Campbell Essential Biology, Seventh Edition,

and Campbell Essential Biology with

Physiology, Sixth Edition

Chapter 01
Learning About Life

PowerPoint® Lectures created by Edward J. Zalisko, Eric J. Simon, Jean L. Dickey, and
Jane B. Reece

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Life is pretty and curious!

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The Scientific Study of Life: An Overview
of the Process of Science
• Biology is the scientific study of life.
• What does it mean to study something
scientifically?
• How do we tell the difference between science
and other ways of trying to make sense of the
world?

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An Overview of the Process of Science
• Science is an approach to understanding the
natural world that is based on inquiry—a search
for information, evidence, explanations, and
answers to specific questions.
• Scientists seek natural causes for natural
phenomena. They focus solely on the study of
structures and processes that can be verifiably
observed and measured.

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An Overview of the Process of Science:
Exploration
• Biology, like other sciences, begins with
exploration.
• During this initial phase of inquiry, you may simply
watch the subject and record your observations.
• Recorded observations are called data—the
evidence on which scientific inquiry is based.
• As you proceed with your exploration, your
curiosity will lead to questions, which are the
launching point for the next step in the process of
science: testing.
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An Overview of the Process of Science:
Testing
• A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a set of
observations. A valid hypothesis must be testable
and falsifiable.
– Some hypotheses (such as ones involving conditions
that can be easily controlled) lend themselves to
experiments, or scientific tests.
– Other hypotheses (involving aspects of the world that
cannot be controlled, such as ecological issues) can
be tested by making further observations.
– The results of an experiment will either support or not
support the hypothesis.
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An Overview of the Process of Science:
Communications and Outcomes
• In fine-tuning their questions, scientists rely heavily
on scientific literature, the published contributions of
fellow scientists. Scientists also communicate with
each other in seminars, meetings, and scientific
publications.
• Before experimental results are published in a
scientific journal, the research is evaluated by
qualified, impartial, often anonymous experts who
were not involved in the study. This process, intended
to provide quality control, is called peer review.

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The Process of Science (1 of 8)
• A Google
Search
for indoor
plants
that need
zero
sunlight

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The Process of Science (2 of 8)
• Observation: some internet sites state that there are
indoor plants that grow with zero sunlight. Upon
reading, the articles state low light instead of zero
light.
– The text from Google states that Dieffenbachia and
Spider Plants grow well with little light
• Question: How little light can an indoor Deiffenbachia
plant be exposed to and still grow?

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The Process of Science (3 of 8)
• This is a Dieffenbachia plant

• It has long and wide plants

edged with green and white
splattered along the leaf axis

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The Process of Science (4 of 8)
• Hypothesis: A Dieffenbachia plant placed in a dim
room without a window or artificial light will grow as
well as a Dieffenbachia plant placed in a room near a
window.
– Notice that this is a prediction that both plants will
grow well.
– As part of the experiment, there needs to be a way
to measure growth of both plants.

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The Process of Science (5 of 8)
• The Experiment!
• Obtain two Dieffenbachia plants and describe their starting conditions
– Such conditions may include:
▪ Height
▪ Number of leaves
▪ Leaf color
▪ Etc.
– We need to know what each plant looked like BEFORE the
experiment
• Plant A – the plant placed near a window with normal light
• Plant B – the plant placed in the room with no window or artificial light
• Include the duration – weeks, months, etc. and then compare the two
plants

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The Process of Science (6 of 8)
• Variables
– Water, soil type, temperature, humidity, light, etc.
• All of these will affect plant growth
• Which one will I be controlling or changing? That is the independent
variable.
– The amount of light – I want to know how the amount of light
affects plant growth so I can manipulate/change the amount of
light to evaluate the effect on plant growth
• Based on changing the amount of light, what am I looking for that
may change? This is the dependent variable
– The growth of the plant - This should be specific such as the
number of leaves or plant height or leaf color.

