INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGY

BIOLOGY

Bios-: greek for life -logy: study of A biologist uses the

scientific method to study living things

Biology is the study of life Zoology Botany Microbiology Ecology Marine Biology Genetics Cell biology Anatomy and

physiology Paleontology

SO….WHAT MAKES SOMETHING “LIVING”? Made up of cells Reproduce Genetic code Growth and development Obtain and use materials

(resources) and energy Respond to their

environment Maintain a stable internal

environment As a group, they change

over time

MADE UP OF CELLS Cell

Collection of living matter enclosed by a barrier Smallest structural unit of all living things Prokaryotic cells

Cell without a nucleus, DNA is in cytoplasm Eukaryotic Cells

Cell with a nucleus that contains the genetic material (DNA) Unicellular

“uni-” means one Organism that is made of one cell Example: bacteria Prokaryotic cells

Multi-cellular “multi-” means many Contain hundreds, thousands, even trillions of cells Many cells work together to make the living organism function Cells vary in size, shape and function Example: plants and animals

ABILITY TO REPRODUCE Asexual reproduction

Organism has single parent Genetically identical to parent Splits in half

Sexual reproduction Cells from two different parents unite to

form new organism Increases genetic variety and survival of

species

BASED ON A GENETIC CODE

DNA nucleic acid that carries all the information about the organism DeoxyriboNucleic Acid DNARiboNucleic Acid RNA

All living organisms have DNA, the “blue prints” of life

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Growth means increase in

size, such as certain bacteria

Development refers to cells dividing to

Includes periods of rapid growth and dramatic change

Sometimes different stages (think caterpillar)

During development, cells multiply and are assigned specific functions and roles within the multi-cellular organism…DIFFERENTIATION

OBTAIN AND USE MATERIALS AND ENERGY

Obtain energy by taking in resources

Plants-sunlight Lizard-insects

Metabolism Combination of chemical

reactions through which an organism builds up or breaks down materials to carry out life processes

AUTOTROPHIC vs

HETEROTROPHIC

RESPOND TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT Stimulus

A signal to which an organism responds External Stimuli

From environment outside organism Example- water in soil stimulates

germination Internal Stimuli

Comes from inside an organisms body Low sugar levels in blood will stimulate

you to feel hungry

MAINTAIN A STABLE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Homeostasis

When organisms maintain a stable internal environment that is different from the external environment

Examples: shivering and sweating

AS A GROUP, THEY CHANGE OVER TIME Evolution

Process of change When a group of organisms change over time Could occur over hundreds or millions of years

Adaptation An inherited trait that’s helps an organisms ability

to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

Over a short period of time Natural selection

The most beneficial traits for a specific group of organisms is passed on

Organisms that have that specific trait will live longer and produce more offspring than those who do not have it

The mechanism by which evolution occurs

LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION Molecular Cellular Groups of Cells Organism Population Community Ecosystem Biosphere

LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION

Molecular DNA/RNA and other molecules

Cellular Different cells

Groups of Cells (cellstissuesorgansorgan systemsorganism)

Organism A single species

Population A group of the same species

Community Many different groups of species and how they interact with

each other in a specific area Ecosystem

All the living and nonliving interactions in an area

Biosphere How all the different parts (biomes) of Earth come together Bio- means life Sphere- earth Life is found on land, in air, and in water “living Earth”

Life’s Diversity of Species Plants and animals…is there only one

type? Species

A distinct life form Biologists have identified more than one

million species There are various estimates to the actual amount

New species are discovered daily 5000 sp. of bacteria, 8600 sp. of birds,

30,000 sp. of fish, 100,000 sp. of fungi, 280,000 sp. of plants and 1 million different species of….

INSECTS

SO HOW DO WE CLASSIFY???

Domain - Eukarya

Domains Broadest category of classification Three main domains

Domain Archea: unicellular prokary. That live in extreme environments (very

hot or very cold, extremely acidic or basic) Domain Bacteria: All other unicellular prokary. Domain Eukarya: Organism made up of eukary. Cells

Includes 4 kingdoms: Protists, Fungi, Plants, Animals (and Monera)

Still some confusion among scientists over this one…

Domain Bacteria

Achaea Eukarya

Kingdom Eubacteria

Archaeabacteria

? ? ? ?

Has a nucleus

No No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Autotroph or

heterotroph

Either Either Either Heterotroph

Autotroph Heterotroph

Multicellular or

Unicellular

Unicellular

Unicellular USUALLY Unicellular

USUALLY Multicellular

Multicellular Multicellular

MOBILITY Motile Motile Motile Non-motile Non-motile Motile

Plantae AnimalFungiProtista

Classification How do we organize all these species? We categorize all the different species in to

broader categories From broadest to most specific: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order,

Family, Genus, Species (Linnaean System of Classification)

Binomial nomenclature BREAK UP THE WORD…

BI-TWO, NOMIAL-NAME, NOMENCLATURE-NAMING SYSTEM

This is how we identify a species The African lion is called Panthera leo

What’s the genus? Panthera

What is the species? Panthera leo (you say both genus and species)

Cladograms show common ancestors

HUMAN CLASSIFICATION Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Order Primates Family Hominidae Genus Homo Species Homo sapiens

WATER BUG Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies) Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Infraorder Nepomorpha (Aquatic Bugs) Family Belostomatidae (Giant Water Bugs) • Genus Lethocerus Species americanus (Giant Water Bug)

JUNE BEETLE Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles) Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab,

Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles) Superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Scarab, Stag and Bess Beetles) Family Scarabaeidae (Scarab Beetles) • Subfamily Melolonthinae (May Beetles and June Bugs)Genus Cotinis Species Cotinis nitida

SCORPION Kingdom: Anamalia

Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida

Order: Scorpiones Family: Buthidae

Genus: Androctonus Species: Androctonus australis

SHARK Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata SubPhylum Vertebrata

Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Subclass Plagiostomi (sharks and rays: upper jaw

hung from skulls and different kind of blood) Superorder Selachimorpha • (sharks: free upper eyelids, gill openings on the

head, and pectoral fins separate from the side of the head)

Subclass Elasmobranchii upper jaw that is not fused to the braincase, no

swim bladder, advanced electroreceptive system, a spiracle, skin with placoid scales, teeth modified placoid scales, and 5-7 separate slit-like gill openings on each side of the body: there are about 600 species of sharks, skates, and rays