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Chapter 1. Exploring Life and Science
Biology is the study of life. – Human Biology is a branch of biology that focuses on thehuman species.
This course will be concerned primarily with aspects of human anatomy and physi-ology.
With what is anatomy concerned?
With what is physiology concerned?
The Characteristics ofLife. All living thingsshare certain character-istics of life. 1. Life is organized.
[Figure 1.2]
2. Living things mustacquire materialsand energy.
3. Living things repro-duce.
4. Living things Growand Develop.
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5. Living things maintain a balanced internal environment — they exhibit homeostasis.
6. Living things respond to stimuli.
7. Life has an evolutionary history.
Human beings are part of the living world and are related to other animals. [Figure 1.5]
Human beingshave an evolu-tionary and cul-tural heritage.We also are apart of the bio-sphere.
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Science as a process. Science is a way of knowing about the natural world.
Scientific Theories.
The ultimate goal of science is to understand the natural world in terms of scien-tific theories.
Theories are –
A basic assumption of science:
There are natural laws which can be known. This means –
The basic tool of science: Reason.Two kinds of reason:
Inductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning.
The formal method of science involves a series of steps: 1. Make observations. 2. Formulate an hypothesis. 3. Conduct a carefully observed and controlled experiment. A control in an experi-
ment serves as a basis for comparison. 4. Draw conclusions. 5. Accept or reject the hypothesis on the basis of the experimental results.
Science is –
Levels of importance in science from least important to most important:
þ þ þ
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The process of scientific investigation. [Figure 1.7]
What is a control ina scientific experi-ment?
What is a placebo?
How does a blindtest differ from adouble blind test?
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