Name:______________________________
Date:_________________
Unit 1 – The Study of Life Student Notes
1.1 Introduction to Biology
What is Science?
__________________ is a special way of looking at and learning about the ______________
__________________.
a. Looks into relationships between _________________________________.
b. Tries to _________________ those relationships by ______________________________.
c. ___________________________________________ to see if it holds up under different circumstances.
___________________ is a branch of science that deals with ________________________________
_________________________________________________
For example:
Biologists attempt to explain how living things:
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
___________________________________
Basic Concepts in Biology
1.__________________________________
There is a wide variety of living things (___________________). All living things have certain things in
common (____________________) such as:
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
2. _________________________
All living things are affected by and affect the things around them.
They interact with members of the _______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________
Organisms have different structures depending on________in
the ______________________
Example:
Eagles ---- claws and sharp beak
Ducks ---- webbed feet and flat bill
Only rarely in nature will a structure have no specific
function. The organism
_______________________________ will likely
______________________ This is called ______________________________ and is the basis for the
____________________________________.
Name:______________________________
Date:_________________
4. _________________________
All living things die, but if the organisms is successful, its ______________________________________
________________________________________.
5. _______________________
____________________________________________ allows an organism to survive temporary changes in
its environment. Without homeostasis, periods of dry weather or drastic temperature changes would cause
widespread extinction.
Example: The human body is maintained at ________________________________for optimal operation
regardless of the outside temperature.
6. ________________________________________________
Environments change over time. A species must be able to take advantage of new resources as old ones give
out. If not, the species becomes extinct.
1.2 The Scientific Method
What is the Scientific Method?
1. The scientific method is a specific method by which scientists gain
______________________ about the _______________________.
2. Doing science involves application of the ________________________ .
3. Although the steps involved may vary,
Experiment Design
1. Characteristics of a Valid Scientific Experiment
Part of the Scientific Method involves ___________________________________ which will
_______________________________. These experiments are based on the testable prediction.
Although the design of the experiments varies considerably, most include the following characteristics:
2. An experimental variable: This can also be referred to as the
__________________________________. It is _____________________________ and there should
only be ________ experimental variable in an experiment.
3. A dependent variable: Also called the __________________________, it is the
____________________ is being observed as it _________________________________________.
4. One or more experimental groups: Groups within the experiment in which the experimental variable
is varied.
5. A control group: _____________________________________________ with the
_______________________________________. _______________________________ must have a
control group.
6. Constant factors: These are ___________________________________________________________.
These include all factors except for the experimental variable.
7. Large sample size: This ensures that results are valid. ______________________________________
____________________________________________________.
Name:______________________________
Date:_________________
8. Repeatable: An experiment _______________________________________ If it is ______________
_________________ then the results would be ____________________ as there would be no way to
check them.
Steps in the Scientific Method
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
State your ________________________- general statement which is being tested
State your _____________________________________ - hypothesis written as an if/then statement
Identify the ________________________________________
Identify the _______________________________________
Describe the ________________ group
Describe the ________________________ group
Include a large size or many ____________________sizes or many Repititions
Identify at least 5 _______________________factors
Example
A scientist notices that people who eat foods that contain a lot of vitamin C(eg: fruits & veggies)
seem to get fewer colds. The scientist wonders if vitamin C prevents colds. Design an experiment to test this
idea.
