Botany & Science

1. Botany & Science

2. Botany 1010 September 7, 1999 Lecture #2

3. Composition of Living Things • All living things are composed of cells • The cell is the smallest unit of living matter • Single cell organisms • Multi-cellular organisms • collections of specialized cells

4. Characteristics of Living Things • Living things have self regulating metabolisms • homeostasis: automatic tendency to maintain appropriate internal environment

5. Characteristics of Living Things • Living Things Move • Respond to Stimuli • Reproduce • Adapt to their environment

6. Natural Selection Charles Darwin: “The Origin of Species” • Present forms of life have descended from previous forms of life… • These changes were selected because they allowed the species to be more successful.

7. Individuals within a Species which comprise a Population which in total are a Meta-population that are part of a Community whom make up an Ecosystem Natural Selection Acts on ...

8. Species Group of organisms Similar structural Similar functional characteristics Breed with one another Have a close common ancestry (common gene pool) Population A group of organisms Of the same species Living in the same geographical area At the same time Natural Selection is apparent in ...

9. Natural Selection • Members of a population display variation from one another • More organisms are born than survive to reproduce • Limited resources force members to compete for survival • Survivors live to reproduce and pass their genetic code on to offspring

10. new offspring have genetic traits from their parentsthat increase their chance of survival in nature

11. Chemical Atoms Molecules Ecological Communities Ecosystems Functional Producers Consumers Decomposers Cellular Organelles Cells are the basic unit of life Multi-cellular Tissues Organs Organ Systems Biological Organization

12. Individuals Species Populations Meta-populations Community Ecosystem Biome Biosphere Levels of Biological Organization

13. Taxonomic or Systematics Classify organisms by evolutionary relationships • Kingdom • Phya • Class • Order • Family * Genus > Species

14. Taxonomic or Systematics Five Kingdoms Of Life • Moneran • Protista • Fungi • Plantae • Animalia

15. SCIENCE! The Scientific Method

16. What is the Scientific Method?And why do we care? • Science is a process, a way of thinking • We stand on the shoulders of giants… • It is a process of critical review and skepticism...

17. What is the scientific method? • Recognizing a problem • making careful observations • developing an educated prediction as to the nature of the problem • testing your prediction • evaluating the results

18. Deductive and Inductive Reasoning • Deductive reasoning refers to using general principles or experience to infer more detailed predictions • Inductive reasoning refers to using specific examples to draw a general conclusion. • Examples?

19. Guidelines for scientific thought • A hypothesis should be consistent with what is already known • a hypothesis must be testable • the test must be repeatable • it must be able to be proven false

20. Why must a hypothesis must be able to be proven false? • Affirming the consequent • Is something true simply because the test says its true? • What problems can emerge in the design of an experiment? • Modus tollens

21. Skepticism and Objectivity • Sources of error in the scientific method • Bias • Atypical sample

22. Class exercise • Are the conclusions born out in the explanation? • What confounding factors could be present in the experiment? • Could you make a case for affirming the consequence? • Is this falsifiable?

23. For next time... • Chp 3, The Chemistry of Life • Matter is made up of …p. 38 • Atoms are the basic particles…pp 38 - 44 • Chemical bonds pp 44- 48 • Water pp 48 -50