properties of life & scientific method

BIOL1111 exam 1

characteristics of living organisms

1) cells & organisms

2) energy use & metabolism

3) response to environmental change

4) regulation & homeostasis

5) growth, development & reproduction

energy

the capacity to do work

homeostasis

maintenance of internal conditions within certain boundaries

adaptation

any modifiation that makes an organism suited for its way of life

Aristotle came up with

scala naturae

scala naturae meaning

the idea that man is dominant & perfect form of life & the earth & its creatures have not changed since they were created

are viruses alive?

no, because they rely on the cells of their hosts

Linneaus

classified organism into hierachies based on shared similarities

binomial nomenclature

the universal & latin way of writing organisms scientific names. must be italicized or underlined

binomial nomenclature format

Genus species

taxonomy

the science of identifying & classifying organisms

levels of biological organization

cell, tissue, organs, organ systems, organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere

adaptation

any modification that makes any organism better suited for its way of life

science

the intelectual & practice activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure & behavior of the natural world through observation & experiment

characteristics of science

guided by law, testable against natural law, conclusions are relative, falsifiable

theory

an explanation that comes from a variety of observations

hypothesis

a tentative testable explanation for what was observed