Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Human Biology Concepts and Current issues  Chapter 1  Science, and Society  Characteristics of Life  Levels of Organization  Scientific Method

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. The Characteristics of Life  How are living things different from nonliving things?  Living things  Have different molecular structure than nonliving things  Require energy and raw materials  Are composed of cells  Maintain homeostasis  Respond to their external environment  Grow and reproduce  Populations are capable of evolving

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. A Five-Kingdom Classification  Monera: single-celled prokaryotes  Animalia: eukaryotic animals, heterotrophs  Plantae: eukaryotic, photosynthetic plants  Fungi: eukaryotic, decomposers (fungi, yeast, mushrooms)  Protista: eukaryotic protozoa, algae, slime molds

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Defining Features of Humans  Bipedalism  Opposable thumbs  Large brain  Capacity for language

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Levels of Biological Organization  Atom and molecule  Cell  Tissue  Organ  Organ system  Community  Ecosystem  Biosphere

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Levels of Biological Organization (cont.) Figure 1.7

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. The Scientific Method Figure 1.8

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Steps in the Scientific Method  Observe and generalize  Formulate a hypothesis  Make a testable prediction  Experiment or observe  Modify the hypothesis as necessary and repeat  Peer review

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Hypothesis versus Theory  For a hypothesis to become a theory it must  Be broad  Be extensively tested  Be supported over time  Explain a broad range of facts  Have a high degree of reliability  Theories may be refuted in the future

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Learning to Be a Critical Thinker  Become a skeptic  Appreciate the value of statistics  Learn to read graphs  Separate facts from conclusions

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. The Role of Science in Society  Science improves technology and the human condition  Science helps us to make informed choices  Science has limits