Biology 1001, Section 2

General Biology
For Non-Biology Majors ONLY
Professor Terry M. Bricker
Room: A606 LSBA
Telephone: 8-1555
E-mail: btbric@lsu.edu
Office Hours: Tu/W 3:30-4:30 PM
and by appointment

Textbook
Biology: Life on Earth, 9th Edition
by Audesirk, Audiserk and Byers
This book is a useful reference
All testable materials, however, will be presented in my lectures

Three Exams + Non-Cumulative

Final
Grading: A = 90-100, B = 80-89, C = 70-79,
D = 60-69, F < 60
Tests will be curved, if necessary
All exams will be short answer, fill in the
blanks, problems, etc. with 1 Essay Question
The Essay Question will be chosen from a
list of questions provided before each exam.

Make-Up Policy
Make-up Examinations will ONLY be
allowed with a valid university excuse.
If you are going to miss an examination, you
MUST notify me by E-mail before 4:30 PM
on the day of the scheduled exam.
The make-up examination MUST be
completed within 1 week of the originally
scheduled examination. I will set the time
and venue of the make-up examination.

Make-Up Policy
Under extreme circumstances, some
flexibility in these rules may be allowed at
the discretion of the instructor.

This is a Difficult Class

BIOL 1001
Fall 2004
Spr 2005
Fall 2005
Spr2006
Fall 2006
Spr2007
Fall 2007
Spr 2008
Fall 2008
Spr 2009
Fall 2009
Spr 2010

A
14
19
20
28
21
17
20
14
17
13
19
16

B
27
29
27
30
35
32
36
32
36
33
38
31

C
27
25
24
20
24
27
25
29
27
27
26
23

D
13
13
9
8
6
9
8
11
10
12
9
12

F
5
5
5
5
5
6
5
4
4
6
3
6

W
14
14
14
9
10
9
7
8
6
9
6
13

D+F+W
32
32
28
22
20
24
20
23
20
27
18
31

1001 average

18

32

26

10

10

25

6 lectures

You are here!

CHAPTER 1:
An Introduction to Life On Earth

Defining Life
Dictionary definition of life is:
the quality that distinguishes a vital and
functioning being from a dead body

Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks, 1974

Defining Life
Dictionary definition of life is:
the quality that distinguishes a vital and
functioning being from a dead body

Living things appear to be more than the sum

of their parts life is difficult to define due to
our lack of full understanding of its complexity
Certain characteristics define what is
technically alive

Characteristics defining LIFE

1. Structure is complex
2. Acquire materials & energy from the
environment
3. Maintain internal conditions (homeostasis)
4. Growth
5. Respond to stimuli
6. Reproduce
7. Capacity to evolve

Living Things Are Both Complex and

Organized
Salt: Organized but simple (non-living)

Living Things Are Both Complex and

Organized
Oceans: Complex but unorganized (nonliving)

Living Things Are Both Organized

and Complex
Water flea: Complex and organized (living)

Living Things Are Both Organized

and Complex
Each level of complexity or structure is
based on the one below it
Levels of biological organization, in order
of least to most complex illustrated in Fig.
1-1

That part of Earth inhabited

by living organisms; includes both
the living and nonliving components
Earth's surface

Ecosystem

A community together with its

nonliving surroundings
snake, antelope, hawk, bushes, grass, rocks, stream

Community

Two or more populations of different

species living and interacting in the
same area
snake, antelope, hawk, bushes, grass

Species

Population

Multicellular
Organism

Very similar, potentially interbreeding

organisms
Members of one species inhabiting
the same area

herd of pronghorn antelope

An individual living thing composed

of many cells
pronghorn antelope

Organ
System

Two or more organs working

together in the execution of
a specific bodily function
the nervous system

Organ

A structure usually
composed of several tissue
types that form a functional unit
the brain

