Concepts | Questions | Media Resources |
1.1 How to Define Life | | |
- There are various levels of biological organization. At each higher level properties emerge that cannot be explained by the sum of the parts.
- Although life is quite diverse, it can be defined by certain common characteristics.
- All living things have characteristics in common because they are descended from a common ancestor; but they are diverse because they are adapted to different environments.
| - What are the characteristics that can be used to distinguish living things from nonliving things?
Answer - Briefly explain how all life forms share certain characteristics and, at the same time, are also very diverse in design and function.
Answer
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Essential Study Partner
Summaries of major points- Living things are organized
- Living things acquire materials and energy
- Living things respond
- Living things reproduce and develop
- Living things have adaptations
Labeling Exercises
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1.2 How the Biosphere is Organized
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- The biosphere is made up of ecosystems where living things interact with each other and the physical environment.
- Coral reefs and tropical rain forest, which are noted for their diversity, are endangered due to human activities.
- Biologists are concerned about the current rate of extinctions and believe that we should take all possible steps to preserve biodiversity.
| - ________ are cycled through an ecosystem from organisms to the environment and back again, while ________ comes from outside the ecosystem, moves through levels of organisms, and is eventually lost from the system.
Answer - Define: ecosystem.
Answer
| Essential Study Partner
Summaries of major points- Populations
- Tropical rainforest, a terrestrial Ecosystem
- The human population
Art Review
General Biology Weblinks
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1.3 How Living Things are Classified
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- Living things are classified into categories according to their evolutionary relationships.
| - What is taxonomy?
Answer - List the categories used to classify organisms.
Answer - What are the three Domains into which all life can be categorized and which of the three contains the most structurally complex organisms?
Answer
| Essential Study Partner
Summaries of major points- Taxonomy and scientific names
- Five kingdom and three domain systems
Labeling Exercises
Art Review
General Biology Weblinks
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1.4 The Process of Science
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- The scientific process is a way to gather information and to come to conclusions about the natural world.
- Various conclusions pertaining to the same area of interest are sometimes used to arrive at a theory, a general concept about the natural world.
| - What are the steps of the scientific method?
Answer - What is a hypothesis?
Answer - What is a control and why is it an important component of an experiment?
Answer
| Summaries of major points- Science is one way humans understand the natural world
- A laboratory investigation
- A field investigation
- An observational investigation
- The scientific method
- Scientific theories in Biology
Art Review
Art Quizzes
Lab exercises |