Have any big ideas?

An example of a big theme you see in

books and movies is the struggle between

good and evil (think Batman vs. the Joker)

What might you think would be some of

the themes you would find as we humans

study life?

Here are some we will focus on…

Themes in the Study of

Life

1.) Structure is related to function. • What, exactly, does that mean?

• In order to understand the function of something, then,

you must understand its structure.

• Have you ever played horseshoes? How does the

structure of these horseshoes relate to their function?

Structure/Function relate

2. Energy Transfer

Why do you need energy?

Where does it come from?

What do you do with it?

To understand life it is necessary to study these energy transfers.

Energy Transfer

3. Unity and Diversity

There are great differences among

organisms. • Over 600,000 beetle species, for example

There are great similarities also. • Especially chemical ones, especially DNA

Studying this unity and diversity gives

evidence to relatedness and past

evolutionary history.

Unity

And Diversity

4. Systems and

Interactions

What kind of systems do you find inside of you?

What kind of systems are you a part of?

What is homeostasis?

No organism can be fully understood alone; they are all part of a system.

Levels of organization

Let’s break down a

zebra…

What are “emergent

properties”?

5. Science, Technology

and Society

What is an example of how science

affects society? Vice versa?

Science creates technology and

technology drives the advance of science

and society.

Biotechnology Lab

Science and society

Science has

taught us that

we must

recycle things

like paper,

glass and

plastic Wal-

Mart bags

6. Evolution by Natural

Selection

Define “evolution”.

Define “natural selection”.

Why would this be called the “unifying

theme” of biology?

Darwin and son

AP THEMES

The AP program mixes, matches and

combines the themes from different

textbooks into these four, which they now

call “Big Ideas”

1. The diversity and unity of life can be

explained by the process of evolution.

A. This is the main theme in the study of life.

B. The process of evolution is driven by the

process of Natural Selection.

AP Theme #2

2. Living systems have multiple

mechanisms to store, retrieve and

transmit information.

A. This deals mainly with DNA in cells

and all the ways information is

perceived and transmitted in

organisms. For example – see a baseball,

hit a baseball, tell someone about it.

AP Theme #3

3. Interdependent relationships

characterize biological systems, and these

interactions give rise to emergent

properties.

A. All sorts of systems, involving everything

from very small particles to very large

continents are operating in the

universe.

AP Theme #4

4. Biological systems utilize energy and

molecular building blocks to grow,

reproduce and maintain homeostasis.

A. This involves things like how plants use

sunlight and how we use food like a car uses

gas as well as how we keep things like body

temperature and blood sugar from getting too

high or low.