeogra#hy which refers to the geo a!le gra#hical distri!ution of living organisms. The study of a##lied !iology, such as0

1 !iotechnology which is the a##lication of !iological #rocesses to #roduce materials of use in medicine and industry, 1 medicine and veterinary which concern the restoration and maintenance of health in !oth humans and animals. The study in the change and develo#ment in living things overtime, such as0 1 genetics which is the study of genes and how characteristics are #assed on from #arents to their offs#ring. 1 #alaeontology which is the study of fossils. The study of living things, such as0 1 3oology which is the study of animals. 1 !otany which is the study of #lants. 1 micro!iology which is the study of microorganisms, 1 ta*onomy which is the study of the classification of living and e*tinct organisms. 1 Biology is the scientific study of life. 2 The study of Biology re4uires the in4uiry2 discovery a##roach which involves scientific investigations. 3 / scientific investigation involves a systematic study of #henomena related to science. 5t re4uires the use of scientific skills, which can !e divided into two com#onents0 (a) science #rocess skills, and (!) mani#ulative skills. " 'cience #rocess skills #romote thinking in a critical, creative and analytical manner. These skills hel# scientists to systematically find answers and e*#lanations to a #henomenon. $ 6ani#ulative skills are #sychomotor skills re4uired to carry out a successful scientific investigation. 1 Biologists em#loy the scientific method to make certain discoveries a!out life. 2 The #rocess of science is often descri!ed in terms of the scientific method. 3 The scientific method is the #rocess of gathering facts !ased on an o!serva!le event or #henomenon. " The scientific method involves the a##lication of scientific #rinci#les !ased on the following o#erations. These o#erations are carried out systematically and in stages. 5dentify 7ro!lems /ll scientific investigations !egin with an o!servation of a s#ecific #henomenon. 8!servations ena!le scientists to formulate 4uestions which lead to #ro!lem statements such as 9ow did this ha##en: or &hy is this ha##ening: ,or e*am#le, -oes light intensity affect the rate of #hotosynthesis: This will lead scientists to arrive at an inference which is a logical conclusion or #ossi!le inter#retation for an o!servation. /n inference is not necessarily a fact. 9y#othesis / hy#othesis is a general statement a!out or a #ossi!le e*#lanation for an o!served #henomenon, the validity of which has not !een #roven yet.

/ hy#othesis #rovides a clear link !etween a mani#ulated varia!le and a res#onding varia!le. 9y#otheses can !e tested !y conducting e*#eriments. 9y#otheses are tested in a la!oratory or in a natural setting. The la!oratory is a #lace where e*#eriments are carried out. %*#eriments are artificial situations devised to test hy#otheses. / hy#othesis can !e formulated to deal with the #ro!lem statement introduced in the a!ove e*am#le. ,or e*am#le, a suita!le hy#othesis to investigate the effect of light intensity on the rate of #hotosynthesis would !e /n increase in light intensity results in a corres#onding increase in the rate of #hotosynthesis The e*#eriments carried out #roduce results that either su##ort or refute the hy#othesis, and a conclusion is reached a!out its validity. 7lanning The 5nvestigation The #lanning of an investigation often involves the following0 ; gathering the relevant information a!out or #re#aring the scientific !ackground of an e*#eriment, ; determining the a##aratus and materials needed, ; identifying the varia!les that influence the results of the e*#eriment, ; determining the #rocedures involved in the e*#eriment, ; determining the o!servations to !e made and measurements to !e taken. The correct and safe techni4ue to !e used when conducting the e*#eriment needs to !e determined. /t the #lanning stage, the scientific !ackground of the e*#eriment will hel# a scientist to #redict the outcome of the e*#eriment. 5n the investigation of the effect of light intensity on the rate of #hotosynthesis, the #lanning stage involves the following0 ; deciding on how the rate of #hotosynthesis can !e measured, ; identifying the varia!les of the e*#eriment, ; selecting the a##aratus and materials, ; determining the #rocedures involved in conducting the e*#eriment, ; determining the method of data collection and analysis. 5dentify <aria!les <aria!les are factors or conditions which influence the outcome of an investigation. / varia!le is the cause of a single o!servation. .ormally, only one varia!le of the e*#eriment is tested each time. This will !e determined !efore the e*#eriment is conducted. 5n any e*#eriments, a scientist needs to identify three ty#es of varia!les. (a) / mani#ulated varia!le is a varia!le that is systematically changed to cause an o!serva!le event. 5t is an inde#endent varia!le which is controlled at different values to test the hy#othesis. The values of a mani#ulated varia!le must !e set within a suita!le range. ,or e*am#le, if you are conducting an e*#eriment to study the effects of varying tem#erature on the rate of en3yme2catalysed reactions, the values of the mani#ulated varia!les should range !etween =>? to @=>?. (!) / res#onding varia!le is the de#endent varia!le which is the outcome of an e*#eriment. ft is the result o!tained due to the change in the values of the mani#ulated

