Ch.1+INTRO+Exploring+Life

Chapter one of **Biology, AP edition,** provides you with the basic information needed to continue studying biology from the text book. It begins by briefly introducing the multiple types of biology: modern, molecular, neuroscience and evolutionary. As biology is defined as the study of life, the book begins to examine all life forms, in levels, from the biosphere to the atom, touching on each level's purpose and importance. Chapter 1.1 focuses on the relationship between ecosystems and cells. It also emphasizes on producers and consumers of energy and how energy has a constant flow through an ecosystem. Further into the chapter DNA and types of cells are introduced and briefly reviewed. In chapter 1.3 taxonomy, or classification, is examined. The book covers all levels of classification: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. Lif'es three domain's, Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya, are examined as well as their corresponding kingdoms of Moneka, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Animalia.

The chapter then begins to focus on the experimental aspects of biology by descibing different meathods used such as, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. Charles Darwin's experiments are used throughout the chapter as example of scientific meathods. The chapter goes into great detail about what a hypothesis should be and how it must be falsifiable. Towards the end of the chapter, eleven themes that unify biology are recapped, but i thought these eight were more appropriate and they are as follows: 1. Evolution 2. Energy Transfer 3. Science, technology and society 4. Regulation 5. Structure and Function 6. Scientific Meathod 7. Interdependence 8. Continuity and Change

For example, energy transfer is mentions when producers turn light into energy that will flow throughout the entire ecosystem. Charles Darwin's theory of Natural Selection descirbes evolution as "descent with modification". Technology is extremely important to science now more than ever because we are able to check DNA for hereditary diseases and use it to our advantage.

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/plant_cell.html This link to a plant cell shows organelles as descirbed in the levels of biological organization, including chloroplasts, which are used to convert light into energy. The plant belongs in the Kingdon Plantae untder the Domain Eukarya.

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/selection/boxes.gif This is a basic breakdown of natural selection and an alternative explanation of Charles Darwin's theories. It explains how natural selection is related to evoultion and the steps it takes for something to evolve.