Can you find the giraffe?
Biology = the study of life
BIOLOGY
Why is this field of study important?
Come up with a list of ways in which biology improves human lives.
An organism is any living thing.
Living things have certain properties that we use to establish their state of being alive.
We call these the CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE
This is a water bear. It lives in water, eats plants and can even survive in outer space.
Organisms come in a different forms:
Living things are grouped into 6 Kingdoms →
6 Kingdoms: Archaea, Eubacteria, Protista, Fungi, Plantae
Spontaneous Generation - the idea that living things could come from nonliving things
Francesco Redi (1668)
Designed an experiment to determine if meat would turn into maggots.
Louis Pasteur (1800's) - S shaped flask
A broth (food source) was placed in a flask and heated, bacteria did not grow in the flask.
If the neck of the flask was broken, then bacteria would grow.
Conclusion: organisms lived in the environment.
Experiments like these ultimately provided evidence that all living things must come from other living things.
This is known as the theory of BIOGENESIS.
Of course, that doesn’t answer the question of where the FIRST living thing came from. There are several theories and models that address this question, most deal with chemistry.
How do you know if something is alive?
Create a list of things you would look for to determine if an something was alive.
On your desk is an object, convince the class that it is alive.
Characteristics of Life
2. Growth and Reproduction
3. Genetic Code – instructions (DNA) found in all living things.
4. Living things require energy
Heterotrophs (animals) obtain energy from eating other living things
Autotrophs (plants) obtain energy from the sun.
5. Living things RESPOND to the environment
Brainstorm ways that plants RESPOND to their environment?
A response is a reaction to a STIMULUS.
Plants respond to light and to gravity.
6. Living things maintain internal balance
What happens to your body when you…
a) drink a gallon of lemonade?
b) run a mile?
c) eat a donut?�d) walk outside in the winter without a coat?
Homeostasis is maintained using a system of FEEDBACK LOOPS in the body.
Branches of Biology
Zoology = animals
Paleontology = ancient life
Cytology = cells
Botany = plants
Entomology = insects
You guess…
Microbiology =
Ecology =
Anthropology =
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
1. Organisms that gain energy by eating food are called: ________________.
�2. The smallest unit of life is the ___________
3. All living things must be able to ________________, or to make more of their own kind.
4. All living things have a _____________, which are like instructions for building the body.
5. Animals get their _______________ by consuming food.
Plants get it from the ________________
6. __________________________ is the maintaining of an internal balance, or sameness
7. Sweating when you are hot is an example of a ________________________
8. Which branch of science studies plants? __________________
ecosystems? _________________________