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The Process of Science (7 of 8)
• Groups
– I need to select the control group and the experimental group
▪ Plant A – the plant exposed to sunlight from a window
▪ Plant B – the plant in a dim room with no window or artificial
light
• Which plant will serve as the control group?
– Plant A – the plant exposed to the typical/normal conditions
• Which plant will serve as the experimental group?
– Plant B – the plant that is being exposed to the changed
independent variable to see the effect on plant growth

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The Process of Science (8 of 8)
• For any experiment be able to determine the
– Observation
– Question
– Hypothesis
– The independent and dependent variables
– The control and experimental groups

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Figure 1.1 Scientific Exploration

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Figure 1.2 Testing a common problem using
the process of science
Hypothesis:
the tv is
unplugged.

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Figure 1.3 Scientific communication

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Figure 1.4 Scientific outcomes

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Figure 1.5 An overview of the process of
science

Checkpoint: Why does peer review improve the reliability of a scientific paper?
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Hypotheses, Theories, and Facts (1 of 3)
• A theory is a comprehensive and well-
substantiated explanation, much broader in scope
than a hypothesis.
– Theories become widely accepted by scientists only if
they are supported by a large, varied, and growing
body of evidence.
– A theory can be used to explain many observations
and to devise many new and testable hypotheses.
– However, a theory, like any scientific idea, must be
refined or even abandoned if new, contradictory
evidence is discovered.

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Hypotheses, Theories, and Facts (2 of 3)
• When making this chapter and presentation, the authors
left out an explanation of a hypothesis!!
• A hypothesis is a tentative explanation that a scientist
proposes for a specific phenomenon that has been
observed.
• Hypotheses is the plural for more than one hypothesis.
• How are theories and hypotheses different?

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Hypotheses, Theories, and Facts (3 of 3)
• A fact is a piece of information considered to be
objectively true based on all current evidence.
– A fact can be verified and is therefore distinct from
opinions.
– Many people associate facts with science, but
accumulating facts is not the primary goal of
science.
• The cornerstones of science are the explanations
that apply to the greatest variety of phenomena.

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Controlled Experiments (1 of 3)
• To investigate a hypothesis, a researcher often runs a
test multiple times with one factor changing and,
ideally, all other factors held constant.
– A controlled experiment is one that compares two or
more groups that differ only in one variable that the
experiment is designed to test.
– The control group lacks or does not receive the
specific factor being tested.
– The experimental group has or receives the specific
factor being tested.

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Controlled Experiments (2 of 3)
• Variables are factors that change in an
experiment.
– The independent variable is what is being
manipulated by the researchers as a potential cause—
in this case, the object under investigation
– The dependent variable is the response, output, or
effect under investigation that is used to judge the
outcome of the experiment—in this case, the speed of
movement. The dependent variable is affected by the
independent (manipulated) variable.
– Well-designed experiments often test just one
independent variable at a time.

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Controlled Experiments (3 of 3)
• Many medical drug trials include a placebo, a
medically ineffective treatment that allows the
placebo group to serve as a control group.
– Typically, the placebo group does not know that
they are receiving an ineffective substitute.
– An experiment in which neither the participant nor
the experimenter knows which group is the control
group is called a double-blind experiment.
– A single-blind experiment removes bias from the
participants.
– The “gold standard” for a medical trial is a “double-
blind placebo-controlled study.”
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Figure 1.8 How to Recognize Blind Studies

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Evaluating Scientific Claims (1 of 2)
• Pseudoscience is any field of study that is falsely
presented as having a scientific basis.
– Given our access to huge amounts of information,
much of it unreliable, the ability to recognize
pseudoscience is a very important thinking skill.
– There are several indicators that you can use to
recognize pseudoscience. For example, a
pseudoscientific study may be based solely or
largely on anecdotal evidence, an assertion
based on a single or a few examples that do not
support a generalized conclusion.
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Figure 1.9 Features of Science Versus
Pseudoscience

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Evaluating Scientific Claims (2 of 2)
• One of the best ways to evaluate scientific claims
is to consider the source of the information.
– Science depends upon peer review, the evaluation
of work by impartial, qualified, often anonymous
experts who are not involved in that work.
– Publishing a study in a peer-reviewed journal is
often the best way to ensure that.

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Figure 1.10 Recognizing a Reliable Source

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The Properties of Life (1 of 2)
• Using a green sea turtle as an example, Figure
1.11 highlights the major properties we associate
with life.
– An object is generally considered to be alive if it
displays all of these characteristics
simultaneously.
– On the other hand, a nonliving object may display
some of these properties, but not all of them.

