BIO131 - Chapter 1
Life on Earth
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I. What are the characteristics of living things?
A. Living things are both complex and organized
1. Living things exhibit levels of hierarchy that are precise for each organism.
2. Levels of organization in matter
a. Subatomic particle
b. Atom
c. Molecule
d. Organelle
e. Cell
f. Tissue
g. Organ
h. Organ System
i. Multicellular Organism
j. Population
k. Species
l. Community
m. Ecosystem
n. Biosphere
B. Living things respond to stimuli
C. Living things maintain relatively constant internal conditions through homeostasis
D. Living things acquire and use materials and energy
1. Nutrient
2. Metabolism
3. Energy
4. Photosynthesis
E. Living things grow
F. Living things reproduce themselves
G. Living things as a whole have the capacity to evolve
II. How do scientists categorize the diversity of life?
A. The Domains Bacteria and Archaea consist of Prokaryotic cells; the Domain Eukarya is composed of Eukaryotic cells.
B. Bacteria, Archaea, and Protists are mostly unicellular; members of the Kingdoms Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia are primarily multicellular.
C. Members of the different kingdoms have differing ways of acquiring energy.
1. Autotrophs
2. Heterotrophs
III. What is the science of Biology?
A. Scientific Principles underlie all scientific inquiry
1. Natural Causality
2. Uniformity of space and time
3. Common Perception
B. The Scientific Method is the basis for scientific inquiry
1. Observation
2. Hypothesis
3. Experimentation
4. Conclusions
5. Variable
6. Control
7. Communication
C. Science is a human endeavor
D. Scientific Theories have been thoroughly tested
1. Theory vs. “theory”
IV. Evolution: the unifying theory of Biology
A. Evolution is a Theory not a “theory”
B. Three natural process underlie evolution
1. Genetic Variation
2. Inheritance
3. Natural Selection
V. How does knowledge of Biology illuminate everyday life?