BIO 114 Organismal Biology - Studying Life

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms from the BIO 114 Organismal Biology lecture notes on 'Studying Life', including definitions of core biological concepts, experimental methods, and evolutionary principles.

Biology

The scientific study of organisms, living and fossil, aimed at discovering and understanding the diversity and complex processes that make up life.

Common Features of Life

All life forms are made of common chemical compounds, composed of cells, use molecules from the environment to synthesize new molecules, extract and use energy for work, and regulate their internal environments.

Earth Formation

Formed 4.6 to 4.5 billion years ago from solar nebula; life evolved 600 million years or more after its formation.

Nucleic Acids

Essential elements of life that reproduce themselves and serve as templates for protein synthesis.

Genes

Inherited traits that exist in discrete units, as shown by Gregor Mendel.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid; its discovery in the mid-1900s transformed biological science.

Genome

The sum total of all the DNA molecules in an organism.

Fatty Acids

Played an important role in evolution by forming membranes (liposomes) that don't dissolve in water, contributing to the formation of an internal cellular environment.

Prokaryotes

Single-celled organisms, such as Bacteria and Archaea, which were the only life forms for billions of years and lack membrane-enclosed organelles.

Eukarya

Organisms that emerged later than prokaryotes and possess membrane-enclosed organelles, including a nucleus that contains genetic information.

Genetics

The field that explains heritable traits and evolution.

Populations

Groups of individuals of the same type of organism that interbreed and evolve via natural selection.

Evolution

The process resulting in changes in the genetic makeup of populations over time.

Scientific Inquiry

A process that uses observation, logic, and experimentation to investigate life.

Hypotheses

Testable explanations for observations, which are tested through controlled and comparative experiments.

Charles Darwin

Compiled factual evidence for evolution and proposed that all organisms are descended from a common ancestor, arguing for natural selection.

Natural Selection

The differential survival and reproduction in a population, leading to adaptations.

Adaptations

Structural, physiological, or behavioral traits that enhance an organism's chances of survival and reproduction, resulting from natural selection.

Genomics

The field that compares organisms using DNA sequences to trace evolutionary history.

Bioinformatics

The field that manages and analyzes sequencing data, particularly in genomics.

Phylogenetic Tree

An illustration of the evolutionary histories of different groups, built by analyzing similarities and differences among species.

Scientific Approach (5 Steps)

Make observations, ask questions, form hypotheses, make predictions, and test the predictions.

Controlled Experiment

An experiment that manipulates one factor (independent variable) while holding other variables constant to observe its effect on a dependent variable.

Comparative Experiment

An experiment that compares data gathered from populations that differ in multiple ways, predicting differences between groups, and often uses statistical methods.

Independent Variable

The factor that is intentionally manipulated or changed by the experimenter in an experiment (e.g., size of prey in spider silk experiment).

Dependent Variable

The factor that is measured or observed and is expected to change as a result of the independent variable manipulation (e.g., strength of spider silk).

Control Variables

Factors that are kept constant during an experiment to ensure that only the independent variable's effect on the dependent variable is measured.