THE EVOLVING CONCEPT OF LIFE

Life Science-This is a collection of disciplines that is made up of theories and principles that
tackle living organisms.

BIOLOG

• Ecology
• Zoology
• Genetics
• Botany
• Microbiology

Characteristics of Organisms

• They respond to their environment.

• They grow and develop.
• They are capable of reproduction.
• They exhibit metabolism.
• They maintain homeostasis.
• They are made up of cells.

Response to Environment

-Living things respond to changes around them to survive.

(Plants respond to changes in the environment.)

Growth and Development

-Growth is an increase in size, development is the differentiation of cells for

specialization.

(Humans grow and develop from the womb.)

Capable of Reproduction

-Reproduction refers to the creation of offspring. (Sperm and egg cell)

• ASEXUAL- reproduce individually

-Budding in Hydra, Binary Fission
• SEXUAL- genetic merging of two different-sex individual
-Reproduction of Humans
Exhibit Metabolism

-Metabolism refers to the total chemical reactions in an organism.

(Chemical structure of myoglobin, Metabolism in humans)

Maintain Homeostasis

-Homeostasis is the body’s state of equilibrium.

(Huddling for warmth)

• All organisms maintain a stable internal balance, also known as homeostasis.

• This ensures that body systems work at their best levels.
-Temperature, pH, Water/Osmotic Pressure, Salt balance

This is accomplished by various types of feedback loops.

Positive Feedback loop: accelerates or enhances the output created by a stimulus that has already been
activated.

(Blood clotting, Oxytocin release during birth)

Negative Feedback loop: reducing the output or activity of any organ or system back to its normal range
of functioning

Made of Cells

-All organisms are made of cells which are the basic units of life.

(Blood cells)

• UNICELLULAR- made up of only one cell that carries out all of the functions needed by the
organism
• MULTICELLULAR- composed of more than one cell, with groups of cells differentiating to take on
specialized functions

Unifying Themes in the Study of Life

The unifying theme connects the different subdisciplines that make biology as a science.
All levels of life have systems of related parts.

• A system is an organized group of interacting parts.

• A cell is a system of chemicals and processes. It is the basic unit of life.
• A body system includes organs that interact.
• An ecosystem includes living and non-living things that interact.

Structure and function are related in biology.

• Structure determines function.

• The structure is the shape of the object.
• The function is the object’s specific role.

Organisms must maintain homeostasis to survive in diverse environments.

• Homeostasis is the maintenance of constant internal conditions.

• All living organisms must live in a stable environment.

Evolution explains the unity and diversity of life.

• Evolution is the change in living things over time. The genetic makeup of a population of a
species changes.
• It accounts for both the diversity and the unity of life.

Traits are being inherited and transferred

• The continuity of life depends on the inheritance of biological information in the form of DNA
molecules.
• The genetic information is encoded in the nucleotide sequences of the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic
acid).

Organisms reproduce- It is necessary part of living; process of making more of one’s own kind.

Organisms are interdependent with one another.

• Organisms have evolved to live and interact with other organisms.

• Ecology deals with the interactions of living organisms with one another and their environment.
 Organisms acquire and process energy.

Living organisms use a source of energy for their metabolic activities.

Some living organisms capture the light energy and convert it into chemical energy in food.

Some living organisms use chemical energy stored in molecules obtained from food.

Scientific inquiry and science, technology and society.

• The process of science includes observation-based discovery and the testing of

explanations through the hypothetic-deductive.
• Scientific credibility depends on the repeatability of observation and experiments.
• Many technologies are goal-oriented applications of science.
• The relationships of science and technology to society are now more crucial to
understand than ever before.

Connections and Interactions Among Living Things

An ecosystem is a biological community that consists of living organisms (biotic) and non-living
components (abiotic). This also includes interactions among organisms, and between organisms and
their environment.

Unifying Themes in Biology

Relationship Between Structure and Function (A water strider floating on water surface)

• The way an organism functions directly relates to its structure.

• Water striders have tiny hairs on their long legs that can trap air and repel water. As a
Result, they can easily stay afloat in ponds.

Homeostasis and Survival(Goosebumps regulate Temperature)

• Homeostasis is the preservation of stable internal conditions in an organism.

• Failure to maintain equilibrium threatens an organism's survival.

Evolution and Biodiversity(Diversity of flowers)

• Biodiversity refers to the diversity of life.

• Evolution refers to the change in the inherited traits of an organism over generations
which leads to creation of new species.
Connections Between Living Things in an Ecosystem

Food Chains

-A food chain represents how energy is transferred across a series of organisms in the form of
food.

Food Sources

• Autotrophs -are also known as producers they can make their own food.
• Heterotrophs- are also known as consumers since they consume other organisms for
food.

Each organisms interact with one another to survive in an ecosystem. This kind of interaction is called
symbiosis. There are different types of symbiotic relationships.

• Commensalism-One organism benefits, the other is unaffected.( Orchids are commensalistic with
trees)
• Mutualism- Both organisms benefit. (Bee and flowers)
• Competition- Organisms compete for a resource. (Competition for resources in the forest floor)
• Predation- A predator feeds on prey. (Many birds are predators.)
• Parasitism-A parasite relies on a host for survival. (A liver fluke)
 CONCEPT OF LIFE THEORIES
SPECIAL CREATION

- Life came from a divine being.

- Creationism - life arose out of nothing. Everything is created by being called God.

- All organisms were created the same day.

- They were created in the present form.

- Their bodies and organs are fully developed to live.

- Father Suerez was the creator of this theory..

REASONS WHY ITS INVALID:

- Purely based on religious belief.

- No experimental evidence to support the assumptions.

- Age of different fossils as evidence.

COSMOZOIC
- Proposed by Herman Ritcher.

- Supported by Arhennius.

- Life was present in the form of resistant spores and appeared on earth from other
planets.

“Theory of Panspermia” or “Spores Theory”

- Svante Arrhenius, Swedish scientist.

- Life arose outside earth.

- Proposes that a meteor or cosmic dust may have carried to Earth significant amounts of
organic molecules, which started the evolution of life.

REASONS WHY ITS INVALID:

- Mechanism and survivability.

- Absence of life forms on any planet.

- No details about the spores.(Origin and mechanism of transport)

- No scientific experiment was done.

SPONTANEOUS GENERATION
- Non-living materials in a spontaneous manner give rise to life.

- Aristotel, 4th-7th century.

- Life could appear from nonliving matter.

- Flies or insects could grow from cattle manure.

- Mouse from wheat stored in the dark.

- Maggots from decaying meat.

- Fish from moist soil.

- Thales, Anaximander, Aristotle, Harvey, Newton and Needham

REASONS WHY ITS INVALID:

- If food is sealed in a container, then no maggots will grow since flies cannot touch it. This
proves that life really comes from another life that uses non-living material as a vessel for the
new life.

BIOGENESIS THEORY

- Life originates from pre-existing life.

- Bio “Life”

- Genesis “Beginning”

Louis Pasteur a French biologist, microbiologist and chemist,

he proved that microbes come from other microbes.

REASONS WHY ITS INVALID: