Cornell Notes Name: Sindy Said

Chapter: 1 – An Introduction to
the Science of Life

Essential Question Addressed in This Chapter (1 point):

What characteristics and microscopic levels make up live organisms and their evolution?

Main Ideas / Vocabulary Notes on the Chapter (1 point):

(1 point)
1.1 - All Living Organisms Share Certain Properties
Biology The scientific study of life
An object is only alive if it (1) Reproduction, (2) growth & development, (3) energy use, (4) order, (5) cells, (6)
displays all 7 characteristics response to the environment, (7) evolution
(1) Reproduction All organisms reproduce their own kind
(2) Growth & development Genes control the pattern of growth in all organisms
(3) Energy use Every organism takes in (for example, eating a plant), converts, & expels energy
which is used to move
(4) Order Living things have complex but well-ordered structures. For example, an elephant’s
eye
(5) Cells All living organisms have at least one cell
(6) Response to the Organism’s responses work to keep their internal systems regulated even when
environment external environments change. For example, elephants take baths to cool down
(7) Evolution Those with traits that help them survive get to pass on those genes
A virus is not alive Viruses may have order, but they aren’t composed of cells & cannot reproduce on
their own (Viruses must inhabit a living organism to thrive)
1.2 - Life Can Be Studied at Many Levels
Biologists study life on Earth at Biosphere, ecosystem, community, population, organism, organ system, organ,
many levels (in descending order) tissue, cell, organelle, molecule, atom
Biosphere Consists of all life on Earth & the environments that support life, from oceans to
high in the atmosphere
Ecosystem Includes all living organisms in an area (like a savannah), as well as nonliving
components like soil, air, & sunlight
Community All the interacting populations of organisms in an ecosystem, including plants,
animals, & microscopic organisms
Population A group of interacting individuals of one species (like humans!)
Organism An individual living being of a population (for example, an elephant)
Organ system A group of organs that work together to perform vital body functions, such as
transporting materials & wastes
Organ Multiple tissues that cooperate to perform a specific task (for example, the heart
pumps blood through the circulatory system)
Tissue An integrated group of similar cells that work together to perform a specific function
(for example, cardiac epithelial tissue lines the heart, allowing blood to flow freely
over its surface)
Cell The fundamental unit of life. Nothing smaller than a cell can have all of life’s
properties. All life consists of 1+ cells
Organelle A component of the cell that performs a specific function (for example, the nucleus
of an epithelial cell houses DNA)
Molecule A group of atoms bonded together
Atom
1.3 - Scientists Use Well-Established Methods to Investigate the Natural World
The scientific method
(may repeat step 4 after step 7)
Discovery science
Hypothesis
Theory
Controlled experiments
1.4 - Cells, the Fundamental Units of Life, Contain DNA
There are 2 types of cells
Prokaryotic cells
Eukaryotic cells
All cells hold genes
Genes are made from DNA
molecules
All hereditary information of life As such, genes from one species may be cut & pasted into the DNA of a different
is written in the same chemical
language
1.5 - All Organisms Interact with Their Ecosystems
The dynamics of every ecosystem (1) The flow of energy & (2) the recycling of nutrients
depend on 2 main processes
Energy flows in & out of an
ecosystem
Chemical nutrients are recycled
within an ecosystem
Biologists have devised an
organizational system to keep
track of nearly 2 million species
Biologists recognize 3 domains,
which are organized by the type
of cell found in each
The fundamental unit of matter; it is the smallest unit of an element. Atoms
themselves are made of subatomic particles
Used to help understand an observation: (1) Observation, (2) question, (3)
hypothesis, (4) prediction, (5) experiment, (6) results, (7) conclusion
Provides data that can be used to describe the natural world, even in the absence of a
hypothesis; can guide the scientific method (for example, Darwin’s careful
descriptions of plants & animals led to hypothesis about how organisms evolve)
A proposed explanation for an observation; can be tested, supported, or refuted (for
example, the endosymbiotic hypothesis proposes that some cellular components—
such as chloroplast & mitochondrion—were once free-living organisms that were
long ago incorporated into a larger cell
Much more comprehensive than a hypothesis (but leads to the testing oh
hypotheses) & has not been shown false. Theories are supported by a large &
growing body of evidence (for example, the Cell Theory states that every living
organism consists of cells that arose from preexisting cells)
A hypothesis is tested multiple times with only one variable changing while other
variables remaining constant, allowing for scientists to draw conclusions
(1) prokaryotic & (2) eukaryotic
