Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1- THE SCIENCE OF BIOLOGY

____________________________ - A way of investigating the world in order to form general rules about what causes things to happen

_____________________________ - The study of living things

Biological knowledge is used to:

Fight infectious disease.

Cure genetic (inherited) disorders: defective genes ® functional genes. Examples of genetic disorders:

Help feed our growing population

The Scientific Method - A series of steps used to solve scientific problems (Malaria example; Dr. Ronald Ross)

___________________________ - What the experimenter sees, hears, feels, or detects

__________________________________- A question; something we want to find out.

_____________________________ - Examining previous information gathered about our problem

_____________________________ - A proposed explanation for a problem; "educated guess" or testable statement. Usually takes place as an "If…then…" statement

_______________________________ - An activity designed to test the hypothesis. Scientists usually design an experiment with a good idea of what the results will be.

___________________: The factor being tested; compared with the control.

___________________: The experiment with the variable left out

___________________________ - What the experimenter sees, hears, feels, or detects

___________________________ - Observations or measurements.

___________________________: Numbers (measurements, amounts)

___________________________: Distinguishing characteristics (color/ shape/ texture)

________________________________ - The organization of data into meaningful tables, graphs, charts

_____________________________ - Determination of whether the hypothesis is correct: reject or accept hypothesis

______________________________ - Confirms & extends hypothesis with more experiments. It is a unifying explanation of a broad range of observations; that of which a scientist is MOST certain; Theories can be revised.

Measurements in Biology

_____________________________________________ – (SI Units, or the Metric System): Measuring system based on the number 10, used universally for scientific measurements.

To Measure___ of an Object….	Use this SI Unit:	What does this measure?	How To Measure/ Miscellaneous
Length		How long something is	Use a Ruler
Volume		Amount of space something occupies	V = L x W x H
Weight		Force of gravity on an object	Changes with atmosphere (earth/ moon) – Use balance
Mass		Amount of matter inside an object	Doesn’t change with atmosphere – Use a balance
Temperature		Amount of heat in something	F = 1.8(C) + 32 (Scientists use Celcius) Boiling Point of water = 100 ° C

When moving to the ______________ with conversion factors, move your decimal point to the ______________ the same number of conversion factors you are moving.

Example: When converting from meters to kilometers, you are you are moving 3 conversion factors to the left. So, move your decimal point 3 places to the left: 2.0 m = 0.002 km. Now fill in the table:

k	h	da	meter (m) , gram (g) , liter (l)	d	c	m
kilo	hecta	deka	(no prefix)	deci	centi	milli
1,000	100	10	1	1/10	1/100	1/1,000
			5,000 g
	40 hl
				0.8 dm

The Microscope (Also refer to Microscope diagram with notes, and Labs)

______________________ – Uses light to magnify small objects, such as bacteria.

___________________ lens: 10X magnification

___________________lens: Low Power = ______X magnification
High Power = ______X magnification

______________________ – For viewing large objects through which light cannot pass (insect)

______________________ – Uses beams of electrons to magnify objects, which are viewed on a monitor.

Total Magnification = (Eyepiece Lens) X (Objective Lens)

General Biology	College Prep Biology	Feedback Page
Class Rules & Procedures	Science Links & Resources	Online Tools for Data Analysis
Search Engines	Parent's Page	Teacher Online Toolbox

Return to Home Page