Biology The Unity and Diversity of Life

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 1
Invitation to Biology

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 1.1 Application: Secret Life of Earth
(1 of 2)
The Pinocchio frog

Biologist Paul Oliver discovered this tiny tree frog

perched on a sack of rice during the first survey of a
cloud forest in New Guinea.
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1.1 Application: Secret Life of Earth (2 of 2)

• Biology—the scientific study of life

• Species—unique types of organisms
• New species are being discovered all the time
• About 20 species become extinct every year in rain
forest regions alone
• This extinction rate is accelerated by human activity

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 1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (1 of 17)
• Biologists study life
• Life is hard to define exactly
– Properties that define life often emerge from the
interactions of basic components
• Emergent properties
– Characteristics of a system that do not appear in any of
its components
• A recurring theme in life
– Structures with emergent properties are assembled from
basic building blocks

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 1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (2 of 17)

The same materials, assembled in different ways, form

objects with different properties.

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 1.2 Life Is More than the Sum of Its
Parts (3 of 17)
Biologists study life by considering its different levels of
organization.
• Atoms—fundamental building blocks of all substances
• Molecules—consist of two or more atoms
• Molecules of life—lipids, proteins, RNA, DNA, and
complex carbohydrates
• Cell—smallest unit with emergent property of life

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1.2 Life Is More than the Sum of Its
Parts (4 of 17)

1. Atom

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1.2 Life Is More than the Sum of Its
Parts (5 of 17)

2. Molecule

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1.2 Life Is More than the Sum of Its
Parts (6 of 17)

3. Cell

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 1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (7 of 17)
Biologists study life by considering its different levels of
organization.
• Tissue—specific cell types organized in a particular
pattern
• Organ—group of tissues that collectively carry out a
task or set of tasks
• Organ system—set of interacting organs

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (8 of 17)

4. Tissue

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (9 of 17)

5. Organ

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (10 of 17)

6. Organ system

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 1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (11 of 17)
Biologists study life by considering its different levels of
organization.
• Organism—consists of one or more cells
• Population—group of interbreeding individuals of the
same species in the same area
• Community—all populations of all species in a given
area

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (12 of 17)

7. Multicelled organism

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (13 of 17)

8. Population

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (14 of 17)

9. Community

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 1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (15 of 17)
Biologists study life by considering its different levels of
organization.
• Ecosystem—community interacting with its
environment
• Biosphere—all regions of Earth where organisms live

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (16 of 17)

10.Community

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1.2 Life Is More Than the Sum of Its
Parts (17 of 17)

11.Biosphere

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 1.3 How Living Things Are Alike (1 of 6)

All living things:

• Require ongoing inputs of energy and raw materials
(nutrients)
– Nutrients are substances that an organism needs for
growth and survival but cannot make for itself.
• Sense and respond to change
• Pass DNA to offspring

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 1.3 How Living Things Are Alike (2 of 6)

Living things can be classified as:

Producers
– Acquire energy and nutrients from the environment
– Make their own food
– Example: plants (photosynthesis)
Consumers
– Cannot make their own food
– Get energy by feeding on other organisms
– Example: animals

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 1.3 How Living Things Are Alike (3 of 6)

Energy flows one-way through the world of life, but

materials cycle

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 1.3 How Living Things Are Alike (4 of 6)

Organisms Sense and Respond to Change

Example: Temperature control:
1. When the environmental temperature increases, your
brain senses an increase in body temperature (above
the set point).
2. You begin to sweat (response).
3. Sweating cools the skin, which helps return the internal
temperature to the set point.
By sensing and adjusting to change, all organisms keep
conditions in their internal environment within ranges that
favor cell survival (Homeostasis)
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1.3 How Living Things Are Alike (5 of 6)

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 1.3 How Living Things Are Alike (6 of 6)

Organisms use DNA (genetic material)

• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)—guides development,
growth, and reproduction
• Individuals of natural populations are alike in form and
behavior because their DNA is similar
• Inheritance—transmission of DNA from parent to
offspring

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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (1 of 11)

• Living things differ in their observable characteristics

• Biodiversity—scope of variation among living
organisms
• Various classification schemes help organize the
variation
Example: One broad classification is based on whether
organism has a nucleus
– Nucleus: sac with two membranes that encloses and
protects DNA

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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (2 of 11)

• Bacteria and Archaea

– Organism types with DNA not contained within a nucleus
– Single-celled
– Prokaryotes—older term for organisms without a
nucleus
– Archaea are closely related to eukaryotes
• Eukaryotes
– DNA contained within a nucleus

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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (3 of 11)

Photosynthetic bacteria (left), archaeon that grows in

sulfur hot springs (right).
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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (4 of 11)

Single-celled eukaryote (left), multicelled eukaryote—

seaweed (right).
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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (5 of 11)

• Protists—simplest eukaryotes
• Fungi—single-celled or multicellular
Examples:
– yeast
– mushrooms

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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (6 of 11)

Trypanosoma, a protist that causes sleeping sickness

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1.4 How Living Things Differ (7 of 11)

Yeast are single-celled fungi

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1.4 How Living Things Differ (8 of 11)

Mushrooms are multi-celled fungi

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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (9 of 11)

• Plants: most are photosynthetic producers living on

land
• Animals: multicelled consumers
– Develop through stages that lead to adult form

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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (10 of 11)

Plants are multi-celled eukaryotes, most of which are

photo synthetic. Nearly all have roots, stems, and leaves.

