Experimental Design and Ecology Basics

Experimental Design

• Independent Variable: The variable manipulated or varied in an experiment to observe its effects.
• Dependent Variable: The variable measured in an experiment, affected by the independent variable.
• Control: An element that remains constant and unaffected in an experiment, used for comparison.

Investigation Plan Components

• Complaint Summary: A concise overview of the complaint.
• Legal Theories: The legal principles relevant to the complaint.
• Investigation Strategy & Evidence Sources: The plan for gathering evidence.
• Personnel & Resources: The people and materials needed.
• Milestones & Timelines: Key deadlines and stages.

Scientific Explanations

• Claim: A conclusion based on evidence.
• Evidence: Data supporting the claim.
• Reasoning: How the evidence supports the claim.

Ecology

• Carrying Capacity: The maximum population a region can sustain without environmental degradation. Graphically represented by two lines: carrying capacity and population size.
• Niche Partitioning: Species evolve different resource use patterns to reduce competition and coexist.
• Niche: An organism's role in an ecosystem regarding interactions and resources use.

Evolution

• Natural Selection: Organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
• Mating Systems: A system where individuals are more or less likely to mate with specific genotypes, a non-random mating system.
• Evolution: The change and diversification of life forms through time.
• Biodiversity: Variety of life in an area, habitat, or ecosystem.
• Geographic Isolation: Physical separation of populations owing to geographical barriers.
• Fossils: Preserved prehistoric organism remains or imprints.
• Vestigial Structures: Anatomical features with reduced or lost functions due to evolution.
• Speciation: Formation of new species through evolutionary processes.
• Analogous Structures: Similar functions in unrelated organisms with different structures.
• Homologous Structures: Similar structures with differing functions, inherited from a common ancestor.
• Disruptive Selection: Favors extreme phenotypes, increasing diversity.
• Stabilizing Selection: Favors average phenotypes, reducing variation.
• Directional Selection: Favors one phenotype over another in a changing environment.
• Evolutionary Fitness: Organisms with more offspring are considered more evolutionarily successful.
• Adaptation: A feature that enhances survival.

Mass Extinction

• Mass Extinction: A period of rapid species loss.

Microbiology

• Bacteria: Mostly found on earth, require nutrients, energy, suitable temperatures, pH and conditions for reproduction. Exist in rod, spiral, and spherical forms, and can be categorized by Gram staining.
• Antibiotics: Substances that kill or inhibit bacterial growth.
• Antibiotic Resistance: Bacteria evolving resistance to antibiotics.
• Prokaryotes/Eukaryotes: Prokaryotic cells lack a membrane-bound nucleus; eukaryotic cells contain one.
• Gram-positive/Gram-Negative Bacteria: Bacteria classified by how they stain during Gram staining, related to cell wall thickness, impacting antibiotic treatments.

Cell Biology

• Mitochondria: Powerhouse of the cell, involved in energy production (ATP).
• Ribosomes: Structures involved in protein synthesis.
• Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER): Series of membranes involved in synthesizing lipids, proteins, and breaking down toxins.
• Golgi Apparatus: Processes and packages proteins.
• Lysosomes: Break down cellular waste.
• Nucleus: Control center of the cell, storing DNA
• Cell Membrane: Cell's outer boundary, regulates what enters and leaves.
• Cell Wall: Provides support and structure, present in plant and prokaryotic cells.
• Vacuole: Common in plant cells, often storing water.
• Chloroplast: Site of photosynthesis in plant cells.

Reproduction And Isolation

• Temporal Isolation: Reproductive isolation due to differing breeding times.
• Geographical Isolation: Reproductive isolation due to geographic separation.
• Reproductive Isolation: Mechanisms that prevent successful interbreeding between species