Biology: Themes in The Study of Life

Areil HendersonEDU 290 11-12:15p.m.

High School Biology ClassOctober 10, 2010

About Biology

• Biology is the scientific study of life.

• Biology has woven into fabric of our culture more than ever before.

• Biology apart of our everyday life; without biology we as humans would not exist.

The World of Life

• Evolution- the process of change that has transformed life on Earth from its earliest beginning to the diversity of organisms living today.

What are the properties of life?

• Evolutionary adaptation• Order• Response to the

environment• Regulation

• Energy processing• Growth and

Development• Reproduction

Themes of the concepts of biology

• Emergent properties are due to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases.– Example: If a serious head injury disrupts the

intricate architecture of a human brain, the mind may not function properly• Our thoughts and memories are emergent properties

of a complex network of nerve cells.

Systems Biology

• Systems biology constructs models for dynamic behavior of whole biological systems.

• Systems biology is relevant to the study of life at all levels.

• Systems biology has taken hold at the cellular and molecular levels.

Cells are an organisms basic unit of structure and functions

• In life, cells have a special place as the lowest level of organization that can perform all activities required for life.

• The division of cells to form new cells is basis for all reproduction and for the growth and repair of multicellular organisms.

• Understanding how cells work is a major focus in biological research.

All cells share certain charecteristics

• Every cell is enclosed be a membrane that regulates the passage of materials between the cell and its surroundings.

• Every cell uses DNA as its genetic information– We can only distinguish between two main forms

of cells: prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells.

About the cell

Eukaryotic cell• Sub-divided by internal

membranes into various membrane-enclosed organelles.

• Plants, animals and all life forms are composed of eukaryotic cells.

Prokaryotic cell• The DNA is not separated

from the rest of the cell by enclosure in a membrane-bounded nucleus.

• Bacteria and archea are prokaryotic.

How well were you listening?

• What is biology?A. Biology the composition, structure, properties, and

reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular.B. Biology is the scientific study of life.C. Biology is designed for explaining what prokaryotes and

eukaryotic cells are made of.

Biology Rocks

What are the properties of life?

• Pull out a sheet of paper and list at least 4 of the 7 properties of life.

List the importance of systems biology.

• Give a brief summary of what systems biology is and why it is important to humans.

Answers

What is biology?• B. Biology is the scientific study of life.

What are the properties of life?

• Evolutionary adaptation• Order• Response to the

environment• Regulation• Energy processing• Growth and Development• Reproduction

List the importance of systems biology.Anywhere along the lines of:Systems biology constructs models for dynamic behavior of whole biological systems.Systems biology is relevant to the study of life at all levels.Systems biology has taken hold at the cellular and molecular levels.

Work cited

• Pictures – http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2009/2/19/gilbert-vatican/– http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/Bio/fachbereich/1-1-news.html– https://www.etap.org/demo/biology1/instruction3tutor.html

•Text-Biology 8th edition by Neil A. Campbell, Jane B. Reece - Addison-Wesley (2007) - Hardback - 1393 pages - ISBN 0321543254