Introduction to Biology and Characteristics of Life

Flashcards covering key concepts from Chapter 1 through Chapter 8, including characteristics of life, organizational tiers, data types, and scientific reasoning.

Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)

Guides listed at the beginning of presentations outlining what tasks and concepts students must master by the end of the class to earn a passing grade.

Biology

The scientific field focused on the study of life and living things.

Order

A characteristic of living things defined by structure, organization, and a lack of chaos within an organism's body.

Stimulus

An environmental input, such as touch, sound, light, or chemicals, that elicits a response from a living thing.

Asexual Reproduction

A form of reproduction where an organism, such as a bacterium, can produce a new generation on its own without needing a partner.

Sexual Reproduction

A form of reproduction that requires a partner to fuse germ cells or gametes to create a new generation of organisms.

Extremophiles

Organisms, such as thermal vent bacteria in Yellowstone National Park, that are adapted to live in extreme environments that would kill most other life.

Growth

A fundamental process in organisms involving development, acquiring nutrients, increasing in size, and building internal structures until reproductive capability is reached.

Homeostasis

The ability of an organism to regulate its internal environment to maintain a very narrow range of conditions, such as internal temperature, pressure, and pH.

Energy Metabolism

The property of living things to take molecules from the environment, break them down to release energy, and use that energy to construct other molecules.

Evolution

A long-term process in which traits within populations of species are gained or lost over extended periods of time.

Cell

The smallest unit considered to be a living system, containing all components and functions necessary to constitute life.

Molecule

A non-living structure consisting of a group of atoms chemically bonded together, which serves as a building block for cells.

Euglena

A single-celled microorganism whose entire body consists of only one cell.

Tissue

A structure in multicellular organisms composed of groups of cells working together to perform a specialized function.

Epithelial Tissue

A type of tissue that forms body linings to separate internal organs and structures from the external environment.

Organ

A structure formed by a group of tissues that carries out a major role within an organism, such as the brain.

Organ System

A higher-level biological grouping of multiple organs working together to perform a primary function for the body, such as the respiratory or nervous system.

Natural Philosophy

An early form of science originating in ancient Greece, spearheaded by thinkers like Aristotle, that sought to explain natural phenomena through rational thought and empirical observations rather than mythology.

Qualitative Data

Data consisting of verbal and descriptive descriptions regarding how something looks or behaves.

Quantitative Data

Data expressed as numerical values or precise measurements.

Inductive Reasoning

A logical process where general principles or rules are derived from specific, individual observations.

Deductive Reasoning

A logical process that applies a general rule or principle to make a specific prediction.