Introduction to Biology Notes

1. BIOLOGY

2. What is Biology?
•“bio-” means life
•“-ology” means the study of
So…
•Biology is the study of life

3. What does it mean to be “living”?

4. Characteristics of Life
1. Cellular Organization
2. Metabolism
3. Homeostasis
4. Growth & Reproduction
5. Heredity

5. Organism Cellular Organization
Atom
Molecule
Macromolecule
Organelle Cell
Organ System
Organ
Tissue

6. Cellular Organization
•Did you know?
•Your body contains about 100 trillion cells
• That’s how many centimeters long a string would be
wrapped around the world 1,600times!

7. Metabolism
•The transfer of energy from one form to another in cells
•Examples
• Moving
• Growing
• Thinking
• Digesting
• Sunlight  Plants  Animals Eat  Energy to grow, move, etc.

8. Homeostasis
•The body’s ability to maintain relatively stable
internal conditions even though the outside world
is continuously changing.
• Literal translation “unchanging”
•Homeo = the same
• Stasis = standing still

9. Homeostasis
• Variable Components
1. Receptor
• Monitors and responds to changes then sends information to control
center
2. Control center
• Determines level of variable to be maintained, analyzes
information, and determines appropriate response
3. Effector
• The result of response then feedback to influence stimulus by

10. Growth & Reproduction
•Bacteria increase in size and simply split in two, as often
as every 15 minutes
•Other more complex organisms
•Grow by increasing the number of cells
•Reproduce sexually

11. Heredity
•All organisms possess a genetic system that is
based on replication and duplication of DNA