Tissue

A group of similar cells that perform

a specific function
nervous tissue

Cell

The smallest unit of life

nerve cell

Organelle

A structure within a cell that performs

a specific function
mitochondrion

Molecule

Least complex

Subatomic
Particle

nucleus

glucose

DNA

A combination of atoms

water
Atom

chloroplast

The smallest particle of an element

that retains the properties of
that element

hydrogen

carbon

nitrogen

oxygen

Particles that make up an atom

proton

neutron

electron

LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

Most complex

Biosphere

Cellular
Organelle
Molecular
Atomic
Subatomic
Least complex

Nerve Cell

Mitochondrion

Chloroplast

Nucleus

Glucose

DNA

CH2OH

H H
Water
Hydrogen

Carbon

Proton

Nitrogen

Neutron

Oxygen

Electron

LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

Most complex

Pronghorn
Antelope

Organism
Organ System

Nervous
System

Organ
Tissue
Least complex

Brain
Nervous
Tissue

LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

Most complex

Earths
surface

Biosphere
Ecosystem
Community

Bushes
Water

Snake
Hawk

Pronghorns

Grass
Hawk

Snake

Population
Herd of Pronghorns

Least complex

Air

Pronghorns

Soil

LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

Most complex

The CELL: Smallest unit of LIFE

Living Things Respond to Stimuli

Organisms sense and respond to internal
and external environmental stimuli
Sensory organs detect and respond to
external stimuli
Light
Sound
Chemicals

Plants and bacteria respond to stimuli as well

Light
Attraction towards nutrients

Living Things Maintain Internal

Conditions
Homeostasis: maintenance of relatively constant
internal conditions, examples:
body temperature (only some organisms control this)
salt concentration in blood
Amount of internal water

Automatic mechanisms maintain homeostasis

Sweating in hot weather or during exercise
Metabolizing more food
Basking in the sun to raise body temp.

Organisms grow and change while maintaining

homeostasis

Living Things Acquire and Use

Materials and Energy
Materials & Energy are required to maintain
organization, grow, and reproduce
Important materials (nutrients) acquired from air,
water, soil, or other living things
Metabolism is the sum total of all the chemical
reactions needed to sustain life
Organisms obtain energy in two ways
Autotrophs (make own food)
Heterotrophs (eat others)

All energy that sustains life comes directly

or indirectly from the sun

Living Things Acquire and Use

Materials and Energy

Fig. 1-10

Living Things Grow

Every organism becomes larger over time
Organisms grow by producing more cells to
increase their mass
Bacteria grow by enlarging their cells and
divide to make more individuals

Growth involves the conversion of

acquired materials to molecules of the
organisms body

Living Things Reproduce Themselves

Organisms give rise to offspring of the
same type (reproduction)
The parents genetic material,
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), is passed
on to the offspring, creating continuity of
life
Diversity of life occurs because offspring
may be slightly different genetically from
their parents

DNA is the Molecule of Heredity

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains
segments called genes which direct the
production of proteins

DNA is the Molecule of Heredity

An organisms DNA is the molecular
instruction manual for operating its body
A copy of the parents DNA is made and
passed to its offspring in a highly accurate
copying process
Occasional errors in copying (mutation)
produce variation
Mutation, and therefore variation, is
essential for living things to evolve

Living Things As a Whole Have the

Capacity to Evolve
The genetic composition of a whole species
changes over many generations
Mutations and variable offspring allow a species
to evolve
Evolution states that modern organisms
descended with modification from pre-existing lifeforms
Natural selection is a process where organisms
with certain adaptations survive and reproduce
more successfully than others

Categorizing Life
Organisms can be grouped into 3
Domains
Bacteria (single, simple cells)
Archaea (single, simple cells; extremes)
Eukarya (one or more highly complex
cells)

Categorizing Life

Categorizing Life

The domain Bacteria

cell wall
plasma
membrane
genetic material
(DNA)

1 micrometer
A color-enhanced electron micrograph of a dividing
bacterium. Bacteria are unicellular and prokaryotic;
most are surrounded by a thick cell wall. Some bacteria
photosynthesize, but most absorb food from their
surroundings.

