1. Biology
“Bio”=
“logy”=

2. Sub Categories of Biology
Botany
Zoology
Genetics
Anatomy
Physiology
Ichthyology
Ornithology
Ecology
Microbiology
Herpetology
Limnology
Etc.

3. Biological Organization
Biosphere (Largest Grouping)
Ecosystem
Population
Organism Organ System Organ Tissue Cell Macromolecules Atoms Subatomic Particles (very specific)

4. Organizing Life Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Eukaryote
Prokaryote
Multicellular
Unicellular
Homo sapian
Bos taurus
Canis lupis
Canis domesticus
Bos bison

5. Themes of Biology Scientific Structure and Systems Cells Inquiry
Function
Reproduction
Biology
Adaptations
Societal
Factors
Interaction
With
Environment
Regulation
Energy

6. Themes of Biology Systems- most living things are composed of systems
Specialization of components (Heart only pumps blood, nerves only send signals)
Must work together for a common goal (without pedals, a bicycle would be useless)
Cells: ALL living organisms contain at least one cell

7. Structure and Function
The structure determines the function
Muscle cells are long and skinny vs.
a blood cell that is circular
Reproduce/Heredity
Must be able to produce new life from existing life
Offspring “inherit” (obtain)
similar characteristics from parents
(depending if asexual or sexual)
DNA

8. Interact with Environment
Stimuli and Response (Hot stove and your hand)
CNS and PNS
Your body temperature vs. a Snake
(Stenothermic or warm, poikiolothermic or cold)
Energy
Energy is required to maintain organization, and all life is organized
Producers (autotrophs) vs. Consumers (heterotroph)

9. Adaptations (natural selection)
Regulation (Homeostasis):
Requires energy
Temperature, H2O, Na, K
Adaptations (natural selection)
Best characteristics are passed on to offspring
Organisms are in general becoming more “complex”
Evolution: a SPECIES can change over time

10. Societal Factors Inquiry: Asking questions to solve problems
Human interactions
Positive: Disease prevention and treatment
Negative: Pollution
Inquiry: Asking questions to solve problems
Plants on the mountain: Why do they grow to different heights?

11. Problem Solving Research what is currently known
Scientific Method
Problem/Question (inquiry):Why does something occur?
Research what is currently known
Hypothesis (your best explanation)
Experiment (Designed to test the problem)
Conclusions / Re-experiment
(Does the experiment confirm the hypothesis?)

12. Hypothesis / Theory Terms NOT interchangeable
What are the differences?
Hypothesis: Guess that is based on previous knowledge, but not shown to be true
Can never be proven absolutely correct
Can be disproved by a single experiment
Theory: Based on a large amount of evidence shown to be the best explanation to explain an occurrence
Well tested
May be modified or discarded
Theory of Gravititational interaction
Hypothesis of Friday-night’s football game

13. Experimentation
Independent variable: You set for the experiment (time, distance, etc)
Dependent variable: something you measure as a result of the independent
Control: Group that is not changed, the baseline information- allows isolation and testing of a single variable
Constant(s): Factors that are held the same between groups (remember you only want ONE variable, everything else is a constant)
Repeatable

14. corn field. Her question is How does the amount of
A farmer wants to test the effects of fertilizer on her
corn field. Her question is How does the amount of
fertilizer affect corn yield (how much corn is produced….
Expressed as bushels per acre)
Hypothesis ??
Increasing fertilizer causes increases in yield
How would you test the hypothesis?
Experiment by varying the amounts of fertilizer
How can you ensure that the fertilizer causes the change
In yield?
Hold all other variables constant, ie same type of corn,
Same amount of sun, same amount of rain, same type of soil,
Same planting date, same harvest date, same etc….
ONLY CHANGE ONE VARIABLE WHENEVER POSSIBLE