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 1.4 How Living Things Differ (11 of 11)

Animals are multi-celled, eukaryotic consumers. They

actively move about during part or all of their life cycle.

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 1.6 The Science of Nature (1 of 8)

• Critical thinking
– Deliberate process of judging the quality of information
before accepting it
– Considers evidence, bias, and alternate interpretations

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 1.6 The Science of Nature (2 of 8)

The Scientific Method

• Develop a hypothesis—a testable explanation for a
natural phenomenon
• Make predictions based on the hypothesis
• Test the predictions on a model—may be experiments
or casual observations
• Collect test results (data)
• Form a conclusion—do the results support the
hypothesis, or not?
• Report results to the scientific community

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 1.6 The Science of Nature (3 of 8)

Key Aspects of the Scientific Method

• Inductive reasoning (arriving at a conclusion based on
one’s observations) → hypothesis
• Hypothesis → prediction (must be testable)
• Experiment has variables:
– Independent—defined or controlled by experimenter
– Dependent—influenced by independent variable

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 1.6 The Science of Nature (4 of 8)

• Any experiment has two groups:

– Experimental group—set of individuals that have a
certain characteristic or receive a certain treatment
– Control group—identical to the experimental group
except for one independent variable (the one being
tested)
• Experiment → quantifiable data (test results) to
evaluate hypothesis

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 1.6 The Science of Nature (5 of 8)

An experiment: potato chips and stomachaches

• Olestra® added to potato chips as a fat replacement
• People complained of stomach cramps and
intestinal problems after eating the chips
• Hypothesis: if Olestra causes cramps, then people
who eat Olestra should be more likely to get cramps
than people who do not eat it

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 1.6 The Science of Nature (6 of 8)

The potato chip experiment

• Laboratory: Chicago theater
• 1100 people asked to watch a movie and eat potato
chips
• Each person received an unmarked bag of chips
– Experimental group received Olestra chips
– Control group received regular chips
• Researchers collected reports from moviegoers of
gastrointestinal problems

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1.6 The Science of Nature (7 of 8)

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 1.6 The Science of Nature (8 of 8)

The potato chip experiment

• Result showed control group and experimental group
both reported gastrointestinal problems
• Levels were about the same
• Researchers concluded Olestra does not cause
cramps

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1.7 Analyzing Experimental Results (1 of 3)

• Sampling error—difference between results from a

subset and results from the whole
• Techniques to reduce sampling error
– Begin with a large sample
– Repeat the experiments
• Probability—measure of the chance that a particular
outcome will occur
– Usually expressed as a percentage
• Statistically significant—a result that is very unlikely to
have occurred by chance alone

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 1.7 Analyzing Experimental Results
(2 of 3)
How Sample Size Affects Sampling Error

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1.7 Analyzing Experimental Results (3 of 3)

Statistical Significance and Bias

• Statistical significance
– Result of calculations involving probability
– If a result is unlikely to have occurred by chance, it is
said to be statistically significant
• Humans may have bias in interpreting results
– Design experiment to yield quantitative results to avoid
bias
• Scientific community should test peers’ ideas and
results

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 1.8 The Nature of Science (1 of 5)

• Scientific theory
– Hypothesis that has withstood years of tests
– Consistent with all the data gathered
– Can be disproven by a single observation or result that
is inconsistent with it
• Law of nature
– Phenomenon that has been observed to occur in every
instance without fail
– Scientific explanation is incomplete

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 1.8 The Nature of Science (2 of 5)

Science is concerned only with testable ideas about

observable aspects of the observable world.
Pseudoscience is a claim, argument, or method that is
presented as science but does not follow scientific
practices or principles of accuracy, honesty, repeatability,
and objectivity.

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 1.8 The Nature of Science (3 of 5)
Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience
Science Pseudoscience
Is the claim about an observation of a natural
phenomenon?
Addresses only the observable, natural world. Often involves supernatural or
mysterious phenomena.
Is the explanation for the observation testable?
Hypotheses are testable in ways that might falsify Claims are not testable or falsifiable by
them. Tests are repeatable and yield data. valid experimentation or observation.
Are the findings supported by valid scientific
evidence?
Based on systematic observations and Based on invented or unverified “facts,”
experiments that have been evaluated by anecdotes, rhetoric, or the absence of
members of the scientific community. scientific evidence.

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 1.8 The Nature of Science (4 of 5)

Science Pseudoscience
Is the conclusion consistent with other scientific
evidence?
Consistent with most or all existing data and Typically indifferent to scientific
observations. evidence and often denies it.
Is the process self-correcting?
Rigorous standards for ensuring accuracy and No requirement for accuracy,
objectivity. truthfulness, or verification.

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 1.8 The Nature of Science (5 of 5)

The Limits of Science

• What is science unable to address?
– Questions such as “Why do I exist?”
– The supernatural
• Science helps us communicate our experiences
without bias
– Something of a universal language

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