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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