_____________________________: People who ingest more vitamin C will get fewer colds.
1. Testable Prediction: ____________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2. Experimental Variable: The amount of _____________________
3. Dependent Variable: ______________________
4. Control Group: People consuming the ______________________
_____________________ _____________________________ (according to the recommended daily
intake values)
5. ____________________________________:
People getting 25% less than the required amount of vitamin C
People getting 50% less than the required amount of vitamin C
People getting 25% more than the required amount of vitamin C
People getting 50% more than the required amount of vitamin C
6. ______________________________________:
Intake of all other required vitamins and minerals
Intake of daily calories
Amount of sleep
Amount of exercise
Exposure to viruses
Theories
Most explanations for biological processes are in the form of _________________________. Theories are
____________________________________ that have _____________________________________
Name:______________________________
Date:_________________
__________________________________________. You can _______________________________
_____________________________. You can say a theory is __________________________
Fact Vs Data
Fact - ________________________________________________________________________________
Data – ________________________________________________________________________________
(hypothesis)
What is a Hypothesis
A Hypothesis is a _______________________________________________. An
________________________________ by some authority on the subject. A
hypothesis is made _____________________________. This allows you to
collect only relevant data and ignore the unnecessary facts.
Hypothesis should be written in the form of an ____________________________
Example: Does changing temperature result in a change in bacteria growth?
Hypothesis #1: IF the temperature of a bacterial culture is raised by 5°C THEN
the bacteria will grow faster.
Experiment to be done? Prediction. If (Something is done) to the test group then
(Something should) happen.
A valid hypothesis MUST do 3 things:
1) It must be able to explain the observations that led to its development.
2) _________________________________________________________.
3) _________________________________________________________.
Name:______________________________
Date:_________________
Valid Experiments
In order to be valid, experiments must be:
1) _______________________
Others wishing to test the hypothesis must be able to duplicate the experiment make the same observations
and collect similar data.
2) _______________________
The experiment must be conducted systematically so it is clear what factors caused the results.
Controlled Experiment: ___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________
Example: Tomatoes vs Soil
Group 1 - Sand Group 2 - Clay Group 3 - Sand/clay Group 4 - Topsoil
_____________________________________________.
Each group gets the same light, water, temperature, etc.
_____________________________________________:
A group used as a standard of comparison in a control experiment.
_____________________________________________:
A group of subjects that are exposed to the variable of a controlled experiment.
1.3 Classification
What is Taxonomy?
The branch of biology that ___________________________ is called ____________________ and specialists
in this area are called ______________________. The goal of taxonomy is to _________________________
________________________________________________________.
Why is Taxonomy Important?
Taxonomy: is the __________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________.
________________________________________________
Must create a catalogue/inventory of life’s species before its all gone.
Example: Okanagan Mountain Park Fire.
Carl Linnaeus: The Father of Taxonomy
In order to classify organisms biologists use the ____________________________ of the organism. ________
focused on ____________________________________ (what the organism looks like) of an organism when
classifying them. The phenotype is controlled by the genotype (the genetic make-up of the organism).
Although there was very little understanding of genetics or of the mechanism of inheritance during Linnaeus'
time, he was quite accurate in his phylogenetic classification. He devised a nested hierarchy/taxa of 7 different
levels of organization. The 7 Taxa Are:
Name:______________________________
1.________________________
2.________________________
3.________________________
4.________________________
5.________________________
6.________________________
7.________________________
Date:_________________
Remember! ___ing ___hilip ___ame ___ver ___or ___ood ___oup
Taxon (pl. Taxa)- _______________________________________________________________________
7. Species
The ____________________ that _____________________________
________________________________________________________
……but _________________________________________________
________________________________.
6. Genera (Genus) If ____________________________________________
but are ________________________________________ they are classified as
______________________________________________________.
Example: Mountain lions and cats share similar features so they both belong to the
genus Felis
5. Family
This is a ____________________ than a genus with _______________________
________________ that are similar to each other and yet are __________________
____________________.
Example: A house cat genus (Felis) and the leopard –genus (Panthera) both belong to the family Felidae
Note:_____________________________________________________.
4.
Order - ____________________________________________ are grouped into Orders
and is the next largest taxon.
3. Class - Orders are grouped into classes.
For example all members of the Order Carnivora share characteristics such as being
______________________________________________________________________
They are grouped with humans and chimps (Order Primata) into the Class Mammalia.
