AP Biology Chapter 1

Biology

the scientific study of life

evolution

the process of change that has resulted in the array of organisms found on Earth

What is the fundamental principle of biology?

evolution

What is the result of evolution?

an organism’s adaptations to its environment

What is the unifying themes of the study of life?

organization, information, energy and matter, interactions, and evolution

reductionism

complex systems are reduced to simpler components to make them more manageable to study

What is the levels of biological organization?

biosphere, ecosystems, communities, populations, organisms, organs, tissues, cells, organelles, molecules.

Cell

the basic unit of structure and function

The cell is…

the smallest unit of life that can perform all activities required for life

All cells share…

certain characteristics, such as being enclosed by a membrane

two main forms of cells are…

prokaryotic and eukaryotic

prokaryotic

lack a nucleus or other membrane enclosed organelle

eukaryotic

contains membrane enclosed organelles, including a DNA containing nucleus

what is a population

organisms of a certain species in an ecosystem

what is a biosphere

earth

what is a ecosystem

living and non living things in an area

what is a community

living organisms in an ecosystem

what is organisms

individual living things

what is organ and organ systems

group of tissues working together to perform a function

what is tissues

group of cells performing a specialized function

what is organelles

functional components of cells

what is molecules

chemical structure containing two or more atoms

emergent properties

properties that emerge at every level that are absent from the previous level

systems biology

the exploration of a biological system by analyzing the interactions among its parts

what are the properties of life

organization, energy, adaptation, response to stimuli, homeostasis, and reproduction

is prokaryotic cells bigger or eukaryotic?

eukaryotic cells are bigger than prokaryotic cells

what is DNA stand for

deoxyribonucleic acid

what does DNA do

holds hundreds of genes and is genetic material

genes

the units of inheritance that transmit information from parents to offspring

how does DNA direct development

as cells grow and divide, the genetic information encoded by DNA directs development

what is a DNA made out of

two long strands arranged in a double helix

what is in each link of the DNA chain

one of the four kinds of chemical building blocks (nucleotides) A,T,C,G

function of DNA

provides blueprints for making proteins

proteins

building and maintaining a cell, building blocks of amino acids

gene expression

the process of converting information from a gene to its cellular product

genomics

the study of sets of genes within and between species

genome

its entire set of genetic instructions

proteomics

the study of sets of proteins and their properties

proteome

the entire set of proteins expressed by a cell, tissue, or organism

climate change

the directional change in global climate that lasts three decades or more

the three domains

domain bacteria, domain archaea, domain eukarya (kingdom plantae, fungi, and animalia)

who came up with natural selection and descent with mod.

charles darwin

what did Charles Darwin publish

on the origin of species by means of natural selection

what two main points did Darwin make

species showed evidence of “descent with modification” from common ancestors and natural selection is the primary cause of descent with modification

natural selection

the nature environment “selects” for advantage traits in the population

what diagram show ancestors and their descendants

the tree of life

science

an approach to understanding the living world

inquiry

the search for information and explanation of natural phenomena

the scientific process

observations, hypotheses, experiment, analyze, and conclusion

data

recorded observations

two categories of data

qualitative and quantitative

qualitative data

descriptions rather than measurements

quantitative data

recorded measurements organized in graphs or tables

inductive reasoning

draws conclusions through logical process of induction

hypothesis

explanation based on observations and assumptions that leads to a testable prediction

experiment

a scientific test, often carried out under controlled conditions

deductive reasoning

reasoning that flows from the general to the specific

can a hypothesis be proven 100% true

no

independent variable

the factor manipulated

dependent variable

the factor being measured that is predicted to be affected by the independent variable

theory

a broader scope than a hypothesis, supported by large amounts of evidence, and generalized