College Physics - Introduction to Biology

Introduction to Biology

Order: Living things exhibit complex organization.
Sensitivity/Response to Stimuli: Organisms respond to environmental changes.
Reproduction: Organisms produce offspring.
Adaptation: Inherited characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction.
Growth and Development: Organisms grow and mature based on genetic instructions.
Regulation/Homeostasis: Maintaining a stable internal environment.
- Homeostasis refers to the relatively stable internal environment required to maintain life.
- Cells require appropriate conditions such as proper temperature, pH, and concentrations of diverse chemicals to function properly.
Energy Processing: Acquiring and utilizing energy.
- Some animals capture energy from the sun and convert it to chemical energy, others use chemical energy from the food they take in.
Evolution: Populations of organisms change over time.

Atom: The smallest, most fundamental unit of matter that still retains all the properties of an element.
- Every atom consists of a nucleus surrounded by electrons.
Molecule: At least two atoms held together by a chemical bond.
- Many biologically important molecules are macromolecules.
Organelles: Small structures within cells that perform specialized functions.
Cell: The smallest fundamental unit of structure and function in living organisms.
- Viruses are not made of cells and aren’t considered “living”.
- Cells are either prokaryotic or eukaryotic.
- Prokaryotes lack membrane-bound organelles.
- Eukaryotes have membrane-bound organelles.
Tissues: Groups of similar cells carrying out the same function.
Organs: Collections of tissues grouped together based on a common function.
Organ System: Functionally related organs.
Organism: An individual living entity.
Population: All of the individuals of a species living within a specific area.
Community: The set of populations inhabiting a particular area.
Ecosystem: All the living things in a particular area together with the non-living parts of that environment.
Biosphere: The collection of all ecosystems.
Taxonomy: The known species of organisms are organized into a hierarchical taxonomy.
- Organisms are named using two unique names, called the binomial naming system.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Unique characteristics of her illnesses gave her cells the ability to divide continuously, making them “immortal”.
Without her knowledge, researchers took samples of her cells and created the immortal HeLa cell line.
These cells have contributed to major medical discoveries.
For the most part, Lacks has not been credited for her role in those discoveries, and her family has not benefited.

Scientific Method: A method of research with defined steps that include experiments and careful observation.
Hypothesis: A suggested explanation for an event that can be tested.
- A hypothesis should be falsifiable, which means it can be disproven by experimental results.
Scientific Theories: Thoroughly tested and confirmed explanations for a set of observations or phenomena.
Scientific Laws: Often expressed in mathematical formulas, describe how elements of nature will behave under certain specific conditions.
Experiment:
- Each experiment will have controls and variables:
  - A control is a part of the experiment that does not change.
  - A variable is a part of the experiment that can change during the experiment.