THEMES IN THE STUDY

OF BIOLOGY

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

1.1 All forms of life share common properties

 Biology is the scientific study of life.

 Properties of life include
1. Order—the highly ordered structure that typifies life,
2. Reproduction—the ability of organisms to reproduce
their own kind,
3. Growth and development—consistent growth and
development controlled by inherited DNA,
4. Energy processing—the use of chemical energy to
power an organism’s activities and chemical reactions,

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1.1 All forms of life share common properties

5. Response to the environment—an ability to respond

to environmental stimuli,
6. Regulation—an ability to control an organism’s
internal environment within limits that sustain life, and
7. Evolutionary adaptation—adaptations evolve over
many generations as individuals with traits best suited
to their environments have greater reproductive
success and pass their traits to offspring.

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Figure 1.1

(1) Order (3) Growth and (4) Energy

development processing

(2) Reproduction

(6) Regulation

(5) Response to the

environment (7) Evolutionary adaptation
1.2 In life’s hierarchy of organization, new
properties emerge at each level
 Biological organization unfolds as follows:
– Biosphere—all of the environments on Earth that
support life,
– Ecosystem—all the organisms living in a particular
area and the physical components with which the
organisms interact,
– Community—the entire array of organisms living in a
particular ecosystem,
– Population—all the individuals of a species living in a
specific area,

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1.2 In life’s hierarchy of organization, new
properties emerge at each level
– Organism—an individual living thing,
– Organ system—several organs that cooperate in a
specific function,
– Organ—a structure that is composed of tissues and
that provides a specific function for the organism,
– Tissues—a group of similar cells that perform a
specific function,
– Cells—the fundamental unit of life,

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1.2 In life’s hierarchy of organization, new
properties emerge at each level
– Organelle—a membrane-bound structure that performs
a specific function in a cell, and
– Molecule—a cluster of small chemical units called
atoms held together by chemical bonds.

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Figure 1.2
Biosphere Ecosystem:
Forest in
Madagascar
Madagascar

Community:
All organisms in
the forest

Population:
Group of ring-tailed
lemurs

Organism:
Ring-tailed lemur

Organ system: Spinal cord

Nervous system Brain

Organ:
Brain
Nerve

Tissue:
Nervous tissue

Cell: Nucleus Atom

Nerve cell

Organelle:
Nucleus Molecule:
DNA
1.2 In life’s hierarchy of organization, new
properties emerge at each level

 Emergent properties are

– new properties that arise in each step upward in the
hierarchy of life,
– from the arrangement and interactions among
component parts.

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1.3 Cells are the structural and functional units
of life
 Cells are the level at which the properties of life
emerge.
 A cell can
– regulate its internal environment,
– take in and use energy,
– respond to its environment,
– develop and maintain its complex organization, and
– give rise to new cells.

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1.3 Cells are the structural and functional units
of life
 All cells
– are enclosed by a membrane that regulates the
passage of materials between the cell and its
surroundings and
– use DNA as their genetic information.

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1.3 Cells are the structural and functional units
of life
 There are two basic types of cells.
1. Prokaryotic cells
– were the first to evolve,
– are simpler, and
– are usually smaller than eukaryotic cells.

2. Eukaryotic cells
– contain membrane-enclosed organelles, including a nucleus
containing DNA, and
– are found in plants, animals, and fungi.

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Figure 1.3

DNA Prokaryotic
Eukaryotic cell (no nucleus) cell

Membrane

Organelles

Nucleus
(membrane-
enclosed)

DNA (throughout
nucleus)
1.3 Cells are the structural and functional units
of life
 Systems biology models the complex interactions
of biological systems, ranging
– from the functioning of the biosphere
– to the complex molecular machinery of a cell.

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1.3 Cells are the structural and functional units
of life
 Cells illustrate another theme in biology: the
correlation of structure and function.
 Structure is related to function at all levels of
biological organization.

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1.4 Living organisms interact with their
environment, exchanging matter and energy
 Living organisms interact with their environments,
which include
– other organisms and
– physical factors.

