Chapter 1 Introduction: Ten Themes in the Study of Life

 

Life is organized on many different levels p. 1

·        Read through this section: be able to explain the connection between hierarchy and emergent properties.

Each level of biological organization has emergent properties p. 2

·        Read and have awareness of the hierarchy of organization? Figure 1.2 is a nice summary of this section.

·        What is meant by “ emergent properties”? p. 4

·        Reductionism in Biology p. 4…..

 

• Figure 1.3 p. 6 Properties of Life

 

Cells are an organism’s basic units of structure and function p.4

·        The Cell Theory

·        Robert Hooke

·        Anton van Leeuwenhoek

·        Schleiden and Schwann

·        What is the basic idea of the cell theory?

·        The Two Main Cell Types

·        Characteristics of all cells

·        Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells: differences and examples

·        Figure 1.3 Some Properties of Life

 

The continuity of life is based on heritable information in the form of DNA p. 6

·        Characteristics of DNA (also see Figure 1.5)

·        Genome

 

Structure and function are correlates at all levels of biological organization p. 7

·        Form fits function

• Figure 1.6 p. 7

 

Organisms are open systems that interact continuously with their environments p. 8

·        Open system

·        Ecosystem Dynamics

·        Two Major processes

·        Energy Conversion

 

Regulatory mechanisms ensure a dynamic balance in living systems p. 8

• Role of enzymes
• Negative feedback (feedback inhibition)
• Positive feedback
• Figure 1.8 Regulation by feedback mechanisms p. 9

Diversity and unity are the dual faces of life on Earth p. 9

·        Taxonomy

·        Figure 1.10

·        Three domains of life

·        6 Kingdoms

·        Figure 1.11 p. 11

·        Archaebacteria and Eubacteria

 

Evolution is the core theme of biology p. 12

·        Really? Why?

·        Charles Darwin

·        Observation 1

·        Observation 2

·        Inference

·        Natural selection and adaptation

·        Descent with modification

·        Figure 1.15 p. 14 Natural Selection

·        Figure 1.17 p. 15

 

Science is a process of inquiry that includes repeatable observations and testable hypotheses  p. 16

·        Scientific method

·        Deduction vs induction

·        Hypothetico-deductive thinking… an example.. 

·        if…then logic

·        Figure 1.19 and Figure 1.20 p. 17

·        5 important points about hypotheses

·        David Reznick and John Endler…guppies…. Hypothesis…experiment. control

• Figure 1.16 p. 18

 

Table 1.1 p. 22 Review of Ten Unifying Themes in Biology