Biology—The Science of Life

Old Growth Forest

Standard 2

• Students know and understand the characteristics and structure of living things, the processes of life, and how living things interact with each other and their environment.

• Focus: Biology—Anatomy, Physiology, Botany, Zoology, Ecology

Vocabulary List for Chapter One

• Skepticism• Observation• Hypothesis• Experiment• Control group• Theory• SI

• Biology• Cell• Homeostasis• Metabolism• Reproduction• Heredity• evolution

Biology• Bios is the Greek word for

life or way of life.• Biology is the study of life.• All life as we know it can be

found in the biosphere, which is the thin envelope of space surrounding Earth (about 12 miles) and projecting a short distance below Earth’s surface.

Biosphere

Introduction to Biology (7:00)

Areas of Life Study

• Biochemistry• Ecology• Cell Biology• Genetics• Evolutionary Theory• Microbiology• Botany• Zoology• Physiology

Biochemistry 4:07

Ecology: The study of organisms and their relationship with each other and the environment.

Cell Biology is the study of cell structure, function, growth and division

Genetics is the study of heredity.

Evolutionary Theory is the study of the process by which species change over time.

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms (really tiny life forms) like bacteria and viruses.

Botanists study plant life.

Zoologists study animal life.

Physiology is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms.

Seven properties of life

1. Cellular organization2. Homeostasis3. Metabolism4. Responsiveness5. Reproduction6. Heredity7. Growth

What distinguishes living things?• All organisms grow, even though

some one-celled organisms do for only a brief time.

• Growth is an increase in the amount of living material in an organism.

• As the organism grows, it changes in a process called development.

• Development is the series of changes an organism undergoes in reaching its final, adult form.

Living things continued• Living organisms maintain

homeostasis, the steady state of the internal operation of an organism regardless of external changes.

• When you get too hot, your body gets rid of the excess heat by perspiring.

• Because external factors change constantly, it’s imperative that organisms maintain homeostasis.

• The sum of all of the chemical reactions carried out in an organism is called metabolism.

• It is a vital process for all organisms that starts at the time of birth and continues throughout the organism’s life.

• Living organisms also react to their environment through responsiveness.

• An example is a plant bending toward the light.

• Reproduction is the process by which organisms make more of their own kind.

• Because no organism lives forever, reproduction is essential to life forms.

• There are two types of reproduction, sexual and asexual.

• Organisms inherit traits from their parents in a process known as heredity.

• Inherited traits tend to change over time in a process known as evolution.