2. Phylum_________________________________________________________ and
placed into a phylum (pl. Phyla). Although all the organisms may
__________________________________________________ they all share some
____________________________________
1. Kingdom is an _______________________________
____________________ of classification. Is the ___________________________
____________________________
**Has been changed since Linnaeus’s time from _________________________.**
5 Kingdoms vs 3 Domains
Name:______________________________
Date:_________________
For many years most biologists favored a ___________________________________ consisting of Kingdom
Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia. They were placed into categories by their type of cell
(prokaryotic or eukaryotic), level of organization (unicellular or multicellular), and how they acquire their
nutrition.
It is suggested that protists evolved from the Monerans who are the simplest organisms (note: the monerans
have recently been divided into the archea and eubacteria - which accounts for a new 6 kingdom system). Fungi,
Plants and Animals evolved from the Protists in three separate evolutionary lines. The five kingdom system of
classification is based on ___________________________________________________________________.
3 Domains
A New Proposal: The Three Domains of Life
In the 1970's scientists began to find evidence for a previously unknown group of prokaryotic organisms. These
organisms lived in extreme environments such as the Dead Sea, acid lakes, and salt evaporation ponds. These
are environments that scientists never suspected of maintaining life.
They appeared to be prokaryotic and so were ____________________________________________________
('ancient' bacteria). However, it became obvious from biochemical characteristics and DNA sequence analysis
that )____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________. It was realized that these archaebacteria were __________
________________________________________________. Today, these bacteria have been renamed
___________________.
From this work scientists proposed that there should be a __________________________________________
______________________________________. The Domain is a classification category __________________
The traditional five Kingdom system says nothing about how organisms within Kingdoms or between
Kingdoms may be related to each other via evolutionary relationships among the Kingdoms.
A New Proposal is the _____________________________________________. The three domains are
___________________________________________________. Unlike the Kingdom system the three-domain
system of classification is based on ____________________________________ that show they are three vastly
different groups of organisms.
Binomial Nomenclature
We often refer to organisms by their _________________________ but did you know that each organism also
has a _________________________________________? A scientific name for an organism is the same
___________________________________________________. In other words, it is ____________________.
All scientific names stem from __________________________________ words because these languages are
unchanging.
Linnaeus (1707 - 1778) was the scientist who developed the system for ________________________________.
Each organism's scientific name must have ____________________________________, this is called
________________________________.
Part 1 – Genus name -must be ___________________________________.
Part 2 – Species name –must be _________________________________________
*Note –if the name is hand written it must be _______________________________.
Name:______________________________
Date:_________________
Why is it so Helpful?
Scientists ___________________________________ can communicate about any
organism using its ________________________________, regardless of what
country or language is spoken.
Classifying Humans
Kingdom=Animalia
Phylum=Chordata
Class=Mammalia
Order=Primates
Family=Hominidae
Genus=Homo
Species=sapiens
In humans the Binomial name is _____________________.
The 7 levels of classification for the ___________________.
Kingdom=Animalia
Phylum=Chordata
Class=Mammalia
Order=Carnivora
Family=Canidae
Genus=Canis
Species=familiaris
A dog is named ______________________.
Classification of a Big Cat (Leopard).
Comparative Classification of 3 different mammals.
Kingdom Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Chordata
Chordata
Class
Mammalia Mammalia
Order
_________ __________ _____________
Family
Hominidae Felidae
Equidae
Genus
Homo
Felis
Equus
domesticus
caballus
Species sapiens
Mammalia
_________ __________ ______________
Modern Classification - The classification of organisms based on evolutionary history
A ____________________________ is a ___________________________ that depicts the ______________
________________________ that are thought to exist between groups of organisms.
______________________ is a system of __________________________ according to _________________
________________________ and is constructed by a set of _______________________.
Name:______________________________
Cladograms
Date:_________________
Example: Wolves (mammals) all have hair –no other groups have hair,
therefore hair evolved within the mammal group.
Here is a cladogram for winged insects.