1) Biology is the scientific study of life. It comes from the Greek words "bios" meaning life and "ology" meaning study of. 2) There are several main branches of biology including botany (the study of plants), zoology (the study of animals), and ecology (the study of interactions between organisms and their environment). 3) Science uses evidence and experimentation to build knowledge about the natural world. The goal is to understand and explain natural phenomena through observations, hypotheses, experiments, and conclusions.

1. Biology The Nature of Science

2. Language of Science Bios – life Ology – the study of Etymology – the study of language or words The etymological background of the word science is from the Latin word scientia, meaning knowledge. Latin or Greek backgrounds

3. Branches of Biology Botany – the study of plants Zoology – the study of animals Ecology – the study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment

4. What is Science? Science is an organized way of using evidence to learn about the natural world and the body of knowledge scientists have built up after years of using this process. Biology is the science that seeks to understand the living world. The goal of science is to investigate and understand nature, to explain events in nature, and to use those explanations to make useful predictions.

5. Science begins with observations – often taking data on what you see, hear or smell ( The five senses) data – the information gathered from observations

6. Types of Data Quantitative – numbers, measurements Qualitative – characteristics, descriptive

7. ????’s Inference –a logical interpretation based on prior knowledge or experience (Ex. You see a window broken and a baseball on the floor next to the shattered glass. You can -infer- that a baseball broke your window) Hypothesis – a proposed scientific explanation. This statement is testable and can be confirmed with experimentation or further observation. Prediction – An if-then statement that shows what you expect to see as a result of an experiment or observation (Ex. If fertilizer makes a plant grow faster, then seedlings planted with fertilizer will be taller than the ones planted without fertilizer)

8. Steps of the Scientific Method Ask questions, make observations Gather information Form a hypothesis Set up a controlled experiment Manipulated variable – the variable that is deliberately changed (independent variable) Responding variable – variable that is observed (dependent variable)

9. Scientific method cont. 5. Record and analyze results 6. Draw a Conclusion 7. Repeat * See Scientific method in action