 In most ecosystems
– plants are the producers that provide the food,
– consumers eat plants and other animals, and
– decomposers act as recyclers, changing complex
matter into simpler mineral nutrients.
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1.4 Living organisms interact with their
environment, exchanging matter and energy
 The dynamics of ecosystems include two major
processes:
1. The recycling of chemical nutrients from the atmosphere
and soil through producers, consumers, and
decomposers back to the environment.
2. The one-way flow of energy through an ecosystem,
entering as sunlight, converted to chemical energy by
producers, passed on to consumers, and exiting as heat.

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Figure 1.4
Ecosystem

O2 O2

Sunlight
Heat
Producers Consumers
(such as (such as
plants) animals)
Chemical energy
(food)
CO2 CO2

Water and minerals Cycling of Decomposers

taken up by tree roots chemical nutrients (in soil)
Figure 1.4_1

Ecosystem

O2 O2

Sunlight
Heat
Producers Consumers
(such as (such as
plants) animals)
Chemical energy
(food)
CO2 CO2

Water and minerals Cycling of Decomposers

taken up by tree roots chemical nutrients (in soil)
 EVOLUTION, THE CORE
THEME OF BIOLOGY

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1.5 The unity of life is based on DNA and a
common genetic code
 All cells have DNA, the chemical substance of
genes.
 Genes
– are the unit of inheritance that transmits information
from parents to offspring,
– are grouped into very long DNA molecules called
chromosomes, and
– control the activities of a cell.

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1.5 The unity of life is based on DNA and a
common genetic code
 A species’ genes are coded in the sequences of
the four building blocks making up DNA’s double
helix.
– All forms of life use essentially the same code to
translate the information stored in DNA into proteins.
– The diversity of life arises from differences in DNA
sequences.

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Figure 1.5

A T

C G

C G

A T A

C G
T
A T

A T
C

G G C
1.6 The diversity of life can be arranged into
three domains
 We can think of biology’s enormous scope as
having two dimensions.
1. The “vertical” dimension is the size scale that stretches
from molecules to the biosphere.
2. The “horizontal” dimension spans across the great
diversity of organisms existing now and over the long
history of life on Earth.

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1.6 The diversity of life can be arranged into
three domains
 Diversity is the hallmark of life.
– Biologists have identified about 1.8 million species.
– Estimates of the actual number of species ranges from
10 to 100 million.

 Taxonomy names species and classifies them into

a system of broader groups.

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1.6 The diversity of life can be arranged into
three domains
 The diversity of life can be arranged into three
domains.
1. Bacteria are the most diverse and widespread
prokaryotes.
2. Archaea are prokaryotes that often live in Earth’s extreme
environments.
3. Eukarya have eukaryotic cells and include
– single-celled protists and
– multicellular fungi, animals, and plants.

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Figure 1.6

Domain Bacteria Domain Eukarya

Bacteria

Domain Archaea
Protists Kingdom Plantae
(multiple kingdoms)

Archaea

Kingdom Fungi Kingdom Animalia

1.7 Evolution explains the unity and diversity of
life
 The history of life, as documented by fossils, is a
saga of a changing Earth
– billions of years old and
– inhabited by an evolving cast of life forms.

 Evolution accounts for life’s dual nature of

– kinship and
– diversity.

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1.7 Evolution explains the unity and diversity of
life
 In 1859, Charles Darwin published the book On the
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,
which articulated two main points.
1. A large amount of evidence supports the idea of
evolution, that species living today are descendants of
ancestral species in what Darwin called “descent with
modification.”
2. Natural selection is a mechanism for evolution.

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1.7 Evolution explains the unity and diversity of
life
 Natural selection was inferred by connecting two
observations.
1. Individuals in a population vary in their traits, many of
which are passed on from parents to offspring.
2. A population can produce far more offspring than the
environment can support.

