2. The Grand Unifying Themes of Biology

3. There are eight overriding themes that will recur throughout this course. Throughout our journey think about how each topic and concept visited ties in to one or more of these themes.

4. Are you ready?

5. Theme #1: Science as a Process

6. Science is a way of knowing. It can involve a discovery process using inductive reasoning, or it can be a process of hypothesis testing. Example: development of the cell theory, or the discovery of the structure of DNA.

7. Theme # 2 : Evolution

8. Understanding biological change of organisms that occurs over time, which is driven by the process of natural selection. Evolution accounts for the diversity and unity of life on Earth. Example: Widespread use of antibiotics has selected for antibiotic resistance in disease- causing bacteria.

9. Theme # 3: Energy Transfer

10. Energy is the capacity to do work. All living organisms are active (living) because of their abilities to link energy reactions to biochemical reactions that take place within their cells.

11. Example: the energy of sunlight, along with carbon dioxide and water, allows plant cells to make organic materials, synthesize chemical energy molecules, and ultimately release oxygen into the environment.

12. Theme #4: Continuity and change

13. All species tend to maintain themselves from generation to generation using the same genetic code. However, there are genetic mechanisms that lead to change over time.

14. Example: mitosis consistently replicates cells in an organism; meiosis (and hence sexual reproduction) results in genetic variability.

15. Theme #5: Relationship of structure and function

16. The aerodynamics of a bird’s wing permits flight.

19. Theme #6: Regulation Everything from cells to organisms to ecosystems is in a state of dynamic balance that must be controlled by positive or negative feedback mechanisms.

20. Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings Fig. 54.21 Example: control of soil nutrients by forest community.

21. Example: control of body temperature by the brain.

22. Theme #7: Interdependence in nature

23. Living organisms rarely exist alone in nature. Example: microscopic organisms can live in a symbiotic relationship in the intestinal tract of another organism; the host provides shelter and nutrients, and the microorganisms digest food.

24. The Circle of Life-Lion King- Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice Performed by Elton John From the day we arrive on the planet And blinking, step into the sun There's more to be seen than can ever be seen More to do than can ever be done Some say eat or be eaten Some say live and let live But all are agreed as they join the stampede You should never take more than you give (Chorus) In the Circle of Life It's the wheel of fortune It's the leap of faith It's the band of hope Till we find our place On the path unwinding In the Circle, the Circle of Life Some of us fall by the wayside And some of us soar to the stars And some of us sail through our troubles And some have to live with the scars There's far too much to take in here More to find than can ever be found But the sun rolling high Through the sapphire sky Keeps the great and small on the endless round (Chorus repeats) On the path unwinding In the Circle, the Circle of Life.

25. Theme #8: Science, Technology, and Society

26. Scientific research often leads to technological advances that can have a positive and/or negative impact on society as a whole.

27. Examples: biotechnology and the development of the Hepatitis B vaccine; monitoring environmental consequences of global warming, genetic engineering and efforts to conserve the dwindling biodiversity on Earth.

28. THE END