Introduction to Biology

BIOLOGY

Poll

WHAT IS BIOLOGY

• The study of life

• The study of how organisms interact with the enviroment

• the study of genetic heredity

• the study of radiation of life over time

what is biology

Biology studies the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and distribution of living organisms.

subfields of biology

• biochemistry

• botany

• ecology

• zoology

• genetics

• physiology

• evolutionary biology

Open Ended

what do you think evolutionary biology studies?

Evolutionary biology

it is the study of the origins and changes in the diversity of life over time

Open Ended

what do you think genetics studies?

genetics

it is the study of heredity, in other words how genetics determine the characteristics of new living things from their parents

Poll

botany is the study of

• animals

• plants

• genes

• functions of organisms and their parts

More fields in science

• Biochemistry: the study of the material substances that make up living things

• Zoology: the study of animals, including animal behavior

• Cellular biology: the study of the basic cellular units of living things

• Ecology: the study of how organisms interact with their environment

• Evolutionary biology: the study of the origins and changes in the diversity of life over time

Poll

of the fields of biology which one peaks your interest?

• botany

• zoology

• evolutionary biology

• ecology

• cellular biology

framework of understanding

All the branches of biology can be unified within a framework of five basic understandings about living things

FRAMEWORK OF UNDERSTANDING

• CELL THEORY

• HEREDITY

• EQUILIBRIUM

• EVOLUTION

• ENERGY

CELL THEORY

the cell is the basic unit of life, all living things are composed of cells, and all cells arise from pre-existing cells.

ENERGY

All living things require energy, and energy flows between organisms and between organisms and the environment.

HEREDITY

All living things have DNA and genetic information codes the structure and function of all cells.

EQUILIBRIUM

All living things must maintain homeostasis, a state of balanced equilibrium between the organism and its environment.

EVOLUTION

Evolution is the change over time that is the engine of biological diversity.