The domain Bacteria

The domain Archaea

-These organisms cannot
be distinguished from the
Bacteria visually.
-Biochemically they are
very different

A color-enhanced electron micrograph of an archaean. The

cell wall appears red, and DNA is scattered inside. Many
archaeans can survive extreme conditions. This Antarctic
species lives at temperatures as low as 2.5C.

Categorizing Life
Domain Eukarya contains four
Kingdoms
-The Protists
- Fungi
- Plantae
- Animalia

A protist (domain Eukarya)

oral groove
(mouth)

food
vacuoles

contractile
vacuole

10 micrometers
This light micrograph of a Paramecium illustrates the
complexity of these large, normally single, eukaryotic
cells. Some protists photosynthesize, but others ingest
or absorb their food. Many, including Paramecium, are
mobile, moving with cilia or flagella.

A protist (domain Eukarya)

Another protist an amoeba

The kingdom Fungi (domain Eukarya)

An exotic mushroom found in Peru. Most fungi are

multicellular. Fungi generally absorb their food, which is
usually the dead bodies or wastes of plants and animals. The
food is digested by enzymes secreted outside the fungal
body. Most fungi cannot move.

The kingdom Fungi (domain Eukarya)

The kingdom Plantae (domain Eukarya)

This butterfly weed represents the flowering plants, the

dominant members of the kingdom Plantae. Flowering
plants owe much of their success to mutually beneficial
relationships with animals, such as these pearl crescent
butterflies, in which the flower provides food and the
insect carries pollen from flower to flower, fertilizing
them. Plants are multicellular, nonmotile eukaryotes that
acquire nutrients by photosynthesis.

The kingdom Animalia (domain Eukarya)

A wrasse rests on a soft coral. Animals are multicellular;

animal bodies consist of a wide assortment of tissues and
organs composed of specialized cell types. Most animals can
move and respond rapidly to stimuli. The coral is a member
of the largest group of animals: the invertebrates, which lack
a backbone. This group also includes insects and mollusks.
The wrasse is a vertebrate; like humans, it has a backbone.

Categorizing Life

There are 3 characteristics are

particularly useful to categorize life
1. Cell type
2. The number of cells in each organism
3. How it acquires energy

Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells

Types in the Domains
Cell types named after +/- of a nucleus
The nucleus is a membrane-enclosed sac
(organelle) containing the cells genetic material

Two cell types seen among all living things

Prokaryotic (before nucleus in Greek)
Lacking a nucleus or other organelles
This cell type found in Domains Bacteria and Archaea

Eukaryotic (true nucleus in Greek)

Contain nucleus and a variety of other organelles
This cell type found only among members of Domain
Eukarya

Unicellularity and Multicellularity in Bacteria,

Archaea, and the Kingdoms of Eukarya
Unicellular (single-celled) organisms found in:
Bacteria
Archaea
The protists in Eukarya

Multicellular (many-celled) organisms found in

Eukarya
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Animalia

Ways Organisms Acquire Energy

Autotrophs (self-feeders)
Photosynthetic organisms that capture
sunlight and store it in sugar and fats
Includes plants, some bacteria, and some
protists

Ways Organisms Acquire Energy

Heterotrophs (eat others)

Organisms that acquire energy through
ingesting molecules in the bodies of other
organisms
Includes many archaeans, bacteria, protists,
fungi, and animals
Size of food eaten varies

Scientific Principles Underlie All

Scientific Inquiry
Biology is a scientific discipline
All scientific inquiry is based on a small set
of assumptions or principles
Natural causality (cause and effect)
Uniformity in space and time
Common perception

Principle I: Natural Causality

Historical approaches to studying life

1. Belief that some events happen through
supernatural forces (i.e. Greek gods)
2. Belief that all events can be traced to natural
causes

Evidence gathered from nature has not been

deliberately distorted to fool us

Principle II: Natural Laws Apply Everywhere

Natural laws are uniform in space and time
This principle is key to the understanding of
biological events (e.g. evolution) that
occurred before humans recorded them
Creationism is contrary to the principle of
uniformity-in-time and natural causality
Creationists hold that different species were
created one at a time by the direct intervention
of a supernatural being, contrary to events we
see happening today