varia!le. Aes#onding varia!les can !e o!served or measured and recorded in the form of data. (c) ,i*ed or controlled varia!les are other #ossi!le factors which have significant effects on the outcome of the e*#eriment. ,i*ed varia!les are ke#t constant throughout the e*#eriment. ,or e*am#le, when investigating the effect of light intensity on the rate of #hotosynthesis, the varia!les are as follows0 1 6ani#ulated varia!le0 Light intensity 1 Aes#onding varia!le0 Aate of #hotosynthesis which is measured as the num!er of !u!!les released within a fi*ed #eriod of time 1 ,i*ed varia!les0 Tem#erature, concentration of car!on dio*ide or hydrogen car!onate solution, ty#e of #lant used, time and light source ?onduct The %*#eriment 1&hen conducting e*#eriments, the a##aratus, materials and s#ecimens used must !e handled correctly and safely. /ll varia!les must !e determined and all o!servations must !e made accurately and o!+ectively. 1 The e*#erimental design should include a control e*#eriment for com#arison. 1 / control e*#eriment is similar in every as#ect to the test e*#eriment e*ce#t that the mani#ulated varia!le is ke#t constant. &hen an e*#eriment has a control, we know that the outcome of the e*#eriment is due to the varia!le !eing tested. Therefore, we can rule out any unknown varia!le which may !e res#onsi!le for the o!served changes in the res#onding varia!le. 1 /fter each e*#eriment, the a##aratus used must !e cleaned according to the correct #rocedures and techni4ues and returned to the right #laces. 1 /ll unwanted materials must !e discarded in a #ro#er manner. 1 / 4uantitative e*#eriment is often re#eated three times to o!tain a more #recise and relia!le average or mean reading. ?ollecting data 1 The results of an e*#eriment are referred to as the data 1 -uring the e*#eriment, data are o!tained !y means of o!servation and measurement. 1 The data gathered during an e*#eriment should !e accurate and o!+ective rather than su!+ective. 1 /ccuracy is an im#ortant as#ect of data collection. ,or e*am#le, when using a measuring cylinder to determine the volume of a li4uid such as water, the !ottom of the meniscus must !e at the same level as the eye. 1 -ata can !e #resented in the form of ta!les, gra#hs, charts or diagrams. 1 The data collected may also need to !e changed into another form. 1 The data recorded in the form of a ta!le (Ta!le 1.1) allows one to see the results in an organised manner. ; %ach column of the ta!le is la!elled with the 4uantity measured and its unit. ; The first column of the ta!le slws the values of the mani#ulated varia!le while the second column shows the values of the res#onding varia!le. 1 -ata can also !e re#resented in the form of gra#hs. 5f you #lan to show the results on a gra#h, at least five readings must !e collected for each 4uantity.

1 / gra#h shows the relationshi# !etween the mani#ulated varia!le and the res#onding varia!le e*#licitly (,igure 1.2). 1 'im#le drawings can also !e drawn !ased on what is o!served under the microsco#e. 5t is im#ortant to la!el the various #arts and give each drawing a title. /nalysing -ata 1 /nalysis of data may include ta!ulations and calculations of the results. 7ro#er workings of the calculations should !e included. 1 /t this +uncture, it is crucial to esta!lish the relationshi# !etween the mani#ulated varia!le and the res#onding varia!le. 1 / scientist must have the a!ility to e*#lore any hidden idea or information from the data. This information must !e discussed, e*#lained and ela!orated in detail. ,or e*am#le, in the investigation on #hotosynthesis, as the distance !etween the light source and the #lant increases, the num!er of !u!!les released #er minute decreases. The further the light source from the #lant, the lower the intensity of light and hence the lower the rate of #hotosynthesis. ?onclusion 1 /t the end of the e*#eriment, the results must !e inter#reted as o!+ectively as #ossi!le. 1 / rational conclusion is then drawn as to whether the results su##ort or refute the hy#othesis. &rite Ae#ort 1 The results of any e*#eriment must !e communicated. 1 Therefore, a com#lete re#ort must !e written !ased on the findings of the e*#eriment. The re#ort must !e clear and concise. Bse su!2headings when writing a re#ort. 1 / framework of a re#ort is as follows. 'T%7' 8!+ective 7ro!lem statement 9y#othesis <aria!les 6aterials and a##aratus Techni4ue 7rocedure %C7L/5./T58. 'tate the aim of the e*#eriment. 7ose 4uestions a!out the o!servations made. ,ormulate a #ossi!le e*#lanation or #rediction !ased on #revious o!servations. 5dentify and control the mani#ulated, res#onding and fi*ed varia!les. List the materials and a##aratus which will !e used during the e*#eriment. 'tate the techni4ue involved in o!taining the results. 1 &rite the instructions to carry out the e*#eriment. 1 The #rocedures should !e written in the form of re#orted s#eech. ,or e*am#le, %*amine the slide under the microsco#e should !e written as The slide is e*amined under the microsco#e 1 -iagrams can !e drawn to show the set2u# of the e*#eriment. These diagrams are useful to show the #ositions of the a##aratus and the materials used in the e*#eriment. The diagrams should

Aesults -iscussion ?onclusion

!e sim#le and two2dimensional. The a##aratus should !e drawn with a clear outline and la!elled accordingly. 7resent the results in the form of sim#le diagrams, charts, gra#hs and ta!les. 5nclude calculations if there are any. -iscuss, analyse and inter#ret the data o!tained, then determine the relationshi# !etween the mani#ulated varia!le and the res#onding varia!le. -raw a conclusion !ased on the hy#othesis given earlier.

,ermentation is a form of anaero!ic res#iration in which car!ohydrates are !roken down to form car!on dio*ide and ethanol (an alcohol). Deast has no en3yme to digest the starch in flour !ut if water is added to the flour, amylase #resent in the flour is activated to digest the starch into sugar. 9ence, the a!sence of sugar slows down the #rocess of fermentation. /s a result, the dough takes a longer time to dou!le in si3e.