1: Introducing Biology Flashcards
What is biology?
Biology is the scientific study of organisms.
What are the common characteristics of organisms?
Reproduction: organisms can produce new individuals called offspring.
Nutrition: organisms obtain nutrition for energy, growth, and maintaining health.
Respiration: organisms break down food to release stored chemical energy by respiration.
Growth: organisms increase in size and complexity; most animals grow until they reach maturity while plants grow throughout their lives.
Excretion: organisms produce waste products produced from chemical reactions in their bodies.
Irritability/sensitivity: organisms can detect changes in their environment and make responses.
Movement: organisms have different abilities of movement.
Are all characteristics of organisms shared by all organisms?
No, they are shared by most organisms only.
What is the importance of studying biology?
By studying biology, we can develop a sense of wonder about the living world, develop scientific thinking skills, understand how biological knowledge is applied in daily life, and better understand biology-related social issues.
What are the basic steps of the scientific method?
There is no single scientific method; however, it usually involves a few basic steps:
making observations, asking a question, proposing a hypothesis, making a prediction, doing experiments, drawing a conclusion.
What are independent, dependent, and controlled variables?
In an experiment, variables are the factors affecting the result of the experiment. In a fair test, the variable to be changed is called the independent variable. The variable that may change with the independent variable (the variable to be measured) is called the dependent variable. Meanwhile, variables that are kept the same are called controlled variables.
What are the experimental set-up and control set-up?
In an experiment, an experimental set-up and a control set-up are often prepared. The control set-up is identical to the experimental set-up, except that the factor under investigation is absent. It aims to ensure the result of the experiment is due only to the factor under investigation.
