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Introduction

What is biology?
Branches in biology
Brief history of life
Biology
Biology is a branch of science which deals with the study of living
organism.
The word Biology comes from Greek elements; Bio = life, logy = study
Living organism, and consequently the study of biology, have to deal with
abiotic as well as biotic components of the world.

Subdivided into many areas


Zoology, Botany, Ecology, Genetics, Microbiology, etc

The Characteristics of Living Organisms


Highly organized
Organization proportional to invested energy
Made up of cells
Unicellular, multicellular
Come from and give rise to other cells
Grow & develop
Size & the number of cell
Growth may be different in different locations
Regulate metabolic processes
Biological chemical reactions = metabolism
Move of their own accord
Cells move, crawl or swim & have internal movement
Sessile (overall nonmoving)
Plant move, although very slowly
Respond to environment/stimuli
Mechanoreception, chemoreception, photoreception
Cells talk to each other
Hormones, neurotransmitter
Organism signal state via behavior
Reproduce
All life arises from previous living forms
Reproduction can be asexual
Simple; split
Unicell
Variation only by mutation in genes
Reproduction can be sexual

Complex, involves formation of zygote

The Process of Science


Biology is a science
Science means to know (Latin)
Science is an investigative method for seeking truth
The process of science blends two types of exploration; discovery science
and hypotheticodeductive science
Science seeks natural causes for natural phenomena
Science is interactive/dynamic with the information
Responds to new information
Not static or set in its contribution to knowledge
All types of science are systematic
The scope of science is limited to the study of structures and processes
that we can observe and measure, either directly or indirectly
The Scientific Methods
Observations
Question; 1H, 4W
Hypothesis
Prediction
Test : Experiment or additional observation
If test does not support hypothesis, revise hypothesis or pose new one
If test supports hypothesis, make additional predictions and test them
Experimental Analysis
Experiment must interpret the results

Taking small sample sizes often results in errors in the estimate of the
entire population
The larger the sample size, the more reliable the results
Units of Measurement
Metric units of measurement
The Diversity of Organisms
1.75 million species exist on earth
The study of classification = taxonomy; carried out by taxonomist
The method of Linneaus is called the binomial nomenclature system
because a combination of two names, genus and species, uniquely
identifies each organism
The specific species name usually describes something about the
organism
Both genus and species are italicized; genus capitalized, species
lowercase
The Linnaean Classification System; A binomial scheme
Kingdom

Animalia

Plantae

Phylum

Chordata

Anthophyta

Subphylum

Vertebrata

Class

Mammalia

Dicotyledones

Order

Primates

Fagales

Family

Hominidae

Fagaceae

Genus

Homo

Quercus

Species

sapiens

alba

Six Kingdoms: Two are prokaryotic


The prokaryotes form two domains that are also two Kingdoms
Domain Archaea
Ancient type bacteria that thrive in heat, salt, acid conditions and
process methane (so called methanogens)
Domain Eubacteria
Modern anaerobic and aerobic bacteria that live in soil, on other
organism, on surfaces, in the sea and in many other places

Six Kingdoms: Four are eukaryotes


Protista
Eukaryotic unicells: protozoa, algae, watermolds, slime molds
Fungi
Yeasts, mildew, molds, mushrooms
Plantae
Complex organization

Nonvascular (mosses) and vascular (ferns, conifers, flowering)


plants
Animalia
Multicellular heterotrophs
Complex tissues and organs, capacity for movement

Evolution
Evolutionary perspectives are seen in every area of specialization in
biology
Structure
Function
Behaviour
Evolution is the single most important and unifying concept in all of biology
Charles Darwin
Wrote On the origin of species by means of natural selection
1859
Synthesized observations about geology, living & dead
organisms
Presented large amount of data that indicates that current
organisms arose from previous generations, with modification
Alfred Wallace independently formally recognized evolutionary
processes.
Natural Selection
Natural selection is the mechanism of evolution. Natural selection works because
Individuals of a species vary
Organism are fecund (ie; they produce many more progeny than will
survive to reproduce)

Individuals of the same and different species compete for natural


resources (eg; food, shelter)
Survivors live to reproduce and produce the next generation
Differential reproduction of more fit individuals shifts the characteristics of
subsequent populations

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