Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
HumanBiology,Science,
andSociety
TheCharacteristicsofLife
Howarelivingthingsdifferentfromnonliving
things?
Livingthings:
Requireenergyandrawmaterials
Arecomposedofcells
Maintainhomeostasis
Respondtoenvironment
Growandreproduce
Arecapableofevolving
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.1
AFiveKingdomClassification
Monera:
singlecelledprokaryotes
Animalia: eukaryoticanimals,heterotrophs
Plantae:
eukaryotic,photosyntheticplants
Fungi:
eukaryotic,decomposers
(fungi,yeast,mushrooms)
Protista:
eukaryoticprotoza,algae,slime
molds
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.2
PrinciplesofEvolution
DarwinsPrinciplesofNaturalSelection
KnowthesefourobservationsofDarwininhisbookOriginoftheSpecies,1859
One:Individualmembersofaspeciesshowvariationfromoneanother.Theyare
bornwiththesevariations(justthinkofhowalitterofpuppiesvary,oneisthe
runt,oneisthemostintelligent,etc.)
Two:Organismsproducemanymoreoffspringthanwillsurvivetoreproduce.
Three:Thissetsupacompetitionforresourceslikefood.Individualsbornwith
variationsthatgivethemsomeadvantageoverothersaremorelikelytosurvive.
Four:Thesurvivorslivetoreproduceandpasstheiradaptationsforsurvivalto
theiroffspring.
Thisresultsinindividualsmoreadaptedtotheirenvironment:theprincipleof
adaptation
Theenvironmentselectsthebestadaptedindividualsforsurvival:theprincipleof
naturalselection.
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Homeostasis
Themostimportantprincipleofhuman
biology
Nameliterallymeanssamestaying
Mechanismtobalancebodysystems
Example:Whenwearehot,theincreased
temperatureisnoticedbythehypothalamus
(partofbrain),itsendssignalstothesweat
glandstosweatandthebloodvesselstodilate.
Result:bodytemp.comesdown.
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Homeostasis,cont.
ThisisanexampleofaNEGATIVEFEEDBACKsystem.The
thingsthathappenareoppositetothepresentconditionsi.e.the
sweatglandswereproducingsweatandthenegativefeedbackisto
turnthemoff
LaterinthecoursewewillseeexamplesofPOSITIVEFEEDBACK
Whyishomeostasissoimportant?
Itexplainsandallowsustounderstanddiseaseandhealth.When
thehomeostasismechanismisdisrupted,itcausesproblems
Starttothinkhomeostaticallyfortherestofthecourse.
Askyourselfquestionslike,Whatwouldhappenifthispartofthe
homeostaticmechanismwasdisrupted?Arethereother
homeostaticmechanismsthatwouldstepintohelpreturnthe
bodytoastateofhealth?
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
DefiningFeaturesofHumans
Bipedalismbutotherprimatesdothissometime
Opposablethumbsotherprimateshavethis,too.
Largebrainsodomarinemammals
Capacityforlanguageotherprimates,tooand
whales&dolphinsuselanguage
Capacityforculture(setsusapartfromallother
organisms
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.3
LevelsofBiologicalOrganization
Atomandmolecule
Cell
Tissue
Organ
Organsystem
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.4A
LevelsofBiologicalOrganization(cont.)
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Figure1.7
Slide1.4B
LevelsofBiologicalOrganization(cont.)
Organism
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biosphere
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.5A
LevelsofBiologicalOrganization(cont.)
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Figure1.7cont.
Slide1.5B
TheScientificMethod
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Figure1.8
Slide1.6
StepsintheScientificMethod
Observeandgeneralize
Formulateahypothesis
Makeatestableprediction
Experimentorobserve
Modifythehypothesisas
necessaryandrepeat
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.7
WaystoDisseminateFindings
Peerreviewedjournals
Popularpress
Electronicpublications
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.8
Hypothesisvs.Theory
Forahypothesistobecomeatheoryitmust:
Bebroad
Beextensivelytested
Besupportedovertime
Explainabroadrangeoffacts
Haveahighdegreeofreliability
Theoriesmayberefutedinthefuture
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.9
LearningtobeaCriticalThinker
Becomeaskeptic
Appreciatethevalueofstatistics
Learntoreadgraphs
Distinguishanecdotesfromscientificevidence
Separatefactsfromconclusions
Understandthedifferencesbetweencorrelation
andcausation
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.10
TheRoleofScienceinSociety
Scienceimprovestechnologyandthehuman
condition
Sciencehaslimits
Makinginformedchoices
Copyright2001BenjaminCummings,animprintof
Slide1.11