Intro to Biology Chapter 1

What makes something ALIVE? Brainstorm ideas. Read about it.

Which of these are alive? Based on which characteristics?

The Seven Traits of Life 1.Cellular Organization – all living things are made of 1 or more cells Cell - the smallest unit that can perform all the functions of life

2.Homeostasis – the ability to maintain stable internal conditions despite external conditions (home stable) Ex: shivering, sweating BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

3.Metabolism – the sum of all the chemical processes in an organism (how they obtain energy)

4.Responsiveness – an organism’s ability to react to the environment

5.Reproduction – the process of producing offspring

6.Heredity – the passing of traits (genetics) on to offspring (DNA)

7.Grow and Develop – to grow is to get bigger and to develop is to change over time

Day 2

4 Parts to Scientific Thought - making observations - using evidence to draw conclusions - being skeptical about ideas - being open to change

What Animal is it? LAB

Universal Laws Truths that are valid everywhere in the universe (constant across the sciences) Ex: the law of gravity, the law of the conservation of mass the law of conservation of energy

Scientific Theory Ideas supported by a large body of evidence – tested many times over. May change as new evidence becomes available. Ex: The Theory of Relativity

Steps of Scientific Method There are 7 Steps to follow

Observation Noting objects or events through the senses

State the problem The problem comes from observations that are made. (Needs to be specific) Incorrect: Will a fertilizer make a plant grow? Correct: Will Miracle Grow Fast Grow Fertilizer make a sunflower plant grow taller?

Form a hypothesis A possible explanation for the problem – an educated guess Incorrect: I think it will make the plant grow taller. Correct: Miracle Grow Fast Grow Fertilizer will make a sunflower plant grow taller.

Design an Experiment An experiment is a procedure that is carried out under controlled conditions to test a hypothesis. A controlled experiment tests one factor at a time and uses a control factor for comparison. The experimental group is identical to the control group except for 1 factor know as a variable.

Variable – something that changes Independent variable – the single factor that is changed to create the experiment Dependent variables – the factor or factors that change in response to the independent variable, it is the variable that is measured. Ex: Fertilizer and the height of the plant Independent variabledependent variable

Ethics Sometimes it is not ethical or possible to run a controlled experiment – in these cases scientists collect data over time and make connections. They attempt to control the data based on one factor. Data is collected on charts and graphs as part of the experiment.

Analyze Data Review data collected from the experiment. Data analysis does not draw a conclusion. Ex: Based on the graph Plant A with the miracle grow fertilizer grew 3 more inches than plant B the plant with no fertilizer.

Draw Conclusions Was the hypothesis correct or not and why? Ex: Miracle grow fast grow fertilizer does make a sunflower plant grow taller. Plant A which had this fertilizer added grew 3 more inches than did Plant B. The experiment is then repeated to validate the conclusion.

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