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Figure 1.7C

1 Population with varied inherited traits

2 Elimination of individuals with certain traits

3 Reproduction of survivors
1.7 Evolution explains the unity and diversity of
life
 From these observations, Darwin inferred that
– those individuals with heritable traits best suited to the
environment are more likely to survive and reproduce
than less well-suited individuals,
– as a result of this unequal reproductive success over
many generations, an increasing proportion of
individuals will have the advantageous traits, and
– the result will be evolutionary adaptation, the
accumulation of favorable traits in a population over
time.

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 THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE

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1.8 Scientific inquiry is used to ask and answer
questions about nature
 The word science is derived from a Latin verb
meaning “to know.” Science is a way of knowing.
 Scientists
– use inductive reasoning to draw general conclusions
from many observations and
– deductive reasoning to come up with ways to test a
hypothesis, a proposed explanation for a set of
observations.The logic flows from general premises to
the specific results we should expect if the premises are
true.

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1.8 Scientific inquiry is used to ask and answer
questions about nature
 How is a theory different from a hypothesis? A
scientific theory is
– much broader in scope than a hypothesis,
– usually general enough to generate many new, specific
hypotheses, which can then be tested, and
– supported by a large and usually growing body of
evidence.

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1.9 Scientists form and test hypotheses and share
their results
 We solve everyday problems by using hypotheses.
– A common example would be the reasoning we use to
answer the question, “Why doesn’t a flashlight work?”
– Using deductive reasoning we realize that the problem
is either (1) the bulb or (2) the batteries.
– Further, a hypothesis must be
– testable and
– falsifiable.

– In this example, two hypotheses are tested.

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Figure 1.9A_s1
Observation

Question

Hypothesis 1: Hypothesis 2:

Dead batteries Burned-out bulb
Figure 1.9A_s2
Observation

Question

Hypothesis 1: Hypothesis 2:

Dead batteries Burned-out bulb

Prediction: Prediction:
Replacing batteries Replacing bulb
will fix problem. will fix problem.

Experiment: Experiment:
Test prediction by Test prediction by
replacing batteries. replacing bulb.
Figure 1.9A_s3
Observation

Question

Hypothesis 1: Hypothesis 2:

Dead batteries Burned-out bulb

Prediction: Prediction:
Replacing batteries Replacing bulb
will fix problem. will fix problem.

Experiment: Experiment:
Test prediction by Test prediction by
replacing batteries. replacing bulb.

Test falsifies Test does not

hypothesis. Revise falsify hypothesis.
hypothesis or Make additional
pose new one. predictions and
test them.
1.9 Scientists form and test hypotheses and share
their results
 An actual research project demonstrates the
process of science.
 Scientists began with a set of observations and
generalizations that
– poisonous animals are brightly colored and
– imposters resemble poisonous species but are actually
harmless.

 They then tested the hypothesis that mimics

benefit because predators confuse them with the
harmful species.
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1.9 Scientists form and test hypotheses and share
their results
 The scientists conducted a controlled
experiment, comparing
– an experimental group consisting of artificial king
snakes and
– a control group consisting of artificial brown snakes.
– The groups differed only by one factor, the coloration of
the artificial snakes.
– The data fit the key prediction of the mimicry
hypothesis.

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Figure 1.9B
Figure 1.9C
Figure 1.9D
Figure 1.9E

100
Artificial
83% 84% king snakes
Percent of total attacks

80
on artificial snakes

Artificial
brown snakes
60

40

20 17% 16%

0
Coral snakes Coral snakes
absent present
1.9 Scientists form and test hypotheses and share
their results
 Science is a social activity with most scientists
working in teams.
 Scientists share information in many ways.
 Science seeks natural causes for natural
phenomena.
– The scope of science is limited to the study of structures
and processes that we can directly observe and measure.
– Hypotheses about supernatural forces or explanations are
outside the bounds of science, because they generate
hypotheses that cannot be tested by science.
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1.11 EVOLUTION CONNECTION: Evolution is
connected to our everyday lives
 Evolution is a core theme of biology.
 Evolutionary theory is useful in
– medicine,
– agriculture,
– forensics, and
– conservation.

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