Smaller size, simpler complexity, no membrane-enclosed organelles, first appeared
3.5 billion years ago, DNA isn’t contained within any cellular structure,
unicellular (for example, bacteria & archaea)
10x - 100x times larger, structurally complex, membrane-enclosed organelles,
evolved from prokaryotes 2.1 billion years ago, DNA is housed in membrane-
enclosed nucleus, unicellular or multicellular (for example, plants, animals, fungi,
protists)
Units of hereditary information
DNA is made up of the same chemical building blocks: A-T; C-G
species. For example, biologists have made mice that contain a glow gene from
jellyfish
Energy enters the system as sunlight & is converted to chemical energy by
producers via photosynthesis. From there, chemical energy either leaves the system
as heat straightaway, or is used by consumers via food to power body functions, and
then leaves the system as heat
Elements are absorbed from the environment by producers. For example, CO2 is
converted into sugars by producers via photosynthesis. From there, the sugars are
either broken down by producers (plants) or consumers (animals who eat plants)
into cellular energy, both of which release CO2 back into the atmosphere
1.6 - Biologists Organize Species into Groups
The broadest units of classification are (1) domains & (2) kingdoms
The first two domains are prokaryotes: (1) Domain Bacteria is unicellular, found
everywhere, & some cause disease in humans while most are beneficial. (2) Domain
Archaea is unicellular & often live in extreme conditions such as very hot, salty, or
 acidic environments. The third domain is eukaryotic: (3) Domain Eukarya is
unicellular or multicellular & are large, more sophisticated cells
The Domain Eukarya is further (1) Kingdom Plantae is multicellular & use sunlight to produce sugars via
divided into 3 kingdoms based photosynthesis. (2) Kingdom Fungi is unicellular or multicellular & decompose and
on how their members obtain digest dead organisms. (3) Kingdom Animalia is multicellular & eat and digest
dietary energy other organisms. All Domain Eukarya that don’t fall into these 3 kingdoms are the
Protists, which are unicellular or multicellular & include many kingdoms
1.7 - Evolution By Natural Selection Is Biology’s Unifying Theme
In The Origin of Species, Darwin (1) Natural selection & (2) evolution
made 2 points
Natural selection is nonrandom, Darwin observed that both (1) competition caused by exponential growth of a
unequal reproductive success species and a fixed # of resources & (2) variation of inherited traits lead to natural
selection, where those with traits better suited to survive will pass on their genes to
the next generation
Evolution is the result of This leads to adaptation, the accumulation of favorable traits in a population over
“descents with modification” over time. For example, the selection of being stealthy while hunting favored the
many generations of those evolution of stripes in tigers
naturally selected
Despite how diverse life is This is because all life descended from common ancestors. For example, although a
because of evolution, all life tropical scene may display a variety of species such as plants and animals, every
shares a common cellular and organism has chemically similar DNA
molecular basis
1.8 – Evolution Affects Our Daily Lives
Artificial selection is the For millennia, humans have artificially selected to mate individuals with desirable
selective breeding of traits (for example, large fruit like strawberries, desirable behaviors in domesticated
domesticated crops and animals dogs, or plentiful meat in other animals)
Evolution is one of biology’s For example, antibiotics (naturally occurring drugs that kill bacteria) such as
best-demonstrated and longest- penicillin have become useless because bacteria like MRSA, a particularly
lasting theories dangerous strain of bacteria, have evolved to resist them. Another example is the
evolution of mosquitos who carry malaria to resist pesticides like DDT (no longer
used because of health and environment issues)
Your Summary of the Chapter (1 point):
For an object to be alive, it must be able to reproduce, grow and develop, use energy, have structural order, evolve,
respond to the environment, and have cells. These live organisms can be studied anatomically or bio-spherically.
Scientists study the natural world using either the scientific method via hypotheses, theories, and controlled experiments
or discoveries. All life has either prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells, both of which house genes that house DNA. Organisms
interact with their ecosystems, wherein energy flows in and out and chemical nutrients are recycled. Biologists organize
species into Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya Domains; the Eukarya Domain is divided into Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia
Kingdoms, and Protists. Darwin theorized that natural selection leads to evolution, which can lead to artificial selection.
Questions you have that you would like addressed in lecture (1 point):
1. What kingdoms are included in the Protists category?
2. How are domains and kingdoms further divided?