Chapter 1: Studying Life

Chapter 1: Studying Life

1. Biology

   • The study of life

2. The characteristics of living things

   • 1) Made of cells
     • A cell is the smallest unit of an organism that is considered alive
     • Organisms can be unicellular or multi cellular
   • 2) Reproduce
     • Sexual Reproduction
       • 2 cells from different parents unite
     • Asexual Reproduction
       • 1 cell splits into 2
   • 3) Genetic Code
     • Info is carried on DNA molecules
     • Info is passed from parent to offspring
   • 4) Grow/Develop
     • Grow
       • Cells get larger
     • Devlope
       • Cells multiply and differentiate
       • Parent Cell
         • Skin Cell
         • Bone cell
         • Blood Cell
         • ECT..
   • 5) Need Materials and Energy
     • Food
     • Water
     • Air
   • 6) Respond to their environment
     • Stimulus - Signal to which an organism responds
       • Internal
       • External
   • 7) Maintain Internal balance
     • Homeostasis - Process of keeping conditions stable
       • Sweating
       • Shivering
   • 8) Populations Change Overtime

3. Terms

   • Science
     • An organized way of gathering and analyzing evidence about the natural world, its process
   • Observation
     • The act of noticing and describing events or processes in a careful, orderly way
   • Independent Variable
     • The variable that is deliberately changed
   • Dependent Variable
     • Variable that is observed and that change in response to the independent variable.
   • Qualitative Data
     • #s obtained by counting or measuring
   • Qualitative Data
     • Descriptive and involve characteristcs that cannot usually be counted
   • Hypothesis
     • A scientific explanation for 2 sets of observations that can be tested in ways that support or reject it
   • Theory
     • A well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations