Biology as a Science PDF

MODULE 1: BIOLOGY AS A SCIENCE BY: RENE VINCENT B. TAD-O INSTRUCTOR NATURAL SCIENCES, CAS  WHAT IS BIOLOGY?  is the accumulated Biologist is someone knowl...

MODULE 1: BIOLOGY AS A SCIENCE BY: RENE VINCENT B. TAD-O INSTRUCTOR NATURAL SCIENCES, CAS  WHAT IS BIOLOGY?  is the accumulated Biologist is someone knowledge about all living who things and the principles specializes in biology and laws that govern life SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES 1. Discovery-Based Science - the collection and analysis of data without the need for a preconceived hypothesis - the information gained may lead to the formation of new hypotheses and, in the long run, may have practical applications that benefit people 2. Hypothesis Testing - also known as Scientific Method  WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC METHOD? THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD first defined and documented by England’s Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) who set up inductive methods for scientific inquiry applied to almost all fields of study as a logical, rational problem-solving method principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses (Merriam-Webster dictionary)  Observation - ask proper and testable questions starting with ‘what’ Identify the Problem or ‘how’ - has the format “If... then....” Formulate a Hypothesis - must be testable and should also be falsifiable Test the Hypothesis ( ) - requires experimental conditions and control procedures Analyze Gathered Data Formulate Conclusion/Generalization Communicate the Result  A variable is any part of the experiment that can vary or change during the experiment. Experimental Responding Controlled variable: variable or variable or Independent Dependent Any factors that you variable: variable: want to remain the same between the The factor you want The factor you treatments in your to test. measure. experiment. HISTORY OF BIOLOGY Ancient Period *The study of life is as old as humankind, dating back to ancient peoples who observed and wondered about the characteristics of animals and plants around their limited sphere of environment. Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) Founded the first medical school, located on the Greek island of Cos.  Aristotle (382-322 B.C.) The Father of Biology Developed the first organized study of natural history; was a keen observer, writer, and illustrator of plants and animals.  Theophrastus (380-287 B.C.) Specialized in the organized study of plants; is called the "ancient father of botany."  Galen (A.D. 130-200) Became the unchallenged authority on anatomy. Renaissance to Modern Ages *After the Dark Ages (A.D. 200 to 1200), a depressed period in which there was little or no inquiry about nature and life, the 14th century ushered in the revival of scientific thought and inquiry. Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) Studied the human body by dissection, ignoring the authority of Galen. Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694) Science of microscopic anatomy William Harvey (1578-1667) Demonstrated the path of the blood in the human body. Robert Hooke (1635-1703) Discovered and named "cells" in cork.  Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) Was the first person to see living cells. Leeuwenhoek microscope Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) ‘The Father of Modern Taxonomy’ Devised the system of binomial nomenclature, that is, the genus/species naming of plants and animals.  George Cuvier (1769-1832) Founded the study of comparative anatomy.  Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) Devised the word biology by putting together two Greek words: bios, meaning "life," and logos, meaning "study."  MAJOR FIELDS OF BIOLOGY Branch Area of Study Botany Plants and their life cycles Zoology Animals and their life histories Anatomy Body structure visible to the naked eye Physiology Functions of body organs and systems Embryology Embryo development in plants and animals Genetics Inheritance and variations in living organisms Evolution Origins and relationships among living species Ecology Environmental relationships among plants and animals  THE LIVING versus THE NON-LIVING THINGS Living things Non-living are alive things and are made of do not cells possess perform life life functions  LIFE FUNCTIONS THAT CHARACTERIZE LIVING THINGS the totality of biochemical and biophysical activities that maintain life in all living systems a. Nutrition – sum total of the activities through which a living organism obtains food (nutrients) useful for fuel and for growth  b. Transport – involves the absorption of materials by living things, including the movement and distribution of materials within the body of organism  c. Respiration – consists of breathing (inhaling and exhaling) and cellular respiration (energy is released from nutrient molecules) e. Synthesis – involves the biochemical processes by which small molecules are built into larger ones  d. Excretion – removes waste products from the body  f. regulation g. growth – includes all processes that – describes the increase of cell size control and coordinate the and increase of cell numbers resulting to growth of the body many activities of a living thing h. reproduction – the process by which new individuals are produced by parent organisms  Characteristics of Non-Living Things a. They are lifeless. They are not made up of cells b. They do have a definite and certain size of their own. c. They “grow” by accretion. It occurs through adding materials externally. d. They do not die. They are immortal. e. They do not respond to stimuli.  BASIC CONCEPTS OF BIOLOGY 1. Metabolism – all of the chemical activities in the body that produce or use energy anabolism – from the Greek word meaning ‘to build up’ o building process whereby small molecules are combined into larger molecules, thereby using energy catabolism – from a Greek word meaning ‘to tear down’ o metabolic process in the body that break apart large molecules, thereby releasing energy 2. Homeostasis – a concept developed by Claude Bernard, a French physiologist, in the 19th century means ‘staying the same’ o the body maintains the ‘steady state’ of its life functions in an almost unchanging internal environment thereby the body can adapt to external environmental changes 3. Adaptation – a trait that aids the survival of an individual or a species in a given environment it may be: o structural characteristics (i.e. hump of a camel) o behavioral characteristic (i.e. mating call of a bull frog) o physiological characteristic (i.e. controlling some inner workings of tissue cells) it permits the survival of species in environments that sometimes seem forbidding REFERENCES Rye et al. (2017). Biology. Texas: OpenStax Solomon et al. (2011). Biology 9th Edition. California: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning Brooker et al. (2014). Biology 4th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education