Course
Overview
This course emphasizes the concepts,
principles, and theories that enable people to understand the living environment.
Students will study life science concepts such as the structure, function, and
processes of cells, the genetic and molecular bases of inheritance, biological
evolution of various species, and the diversity and interdependence of life.
Students will also be able to explain the flow of energy and the cycling of
matter through biological and ecological systems in this course. Embedded throughout this study are the basic
science processes of inquiry, modeling investigations, and the nature of science.
Students will learn to trace the historical development of scientific theories,
ideas, and ethical guidelines in science. This course will also address the
interdependence of science and technology, and the study of emerging issues to
become scientifically literate citizens.
For each unit, the student will read
the content that is presented, look at each illustration, watch all video
clips, and follow all external web links.
Answer the questions for each unit as completely as possible. The student may be required to do independent
research and to find information on their own.
Other resources may be used to enhance the material that is presented in
order to answer the questions.
Try to keep a reasonable pace with
each of the units. Some units may require
lengthy preparation while others are shorter in length. It would be beneficial not to leave any
questions blank. If you have any
questions, please ask the VLA instructor for guidance.
BIOLOGY
AREAS AND HISTORY
What is
Biology?
Welcome to biology!
The goal of science is to help us understanding the natural world and
improve people’s lives. Biology is a branch of science which involves the study
of life. All of the processes associated
with living organisms are the subject matter of biology. Biology is the study of all aspects of living
things including their structure, classification, function, and interactions. As a student in this course, you will strive
to understand the natural phenomena associated with plants and animals by
asking why and how the natural world functions as it does. Why do living organisms interact with each
other and their environment in particular ways?
What are their evolutionary and genetic relationships? How are biological processes carried out in
organs, tissues, and cells? In order to
answer these broad questions, biologists must answer many specific ones: How does the liver of an animal break down
fat? How does a green plant convert
water and carbon dioxide into sugar? When do platypuses lay their eggs? Where do mosquitoes go in the winter? Some questions require years of scientific
research before they can be answered satisfactorily. Continually asking questions and conducting
studies leads toward a better understanding of all organisms and the
environment.
We know from the previous paragraph
that a biologist asks specific questions.
Obviously, the next question will be …. What is a biologist? A biologist, quite simply, studies living
things and their relationship to their environment. There are many types of biologists such
as: marine biologists, aquatic
biologists, forensic biologists, and environmental biologists, just to name a
few. What do biologists really do? They ask questions such as what, why, and
how. Asking questions is the basis of
scientific thought which also requires skepticism. Skepticism is a doubting
attitude that questions the truth of some idea or event. Biologists study
problems and how they might be solved, how living organisms are organized in
groups, the process of reproduction, growth and change, adaptations,
interactions with the environment, genetics, and evolution.
Historical
Perspectives in Biology
Next, we will take a look at some famous
historical biologists and their contributions to the field of biology.
Many modern discoveries are based
upon the work completed somewhere in the history of biology. Often a small change in an existing thought
or an accidental occurrence can lead to new findings.
Great scientific progress was made
in the 19th century. This progress resulted from the application of what was
already known, plus new discoveries of a basic nature. The following is a very
brief list of some of the most important discoveries in biology.
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Robert Hooke July 28, 1635 - March 3, 1703 |
· In 1665, Hooke, an
English scientist, used a simple microscope (magnification of 30 times) to look
at a thin slice of cork. · He saw many
“little boxes” in the cork slice. · The boxes reminded
Hooke of the small rooms (cells) that monks lived in, so he called these
little boxes “cells”. Robert Hooke |
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Antoni
van Leeuwenhoek October 24, 1632 - August 26, 1723 |
· In 1675, Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist,
used a more powerful microscope (magnification of 300 times), to discover
many living creatures in pond water. · The small organisms he saw under a
microscope he named animalcules or “tiny animals”. · Leeuwenhoek is nicknamed the “Father of
Microbiology” because he was the first to see unicellular organisms. |
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Carl Linnaeus May
23, 1707 - January
10, 1778 |
·
In
the 1750’s, Linnaeus, a Swedish biologist, developed a classification system
for all living things (organisms). ·
Linnaeus’
classification system, based on Binomial Nomenclature, was necessary because
it provided a simple method of consistently classifying organisms based on
similar structures. Even More Enlightenment Science |
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Louis
Pasteur December 27, 1822- September 28, 1895 |
· Pasteur was a 19th century French
scientist. · In 1862, Pasteur disproved the idea of
“Spontaneous Generation”, which is the idea of living organisms developing
from non-living items. A popular belief before the 19th century. · In 1864, Pasteur created the process known
as “Pasteurization” which is the process of heating and cooling a liquid to
kill many of the microorganisms within the liquid. · In 1879, Pasteur proved that microorganisms
cause various diseases and created some of the first vaccines by extending
the work of Edward Jenner’s (1796) small pox vaccine. Science and Bacteria |
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Charles Darwin February
12, 1809 -April 19, 1882 |
·
Darwin
was a 19th century British naturalist. · In 1859, Darwin created a theory of
evolution which science has adopted. · Darwin developed his theory while making
observations on his journey to the Galapagos Islands aboard the ship named
HMS Beagle. · Darwin’s theory of evolution is known as
“Natural Selection”. · Darwin wrote a book explaining his theory of
Natural Selection titled Origin of Species in 1859. Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution |
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Gregor Johann Mendel July 20, 1822 –January 6 , 1884 |
· Mendel was a 19th century
Austrian monk. · Mendel’s responsibility living in the
monastery was that of a gardener. · Working with pea plants, Mendel began
studying and predicting the passing of traits from parent pea plants to
offspring pea plants. · Mendel’s work led to the development of
genetics Gregor Mendels Research on Pea Plants |
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James Watson, April 6, 1928 Current age: 86 Francis Crick, June 8, 1916 July 28, 2004 |
·
In
1953, James Watson, American biologist, and Francis Crick, British biologist,
worked together to discover the structure and function of DNA, after
examining the progressive DNA work of many earlier scientists. · Watson and Crick’s model of DNA explained
how DNA stored and passed hereditary information. |
Biological Areas of Study
Next, we will look at some of the
major areas/studies of biology which focus on a specific biological topic.
BOTANY |
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Botanist
Luther Burbank in his Garden |
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ZOOLOGY |
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ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY |
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EMBRYOLOGY |
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Embryology is
the study of the formation and development of an embryo and fetus. Studying
embryology allows for detailed comparisons of different animals to provide
arguments for evolutionary relationships among different species. |
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MARINE BIOLOGY |
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Marine Biology
is the study of animals and plants that live in the sea. It also relates to air-borne
and terrestrial organisms that depend directly upon bodies of salt water for
food and necessities of life. |
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CYTOLOGY |
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Cytology is
the study of cells, both in structure and function, as the fundamental units
of living things. After you do the Cell Activity you
can download the cell diagram to label each part of the cell. |
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MICROBIOLOGY |
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Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, or microbes, a diverse group of minute, simple life forms that include bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa, fungi, and viruses. Microbiology is concerned with the structure, function, and classification of these organisms. |
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ECOLOGY |
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Ecology
is the study of the relations and interactions between organisms and their
environment both living and nonliving. |
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Now answer
questions 1 through 20.