2009 FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

FIDM eLearning Program Page 1 of 2

Chapter 1 Biology: Exploring Life

THE SCOPE OF BIOLOGY
1. Lifes structural hierarchy, the levels of organization, defines the scope of biology, the
scientific study of life.
From largest to smallest:
a. biosphere = all Earths ecosystems
b. ecosystem = all organisms living in an area, including nonliving environmental
components (such as the Florida coast)
c. community = all the living organisms in an ecosystem (all organisms on the coast:
pelicans, crabs, seaweed)
d. population =a localized group of individuals of a species (group of pelicans)
e. organism (one species) = an individual living entity (a pelican)
f. organ system = group of organs that work together to perform a specific function (such
as the nervous system)
g. organ = part of an organ system, made of different tissues (such as the brain, spinal
cord)
h. tissue = group of similar cells (nervous tissue)
i. cells = basic unit of living matter (neuron, or nerve cell)
j. organelles = small membrane enclosed structures within the cell (nucleus)
k. molecules = cluster of atoms held together by chemical bonds (DNA)
2. Ecosystems - characteristics
a. Cycling of chemical nutrients chemicals necessary for life (carbon dioxide, oxygen,
water, minerals) cycle between the atmosphere and the soil to producers to consumers
to decomposers and back into the air and soil
b. One-way energy flow sunlight energy flows into the ecosystem and is trapped by
photosynthesizers (such as green plants) and converted to chemical energy, which
powers organisms, and continues through energy conversions until it is eventually
converted to heat energy and lost from the system
3. Cells = the basic unit of life
a. lowest level of structure that can perform all the activities required for life
b. emergent properties = with each step upward in the hierarchy of biological order, new
properties emerge as a result of the arrangement and interactions of the new parts (just
as bicycle parts function differently when assembled into a bicycle)
c. two types of cells:
prokaryotic cells lack membrane-bound organelles
eukaryotic cells contain membrane-enclosed organelles, including a nucleus
with DNA

FIDM eLearning Program Page 2 of 2
EVOLUTION, UNITY, AND DIVERSITY
1. All living organisms share common features:
a. DNA contain the moleculethat provides the genetic instructions for making cells and
organisms; each species has its own set of instructions
b. Order have complex organization
c. Regulation can maintain internal equilibrium with a changing external environment
d. Growth and development inherit information carried by genes that control growth
and dev
e. Energy utilization take in energy and transform it to perform lifes activities
f. Response to the environment respond to external stimuli
g. Reproduction reproduce own kind
h. Evolution change over time by adapting to environment

2. Diversity of Life
a. About 1.8million species have been identified so far
b. Taxonomy branch of biology that names and classifies species
c. Three overarching groups or domains: (once 5 kingdoms which are now under 3
domains)
Bacteria and Archaea include all the prokaryotes; once one kingdom now divided
into 2 domains; most unicellular and microscopic
Eukarya includes all the eukaryotes; the other 4 kingdoms are in this domain
(Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia)
3. Evolution explains both the unity and diversity of life---biologys core theme because it
explains all we know about life
a. Charles Darwin synthesized the theory of evolution
b. descent with modification - species living today descended from an ancestral
species
c. Natural selection explains how the changes occurred: when populations of
organisms, having inherited variations, are exposed to environmental factors, those
with variations that are best adapted to the environment have more reproductive
success than others; in other words,
individual variations + overproduction of offspring = natural selection:
unequal reproductive success

THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE
1. Science =Latin for to know
2. Scientific inquiry- 2 types
a. Discovery science scientists describe what they observe and use inductive
reasoning to draw general conclusions
b. Hypothesis-based science observations from discovery science lead to seeking
explanations; thus scientists use deductive reasoning to propose and test hypotheses
3. Hypothesis-based science involves observations, questions, hypotheses as tentative
answers, deductions leading to predictions, tests to see if hypothesis is falsifiable