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Figure 1.11 A Green sea Turtle Displays the
Properties of Life

Checkpoint: Which properties of life apply to a car?

Which do not?
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Major Themes in Biology
• Five unifying themes recur throughout our
investigation of biology:
1. the relationship of structure to function,
2. information flow,
3. pathways that transform energy and matter,
4. interactions within biological systems, and
5. evolution.

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The Relationship of Structure to Function
• The correlation between structure and function can
be seen at different levels within biological systems,
such as molecules, cells, tissues, and organs.
• If the structure of something becomes altered in any
way, the change in structure is very likely to change
the way that something functions or can prevent the
something from functioning at all
• Let’s look at figures 1.13 and 1.14 (next two slides)

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Figure 1.13 Structure and Function: Human
Lungs

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Figure 1.14 Structure and Function: Red
Blood Cells

Checkpoint: Explain how the correlation between

structure and function applies to a tennis racket.
Information Flow (1 of 2)
• For life’s functions to proceed in an orderly manner,
information must be received, transmitted, and
used.
• Such information flow is apparent at all levels of
biological organization.
– Touch something hot
– Sensory receptors transmit that information to the
brain
– The brain evaluates if the temperature and if injury is
likely
▪ Not too hot – no reflex response
▪ Too hot – reflex response to pull away from the
hot object
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 Figure 1.15 Information
Stored in DNA
Information Flow (2 of 2)
• Every cell contains
genes, hereditary
units of information
consisting of specific
sequences of DNA
passed on from the
previous generation.

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Pathways That Transform Energy and
Matter
• Movement, growth, reproduction, and cellular
activities of life are work, and work requires energy.
• The input of energy, primarily from the sun, and the
transformation of energy from one form to another
make life possible. Most ecosystems are solar
powered at their source.
– Most commonly encountered example is food
webs
– Figure 1.17 next slide

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Figure 1.17 Transformations of Energy and
Matter in an Ecosystem

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Interactions within Biological Systems
• The study of life extends from the microscopic level of
the molecules and cells that make up organisms to
the global level of the entire living planet, the
biosphere.
– There are many interactions within and between these
levels of biological systems.
– At each new level, the complexity increases and novel
properties emerge that are absent from the preceding
one. These emergent properties are due to the specific
arrangement and interactions of many parts into an
increasingly complex system.

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Figure 1.18 Zooming in on Life

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Evolution (1 of 3)
• Life is distinguished by its unity and its diversity.
• The scientific explanation for this unity and
diversity is evolution, the process of change that
has transformed life on Earth from its earliest
forms to the vast array of organisms living today.
• Evolution is the fundamental principle of life and
the core theme that unifies all of biology.

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Evolution (2 of 3)
• The world is rich with examples of evolution.
• Consider the development of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria.
• Figure 1.20 next slide

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Figure 1.20 Natural Selection in Action

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Evolution (3 of 3)
• Figure 1.21 reviews the five unifying themes of
biology. – the Sea Turtle again

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Figure 1.21 Applying the Major Themes of
Biology to the Study of the Green sea Turtle

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Identifying Major Themes (1 of 3)
As global climate changes, green sea turtles alter
many aspects of their behavior.
Which major theme is illustrated by this action?
1. The relationship of structure to function
2. Information flow
3. Pathways that transform energy and matter
4. Interactions within biological systems
5. Evolution

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Identifying Major Themes (2 of 3)
Although green sea turtles consume a lot of vegetation,
they get few nutrients from each mouthful, requiring
them to graze frequently.
Which major theme is illustrated by this action?
1. The relationship of structure to function
2. Information flow
3. Pathways that transform energy and matter
4. Interactions within biological systems
5. Evolution
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Identifying Major Themes (3 of 3)
By comparing genes between green sea turtles and
humans, insight can be gained into how those genes
encode specific physical traits.
Which major theme is illustrated by this action?
1. The relationship of structure to function
2. Information flow
3. Pathways that transform energy and matter
4. Interactions within biological systems
5. Evolution
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