Download Continuing down the hierarchy of life

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Life comes together by EMERGENT PROPERTIES, which are new properties that emerge
with each step upward in the hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions
of parts as complexity increases. The highest organization starts at the BIOSPHERE,
consisting of all the environments on earth that support life, going down the hierarchy of
life the ECOSYSTEM is the next stop, ecosystems consist of all the organisms living in a
particular area, as well as the nonliving. Within ecosystems are COMMUNITIES, the entire
array of organisms inhabiting a particular ecosystem. Below community organization
emerges POPULATIONS which consists of all the individuals of a species living in a specific
area. Those populations are made up of ORGANISMS, an individual living thing.
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Continuing down the hierarchy of life are the ORGANS, and ORGAN SYSTEMS, an Organ is a
structure consisting of several tissues adapted as a group to perform specific functions,
when different organs come together they make an Organ System, which are a group of
organs that work together in performing vital body functions. When we break down organs
into components we get TISSUES, having a specific function and made up of a group of
similar cells. CELLS are the most basic units of living matter separated from its environment
by a plasma membrane. What are cells made of? When breaking a cell down to its
components we get ORGANELLES, which are membrane bounded structures that performs
a specific function in a cell. The last properties of the life’s hierarchy are MOLECULES that
are made from cluster of atoms bound together by chemical bonds. ATOMS are a small unit
of matter that retains the properties of an element.
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Organism interact with both the living and nonliving components of their environment.
Plants and other photosynthetic organisms are the PRODUCERS that provide the food for a
typical ecosystem. The CONSUMERS of the ecosystem eat plants and other animals,
consumer wastes return other chemicals to the environment. DECOMPOSERS act as
recyclers, changing complex matter into simpler mineral nutrients that plants can use.
During each transformation heat may be lost.
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Cells are the lowest level of structure that can perform all activities required for life.
SYSTEMS BIOLOGY- is to construct models for the dynamic behavior of whole biological
systems, ranging from the functioning of the biosphere to the complex molecular
machinery of a cell. A PROKARYOTIC CELL is much simpler and usually much smaller than a
eukaryotic cell. EUKARYOTIC CELLS is subdivided by internal membranes into many
different functional compartments, or organelles, including the nucleus that houses the
cell’s DNA.
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Properties that are common to all organisms.
ORDER- all living things exhibit complex organization
REGULATION- The environment outside an organism may change markedly, but mechanics
maintain an organism’s internal environment within limits that sustain life.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT- Inherited information carried by genes controls the pattern
of growth and development of organisms.
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ENERGY PROCESSING Organisms take in energy and transform it to perform all of life’s
activities.
RESPONSE TO THE ENVIRONMENT All organism respond to environmental stimuli.
REPRODUCTION- Organisms reproduce their own kind.
EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTION Adaptations evolve over many generations as individuals with
traits best suited to their environment pass them to offspring.
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Domains BACTERIA and ARCHEA consist of prokaryotic cells. The third domain, EUKARYA
consists of eukaryotic cells, this domain is subdivided into four kingdoms, which are
KINGDOM PROTISTS- single celled organisms living in moist or aquatic environments. The
three other kingdoms are multicellular and classified mainly on their modes of nutrition,
KINGDOM PLANTAE are mainly plants that perform photosynthesis to make their food.
KINGDOM FUNGI- are decomposers, which break down the remainders of dead organisms
and organic wastes then absorb the nutrients into their cells. KINGDOM ANIMALIA- are
consumers that get their nutrients from eating other animals and plants.
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1.)Individual variation- Individuals in a population vary in many heritable traits.
2.)Overproduction of offspring- A population of any species has the potential to produce far
more offspring than will survive to produce offspring of their own.
3.)Unequal reproductive success- From these two observations, Darwin inferred that
individuals are unequal in their likelihood of surviving and reproducing. Those individuals
with heritable traits best suited to the environment will leave the greatest number of
healthy, fertile offspring.
4.) Over time, favorable traits accumulate in a population- Over many generations, a higher
and higher proportions of individuals will have the advantageous traits.
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Charles Darwin presented evidence to support the idea of EVOLUTION- that species living
today are descendants of ancestral species, Darwin called in “descent with modification”.
Darwin’s second contribution was a mechanism for evolution, he called it NATURAL
SELECTION, which was deduced by 2 observations and 2 inferences.
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Discovery science: Is mainly about describing nature. Will lead to Inductive reasoning.
Inductive Reasoning- conclusions based on some type of logic, which derives general
principles from a large number of specific observations.
Hypothesis-based science: Seeks natural causes and explanations for those observations,
by proposing a hypothesis.
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