Chapter 1 Introduction to Biology

Lab equipmentbeaker

Erlenmeyer flask

Graduated cylinder

Meniscus—measure from bottom at eye level

Test tube

Safety symbols:

• Used to warn us of the danger that may exist from chemicals, electricity, heat and other procedures

2 types of science:

• Pure science- study of science to gain knowledge about something

• Applied science- solves problems using the knowledge gained

What is the purpose of Science?

• To solve problems and learn about the surroundings

How do we solve problems?

Process Used is the scientific method

5 main steps to the scientific method:

1. observation/state problem

2. hypothesis

3. experiment

4. analyze data

5. draw conclusions

Making an observation (identify your problem?)

• State what the problem is – Ex. The car won’t run

Make a hypothesis

• What is an hypothesis?

• A guess base on your prior knowledge– Ex. The car won’t run because it is out of gas

What is an experiment?

• used to test to see if the hypothesis is true

• Information collected is called data

• Steps are described in the procedure

• Ex. Add gasoline to the car to see if the engine starts

All experiments must have 3 parts:

• 1. independent variable- the part of the experiment that you change– Ex. Add gasoline

• 2. dependent variable- the part of the experiment affected by the change– Ex. Running of the engine

• 3. control- standard of the experiment that you compare data to

Gathering and analyzing data:

• When conducting an experiment, you will get data from it. – Ex. The car engine ran after gas was added

2 types of data:

• Verbal- in words only (descriptive)

• Numerical- in numbers (quantitative)

Presenting Data:

• Use graphs, diagrams, or charts that the common person can read

• Types of graphs:– Line graphs (compare

1 variable)– Bar graphs (compares

more than 1 variable)– Pie charts (compares

percents)

Drawing conclusions:• Using the data you obtained, tell whether the

hypothesis you stated was true or not

• If it was true, you accept your hypothesis and explain why

• If it was false, you reject your hypothesis and explain why

• Explain why by writing a conclusion to summarize experiment– Ex. I accept my hypothesis because the car ran

after adding gasoline

Scientists research to answer questions

2 kinds of research:• Quantitative research- the information

gathered can be expressed in numbers– Ex. 9 grams of fat, 32 degrees

• Descriptive research- date is expressed in words only (can’t be measured)– Ex. the mice were aggressive

• Descriptive is less reliable because it is more opinionated

SI units:• International units of measurements used in

science (same units used worldwide)

Units of measurement prefixes of measurementMeter (m)-length kilo (k)-1000Liter (l)- volume hecto (h)-100Second (s)-time deka (da)-10Gram (g)- mass deci (d)- .1 or 1/10Kelvin (k)/celsius (c)-temp. centi (c)- .01 or 1/100

milli (m)- .001 or 1/1000micro (y)- .0001 or

1/10000

Example: km means kilo meter or 1000 meters

Conversion chart

Kilo (k)

Hecto

(h)

Deka

(da)

UnitGram (g)

Meter (m)

Liter (L)

Deci

(d)

Centi

(c)

Milli

(m)

Do scientists have the responsibility to be ethical?

• YES!• When experimenting

and studying data, you should never change the information to make it what you would like for it to be. We have a moral responsibility to report things correctly

Why is biology useful?

• 1. Learn about things around

us to answer questions

about them

• 2. Learn how each living

thing functions and how

all organisms depend

on each other

What is biology?

• The study of life/living things– Bio-life– logy-study of

What are living things?

• Organism- 1 living thing

• Examples: butterfly, flower, man

What do butterflies, man and flowers have in common that makes them “living things”?

Common characteristics of all living things:• Organized• Reproduce• Grow and develop• Adjust to environment• Acquire and use energy

What does it mean to be complex and organized?

• Organized- all structures

work together as

a whole unit– Ex. Human body

What does it mean to reproduce?

• To produce new living things

What is growth and develop?

• Growth- means to increase in the amount of living material

• Develop- means to change body forms– Ex. Tadpole to frog

What is the environment?

• Environment- surroundings

• Includes air, water, other organisms, land, etc.

How do living things adjust to the environment?

• Maintain homeostasis-regulation of on organisms internal environment to keep it constant – (ex. Our body temp. is around 98.6)

• Stimulus- a condition in the environment that causes an adjustment to be made– (Ex. Touching a hot stove)

• Response- reacting to the stimulus– (Ex. Lift hand off of stove)

• Adaptation- the process/behavior that enables an organism to respond to changes in the environment– (Ex. Grow longer hair in winter, sweat when hot)

Biology terms

• Unity- characteristics organisms have in common

• Diversity- characteristics not in common

• Ethics- practice of right and wrong

• Technology- application of scientific research to society’s needs and problems

theory-a broad explanation of how/why things occur (it has been repeated in experiments but has not been proven to be fact)Law-considered to be a fact of nature(same results have been repeated over and over and it is considered to be a fact)

Example:Kinetic molecular theory- states that all matter is made of tiny moving particlesLaw of conservation of matter-matter is not created or destroyed in a chemical reaction