Unit 1- Chemistry of LIfe

4 big biology ideas

evolution, energetics, info storage+transmissions, and system interactions

Biology

the study of life, gives us an organized way of understanding ourselves, other living things, and the world

Biologists

scientists that study life, explore the underlying principles and processes that shape and mold biological organism

Organisms

living things/ beings that display all of the properties of life

Gene

unit of heredity

Genome

all the genetic info an organism contains, help find ways to fight disease in people, animals, and plants, endangered species and evolution

Cells

simplest self-reproducing unit that can exist independently

Purpose of biology

helps us learn world processes, investigate life, ask scientific questions, and make informed bio decisions

4 big biology ideas

evolution, energetics, info storage and transmissions, and system interactions

Species

group of interbreeding organisms that produce fertile offspring, usually distinct by form, behavior, or biochemical properties

Unity and diversity of life

distinct trait that differentiates types but similarities can explain similarities

Evolution

a general and powerful explanation of how life works and changes over time, explains unity and diversity of life, concept that unites all of biology, key principle of life, one of the most significant theories in biology

Natural selection

described by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, mechanism of evolution in which some individuals survive and produce more than others in the environment, passing variation

Natural selection skills

nervous, sensory, musculoskeletal, endocrine, circulatory, and respiratory systems, makes predator and prey interactions

Artificial selection

humans decide the best traits, decide which trait reproduces

Competition

fighting for resources, natural selection, the winner continues

Energy

ability to work, necessary for life, needed to survive, grow, move, and reproduce

Energetics

examines properties of energy, how energy is distributed in bio, chemistry, and physical processes

Information

instructions that all cells have that in part determine what they look like and the function

DNA

where cell information is stored, carrier of all genetic information, need access to grow and carry out functions, guides the development of offspring

System

a group of things that function together as a whole, can be small or large and involve necessary nonliving materials

Biotic

living organisms

Abiotic

nonliving components

Biological system

biotic and abiotic entities that interact, have complex properties, and interacting components show life

Emergent property

a property of a system that the individual parts don’t have on their own

Robustness

ability to tolerate and respond to environmental change

Scientific inquiry

process scientists use to ask questions and seek answers about the natural world in a deliberate and ordered way, explain how natural phenomena occur, exploration, investigation, and communications

Exploration phase

the first step of scientific inquiry, make observations and ask questions

Observation

the act of viewing the world around us, allows us to make focused questions about nature, fundamental component of thinking like a scientific

Hypothesis

tentative explanation for one or more observations, make predictions that can be tested by experimentation or additional observations

Controlled experiment

now of the most powerful types of experiments, at least two groups tested, identical test and set up but with one single variable change

Test group/ experimental group

group experiencing the change/ variable

Control group

not exposed to a variable, determine if variable accounts for any change

Independent variable

variable manipulated to test hypothesis, “independent” can be manipulated

Dependent variable

result of the experiment, “dependent” vary based on independent variable

Negative control group

control group, expect to see no effect, test again that independent variable causes the change

Positive control group

receives a variable with a known trait

Data

the bedrock of science, observations, measurements, and facts, qualitative or quantitative

Qualitative

descriptive

Quantitative

number form, statistical analysis

Statistical analysis

interpret the collected data- averages, spreads, and reals from groups

Null hypothesis

predicts that an invention or treatment has no effect, chance, and not the variable, says there is not a real difference between the controlled and independent variable

Alternate hypothesis

predicts that the invention or treatment has an effect, says that the difference between the control and independent variable is real

P-value

expresses the likelihood that an observation was by chance, a probability

P-value less than or equal to 0.05/ 5%

there is equal to or less than a 5% chance an observation was seen by chance and rejects the null hypothesis

P-value greater than 0.05/ 5%

the observation was most likely taken by chance and fails to reject the null hypothesis

Error bar

a short vertical line showing a range of values, graphically shows uncertainty, shows a range of values that incorporate small differences among individuals and inaccuracies

Communicating findings

critical step in scientific inquiry and guides research and public action, communicated through journals, meetings, and conferences, and informs the public and other scientists leading to more questions

Original hypotheses

tentative and provide one or several possible ways to explain an observation

"good" hypotheses

repeated observation and experimentation, gathers strength and researchers become more confident

Theory

related hypotheses survive repeated testing and become accepted as a good basis for explaining what is seen in nature; a general explanation of the world supported by a large body of experimental evidence and observation, generates hypotheses ad predicts the outcomes

Hypotheses as a theory

withstood testing and has a general explanation for many results

Appropriate precision/ significant figures

indicate the precision of a measurement, the more significant figures the more precise

Average

individual pieces of data represented as one single number

Mean

most common average, add up all values in the data set and divide by the number of data pieces in the data set

Median

middle value in a group of values, less influenced by the extremes than the mean

Outlier

a data point that is very different from the others

Mode

the value that shows up the most

Distribution

the spread of all numbers in experimental results

Normal distribution

natural phenomena graph, smooth, bell-shaped curve, the peak is the mode, and the middle is the median

Range

a way to quantify how spread out the data is, the highest value mimics the lowest, highly influenced by outliers

Standard deviation (S)

shows spread, how far data in the data set are from the mean, smaller means data points are closer to the mean and vice versa

Percent change

change in percent

Human error

how human error was avoided

Calibration/ instrument error

how it was avoided, calibrate and check instruments

Material error

defective material, should be consistent

Measurement error

error in measurement, the more measurements the more room for error

Uncontrolled variable

random things like humidity, leads to further questions

N

population size

n

sample size

x̅

mean

S

standard deviation, variation in sample

xi

data points

Σ

semation

N-1

degrees of freedom

SEX

confidence or precision of a measurement or answer

Matter

anything that has mass and takes up space, material that makes up physical objects, a gas, liquid, or solid

Atom

the basic unit of matter

Molecules

chemicals made up of two or more atoms

Carbon-rich organic molecules

an energy source for many organisms

Sun

the entry point for energy into living systems, photosythsised

Nucleus

the dense center of an atom

Protons

positively charged particles in the nucleus, determine the element

Neutrons

electrically neutral particles in the nucleus, determine the isotope and how radioactive it is

Electrons

negatively charged particles in the nucleus, determine its reactivity

Atomic number

number of protons, subscript

Element

a chemical that can’t be further broken down, specified by the atomic number

Atomic mass

the total mass of an atom, number of protons and neutrons, subscript to the left of the symbol, the number of neutrons can differ and change its mass

Isotopes

atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons

Energy level or electron shell

area in the space where the electron circles the nucleus

Valence electrons

electrons in the outermost energy level

Periodic table of elements

describes valence electrons and their properties, arranged by the atomic number, elements in the same row have the same energy levels, across the row elements to the right have one more electrons

Family/ group

vertical column, the same number of electrons in the outermost ring/ level, determine how elements interact to form a diversity of molecules

Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen

the four elements common to all organisms

Molecules

groups of 2 or more atoms bonded together to act as a single unit

Chemical bond

how individual atoms interact, type of attraction between atoms that hold them together

Ion

bond where one atom is electronegative and it takes an electron that is less electronegative

Chemical reaction

a process where atoms or molecules are transformed into different molecules

Reactants

atoms or molecules that are changed in a chemical reaction

Products

molecules formed from a reaction