Principle III: Science Assumes Similar

Perceptions Among All Humans
All human beings perceive natural events
in fundamentally the same way
Common perception allows us to accept
observations of other humans as reliable
Common perception is usually not found
in appreciation of art, poetry, and music,
nor between cultures or religious beliefs
Value systems are subjective
Science requires objectively gathered data

The Scientific Method Is the Basis for

Scientific Inquiry
1.Observation of a specific phenomenon
2.The observation, in turn, leads to a question
3.The question leads to formulation of a
hypothesis, that is offered as a possible
answer to the question
4. The hypothesis leads to a prediction,
typically expressed in ifthen language
5. The prediction is tested by carefully controlled
manipulations called experiments
6. The experiments produce results that either
support or refute the hypothesis, allowing the
development of a conclusion

The Scientific Method Is the Basis for

Scientific Inquiry

Important Experimental Considerations

in the Scientific Method
Scientific experimentation tests the
assertion that a single variable causes a
particular observation
The experiment must rule out the
influence of other possible variables
Controls are incorporated into experiments
Controls keep untested variables constant

Francesco Redis experiment

6 steps

Limitations of the Scientific Method

Can never be sure all untested variables are
controlled
Conclusions based on the experimental data
must remain tentative
Results of experimentation must be
communicated thoroughly and accurately to other
scientists for repetition
Repetition by other scientists add verification that
findings can be used as the basis for further
studies

Science is a Human Endeavor

Human personality traits are part of real
science
Scientists, like other people may be driven
by pride, ambition, or fear
Scientists sometimes make mistakes
Accidents, lucky guesses, intellectual
powers, and controversies with others
contribute strongly to scientific advances

Flemings Discovery of Penicillin Highlights Real

Science in the 1920s

Scientific Theories Have Been

Thoroughly Tested
A scientific theory differs in definition from that of
everyday usage
Many people use the word theory to mean hypothesis,
and educated guess

A scientific theory is a general explanation for

important natural phenomena
It is extensively and reproducibly tested
It is more like a principle or natural law (e.g. the atomic,
gravitational, and cell theories)
If compelling evidence arises, a theory may be modified

Types of Reasoning Used in Science

Inductive reasoning
A generalization is created from many observations
For example, the cell theory (that all living things
are made of one or more cells) arises from many
observations that all indicate a cellular basis for life

Deductive reasoning
The process of generating hypotheses based on a
well-supported generalization (such as a theory)
For example, based on the cell theory, any newly
discovered organism would be expected to be
composed of cells

Three Natural Processes Underlie

Evolution

Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace formulated

the basis of our modern understanding of
evolution
Evolution arises as a consequence of three
natural processes
1. Genetic variation among members of a population
2. Inheritance of those variations by offspring of parents
carrying the variation
3. Natural selection of individuals whose survival and
enhanced reproduction are due to the favorable
variations they carry

Much of the Variability Among

Organisms is Inherited
Genetic variation arises from segments of
DNA (genes)
Changes in genes (mutation) alter the
informational content
Mutations arise from a number of sources
UV radiation or copying mistakes in DNA

Much of the Variability Among

Organisms is Inherited
Effects of mutation
No effect (harmless)
A decrease in organisms ability to function
Death of the organism
An increase in an organisms ability to survive
and reproduce (rare)

Mutations occurring over millions of years

and passed through many generations
cause members of a species to be slightly
different

Natural Selection Preserves Genes that

Enhance Survival and Reproduction
Organisms that best meet environmental
challenges leave the most offspring
Natural selection preserves genes that
help organisms flourish
Adaptations are structures, physiological
process, or behaviors that aid in survival
and reproduction
Adaptations that are good for one
environment may be poor in another

Biodiversity Arises from Different

Environmental Challenges
Species that cannot adapt to
environmental change go extinct (i.e.
dinosaurs)

Biodiversity Arises from Different

Environmental Challenges
The many different habitats
(environments) in an area coupled with
evolutionary adaptive processes produce
species variety or biodiversity
Humans are responsible for accelerating
the rate of environmental change (and
therefore the rate of extinction of species)