Biology

A Guide to the Natural World

Chapter 1 Lecture Outline
Science as a Way of Learning: A Guide to the Natural World

Fifth Edition

David Krogh
2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

1.1 How Does Science Impact the

Everyday World?

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

How Does Science Impact the

Everyday World?
Science plays an increasingly important role
in the everyday lives of Americans.
Until the mid-1990s, most Americans did
not use e-mail, cell phones, or the Internet.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

What Do Americans Know About Science?

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 1.1

What Do Americans Know About Science?

The average American has at best an
uneven knowledge of science.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

What Do Americans Know About Science?

Almost 80 percent of adult Americans who
were surveyed know that the continents are
moving about the face of the Earth.
Of those surveyed, 25 percent think the sun
goes around the Earth.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

1.2 What Is Science?

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

What Is Science?
Science is a body of knowledge; a
collection of unified insights about nature,
the evidence for which is an array of facts.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Science as a Body of Knowledge

The unified insights of science are known
as theories.
A theory is a general set of principles,
supported by evidence, that explains some
aspect of nature.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Science as a Body of Knowledge

Science can also be defined as a way of
learning; a process of coming to understand
the natural world through observation and
the testing of hypotheses.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Science as a Body of Knowledge

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 1.3

Science as a Body of Knowledge

Science works through the scientific
method, in which an observation leads to
the formulation of a question about the
natural world.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Science as a Body of Knowledge

Science is a tentative, testable explanation
that has not been proven true. The
hypothesis may be tested through
observation or through a series of
experiments, as aided by statistical
procedures.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Science as Process
An example of hypothesis testing is Louis
Pasteurs experiment regarding the
spontaneous generation of life

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Scientific method at work: Pasteur tests spontaneous generation

Observation:
sterile flask
sterile broth
When you start with a sterile
flask of sterile meat broth. . .

growth of new
material in broth
. . . a growth of new living material
generally appears in the broth.

Question: What is the source of the living material?

Hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1

The living material is derived from nonliving

material (spontaneous generation).
Pasteur's experiments:

sterile flask
particle
trap

Hypothesis 2

The living material is derived from

living material outside the flask.
remove trap

dust trapped
in neck of flask
growth
no growth

sterile
broth
growth
tip flask to mix trapped
dust into broth
Conclusion: No growth appears in the broth unless dust is admitted from outside.
Reject spontaneous generation hypothesis.
2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 1.4

Science as Process
In science, every assertion regarding the
natural world is subject to challenge and
revision.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

When Is a Theory Proven?

Scientific claims must be falsifiable,
meaning open to negation through scientific
inquiry
Scientific inquiry is limited to investigating
natural (as opposed to supernatural)
explanations for natural phenomena.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

When Is a Theory Proven?

Animation 1.1 Scientific Method

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

1.3 The Nature of Biology

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Nature of Biology

Biology is the study of life.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

Life is defined by a group of eight
characteristics possessed by living things.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

1. Assimilate energy.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

2. Respond to their environment.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

3. Maintain a relatively constant internal
environment.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

4. Reproduce.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

5. Possess an inherited information base,
encoded in DNA, that allows them to
function.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

6. Are composed of one or more cells.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

7. Are evolved from other living things.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics of Living Things

8. Are highly organized compared to
inanimate objects.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Life Is Hierarchical
Life is organized in a hierarchical manner,
ranging in increasing complexity from
atoms to molecules to organelles, cells,
tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms,
populations, communities, ecosystems, and
the biosphere.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Life Is Hierarchical

atom
(hydrogen)

molecule
(water)

organelle
(nucleus)

cell
(neuron)

tissue
(nervous tissue)

organ
(brain)

organ system
(nervous system)

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

organism
(sea lion)

population
(colony)

community
(giant kelp
forest)

ecosystem
(Southern
California coast)

biosphere
(Earth)

Figure 1.5

1.4 Special Qualities of Biology

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Special Qualities of Biology

Until the early nineteenth century, biology
was largely a descriptive science that
mainly catalogued and described the Earths
living things.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Special Qualities of Biology

Biologys subject matterthe living world
is notable for its complexity and diversity
compared to other aspects of the natural
world (such as stars and atoms).

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Special Qualities of Biology

Biology does not deal in universal rules to
the extent that a discipline such as physics
does; instead, biological research may focus
on particular species, processes, or portions
of the living world.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Biologys Chief Unifying Principle

Biologys chief unifying principle is
evolution, which can be defined as the
gradual modification of populations of
living things over time.
This modification sometimes results in the
development of new species.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Biologys Chief Unifying Principle

Evolution provides the means for making
sense of the forms and processes seen in
living things on Earth today.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Biologys Chief Unifying Principle

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 1.6

Biologys Chief Unifying Principle

Many stinging insects with black and
yellow stripes look alike because of the
general protection this provides from
predators.

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Biologys Chief Unifying Principle

2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 1.7