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What is Biology?

What is Biology?. Biology 155 Spring 2010 B. L. Krilowicz. What is “Natural Science”.

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What is Biology?

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  1. What is Biology? Biology 155 Spring 2010 B. L. Krilowicz

  2. What is “Natural Science” • Definition: a knowledge system that attempts to explain how things happen in the natural world (describe them = discovery science), and, why they happen in the way that they do (explain them = hypothesis driven research) NOTE: natural phenomena are believed to be unchanging across time, place and culture (unlike moral or religious beliefs), and can be studied using our senses

  3. What are some examples of natural sciences? What do these sciences study?

  4. The Natural Sciences Make Use of the Scientific Method The scientific method or process is a system of investigation used to acquire and test knowledge about the natural phenomenon under study However, increasingly the modern Social Sciences also make use of the scientific method Question: How do the social and natural sciences differ?

  5. The Natural versus Social Sciences • The social sciences study human behavior, interactions, social systems – the natural sciences end at animal behavior, interactions, social systems, Why?

  6. Can we ever be truly objective and unbiased when studying ourselves?

  7. What about the Arts and Humanities? • Understanding that each individual perceives things like the aesthetic value of a work differently • Artists attempt to reflect and respond to their world, not describe it exactly

  8. What is Biology • Definition: “the science of life”; the natural science that attempts to describe and explain the living world • Examples – geneticists explain heredity, ecologists explain relationships in ecosystems, neuroscientists explain how the brain works

  9. What are some examples of the physical sciences (as opposed to the biological sciences)?

  10. What is Life?

  11. The ability to reproduce: make more of one’s kind Dependent upon information contained in the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

  12. The ability to extract energy from the environment and transform it into parts of the living system: Metabolism – maintain the body

  13. The ability to extract energy from the environment and transform it into parts of the living system: Growth – increase in size and mass

  14. The Ability to Respond to Stimuli and Changing Environmental Conditions • Homeostasis = ability to maintain +/- constant internal conditions regardless of external conditions • Mutation = change in the DNA in response to certain environmental stimuli

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