Notes Discussion Questions-Intro

Science helps us to…

Investigate
__________________ understand how the physical world works, with
and ________________
evidence
observable physical ________________ as the basis of that understanding.

a controlled _____________.
This work MUST be conducted in ______________ experiment
Spontaneous Generation

Scientists used to believe that life could arise from nonliving matter, this was called
spontaneous
_________________ generation
__________________

Francesco Redi
maggots appeared on meat
Francesco Redi, in 1668, observed that ________
a few days after flies were present
eggs
He considered it likely that the flies laid ______ too small for people
to see

Francesco Redi was thinking scientifically and was skeptical of the idea
of spontaneous generaton, he wanted EVIDENCE, which is the cornerstone of science

John Needham
bottle
In the mid-1700’s, John Needham tried to disprove Redi by sealing a __________ of
___
broth
________ and heating it
maggots
Days later, there were ___________ in it and he concluded that they were produced by
the gravy

John Needham was biased toward the theory of spontaneous generation

Lazzaro Spallanzani
Lazzaro Spallanzani
_____________ _____________ boiled two containers of gravy,
sealed one and left other jar open

open
The jar that was _________ had microorganisms and the other did not
non-living
He concluded that _____________ things
____________, like gravy, do not
produce living things and Needham just did not tighten the lid of the jar enough

Spallanzani, like Redi, was thinking like a scientist

Louis Pasteur
long
In 1864, Louis Pasteur designed a flask with a _______,
curved
____________ neck
__________ which remained open to air

Maggots
_________________ could not get into that jar
protected
He proved that if the broth was______________, it remained free
of living things

Louis Pasteur went on to later develop “germ theory” which states

that it is microorganisms that make people sick, not “bad air” like people
thought at the time

Louis Pasteur is known as the Father of Microbiology and is well

known for his studies on the causes and prevention of disease (the OJ
and/or milk you had this morning was likely pasteurized, a process which
destroys harmful microorganisms but keeps the product itself intact)

Levels of Biological Study

biologist
A _____________ studies living things on many levels:

The 6 levels are:

Chemical Level
1. ____________ ____________- study of the chemical compounds that make up an
organism, such as calcium carbonate in coral; career example- biochemist
Molecular
2. ____________ Level
___________- study of the molecular structure of an organism;
career example- molecular biologist, geneticist
Cellular
3. ______________ Level
_________- study of the cells that make up an organism, career
example- cellular biologist, cancer researcher
Organism
4. ______________ Level
__________- study of the change in organisms over time, also
the study of the relationship between organisms of the same species; career example-
paleontologist or ecologist
Population
5. _____________ Level
____________- study of the interactions of a particular species in
its environment, such as coral reef; career example- ecologist or population biologist
Global Level
6. _______________ ___________- a worldwide view of biology, study of organisms
and their environment on a global scale, not just a localized area; career example-ecologist
Many people get confused by scientific hypotheses and scientific theories.
Read the following statements and fill in your definitions for the words in
the diagram below.

Hypothesis: A hypothesis is an educated guess based upon your observations.

It is a rational explanation of what one observes. A hypothesis has not been
proven yet. Most hypotheses can be supported or disproven by
experimentation. After many experiments lead to the same conclusion, a
scientific theory is born.

Theory: A theory is what a hypothesis becomes

once it has been tested many times, by many
different unrelated researchers, and is accepted
to be true based on current knowledge of the
universe.

In science, the word theory is as close to the truth as you can get based on
multiple lines of evidence through experimentation. In everyday use, the
word theory means an idea, opinion, or guess. It is easy to get these
meanings confused.

Hypothesis vs. Theory

Your definition: Your definition: Your definition:

A draft guess of An idea, a guess or A educated guess that
what happened in a an opinion. has been tested
experiment. multiple times.
Characteristics of Life-Notes

1. The study of living things (organisms)

2. The study of interactions of living things

Bio means
3. _________________-life
Ology means
____________________-study of

Living things have 8 characteristics

1. Living things are made up of cells, which are a collection of living material enclosed within a barrier;
cells make up tissues, tissues make up organs, and organs make up systems
Unicellular
a) _______________________________: made up of one cell
Multicellular
b) _______________________________: made up of many cells

2. Living things reproduce, which means to produce offspring which resemble parents
Asexual
a) _____________________ reproduction: has only one parent
Sexual
b) _____________________ reproduction: requires two parents

*Not all individuals reproduce but many individuals within a species must reproduce to keep the
species population going

3. Living things grow and develop

Growth
a) ________________: increase in size and shape
Development
b) ________________________: mature over time and have a lifespan

4. Livings things are based on a universal genetic code

DNA
a) _____________- DeoxyriboNucleic Acid, which determines the inherited
traits from the parents
RNA
b) _____________- RiboNucleic Acid, which carries out the information for
making proteins in the DNA code

5. Living things require energy

a) Energy comes from food, used to maintain body

b) Autotrophs
____________________: produce their own food
c) Heterotrophs
____________________: must consume food
d) Decomposer
____________________: break down dead material for food

6. Living things respond to their surroundings

stimulus.
a) They react to a ________________
 7. Living things maintain a stable internal environment
Homeostasis
a) ________________________- process by which organisms
maintain a relatively stable internal environment

EX: sweating, panting, shivering, etc

8. Living things evolve over time as a species, NOT as individuals in

one lifespan

a) Individuals in the species adapt to long-range changes in

environment
b) These changes allow them to better survive in environment
c) These changes take place over a long period of time involving
the entire species

Questions:

Why is it sometimes difficult to determine if something is alive?

Living things move, eat, breathe, have a code (DNA), use energy anod respond to

a stimulus. It is sometimes difficult, because a specific thing (like a tree) might

have some of the living thing's qualities.

In your own words, write a definition of “alive.”

Being alive means the ability to breathe, to eat, to move, to respond and to control.

If we don’t have those characteristics, we are not “alive”.