Study Guide Module 1: Biology & Scientific Inquiry

Module: 1

What are the five unifying themes of life in biology?

Organization, Information, Energy & Matter, Interactions, Evolution

What is the process that explains the adaptation of organisms to their environments?

Evolution

What do we call the basic units of structure and function in living organisms?

Cells

What distinguishes prokaryotic cells from eukaryotic cells?

Prokaryotic cells lack a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles; eukaryotic cells have both.

What is the role of DNA in living organisms?

DNA is the heritable material that directs cell activities.

What is the central dogma of molecular biology?

DNA → RNA → Protein.

What is the significance of natural selection in evolution?

Natural selection explains how certain heritable traits become more or less common in a population.

What is reductionism in biological study?

Reductionism is studying complex systems by breaking them down into simpler parts.

What are the three domains of life?

Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya.

What is an emergent property?

New properties that arise at each structural level due to arrangement and interactions.

What is the scientific method?

Observation → Hypothesis → Prediction → Experiment/Test → Analysis → Conclusion.

What is negative feedback in biological regulation?

Negative feedback occurs when the product of a process slows down that process (e.g., ATP production).

How does energy flow through ecosystems?

Energy flows through ecosystems as light in and heat out, with transformations like photosynthesis.

What is genomics?

Genomics is the large-scale analysis of DNA sequences and gene functions.

What did Charles Darwin contribute to the understanding of evolution?

Darwin proposed the theory of descent with modification and the mechanism of natural selection.

What is scientific inquiry?

Scientific inquiry is the process of asking questions and seeking answers through investigation and experimentation.

What is an observation in scientific inquiry?

An observation is the act of noting and recording something seen or experienced in the natural world, often leading to questions.

What is inductive reasoning in scientific inquiry?

Inductive reasoning is a type of logical thinking that involves forming generalizations based on specific observations.

What is a hypothesis?

A hypothesis is a testable statement or prediction that can be investigated through experimentation.

What is deductive reasoning in scientific inquiry?

Deductive reasoning involves starting from a general principle and applying it to a specific case to draw conclusions.

What does testing hypotheses involve?

Testing hypotheses involves conducting experiments to determine if the predictions made by the hypothesis are accurate.

What is a scientific theory?

A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is based on a body of evidence.