Nature of Science: Scientific Inquiry, Methods, Techniques, and History

–quantitative: can be measure, such as number, length, mass, volume –qualitative: cannot be measured, color, shape, texture

–a proposed explanation for natural phenomena

• -experimental variable: can manipulate - -experimental controls: variables kept constant

• -evidence is not known as scientific proof - -scientific conclusions and evidence are not accepted as final proven knowledge

• -findings: maintain accuracy and clarity - -properly citing, to build new findings

• -chemistry: study of matter or any physical substance that takes up space or has mass • -all living things made of matter, all matter made of atoms • -living organisms made of: C, H, N, O, S, & P • -biochemistry: study of how these elements combine into biomolecules • -biomolecules: carbs, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids • -actions and rxns of the biomolecules drive photosynthesis, cell resp, and digestion

–mathematical models: simulate natural phenomena and predict their future –statistics: summarize and draw conclusions about data in biological experiments –mathematical biology: inspired by complex biological processes –theoretical biology: uses data from complex models to develop theoretical assessment of biological processes

• -physical biology: understanding natural processes • -physics: study of matter, energy, and motion • -includes laws of motion and thermodynamics, and laws of conservation biophysics: describe and explain patterns in biological processes

• -scientific facts: objective observations not explanations, confirmed by data repeatedly • -facts accepted as truth, not proof –hypotheses (proposed and testable) and theories: explanations of natural phenomena

• -hypotheses: tested and confirmed time and time again, data accumulated to be considered theory • -many sources of evidence needed • -theory: valid explanation of phenomena

• -not explanations of phenomena • -description of natural phenomena • -distinguished by their durability • -durability: ability to stay constant over time and their predictive nature

Cell theory: all living things are made of cells –Robert Hooke: used microscope to identify, describe, name cells Germ theory: • -Louis Pasteur • -discovered microorganisms cause food spoilage and disease • -confirmed cell theory by showing cells come from other cells

Heredity: how genes pass thru generations • -Gregor Mendel • -observed variation in pea plants by cross breeding plants for specific traits • -concluded plants get one allele from each parent and one of these will be expressed as trait Evolution: how sp change over time -Charles Darwin Identified driving forces • -descent with modification • -natural selection Both heredity and evolution play major role in ecology

–genetics: studies structure and fn of genetic material as chromosomes and how passed on Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase -confirmed DNA has the genetic material James Watson and Francis Crick • DNA is double helix • Rosalind Franklin contrib data to this discovery

Biological Classification • -group organisms based on similarities • -taxonomy • -based on hierarchical system by Carl Linnaeus • -Carl Linnaeus system grouped species • –Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species • -system modified by Carl Woese • discovered Archaea • added Domain

Precision: how close repeated values are to one another Accuracy: how close measured value is to true value

• -modern form of metric system • -helps to maintain standards of data across countries metric system: use metric units –prefix paired with base unit SI units: meter (length) kilogram (mass) second (time) ampere (electric current) kelvin (temp) candela (luminous intensity) mole (amt of substance)

–conversion: changing a metric or SI unit into another metric or SI by multiplying or dividing by a power of 10 –conversion factor: power of 10, indicated by name of prefix –conversion factor is multiplied for converting to a smaller unit & divided for converting to a larger unit

–shorthand method of writing very large or small numbers sig figs: non-zero numbers, zeros bw them, and final zero the more sig figs the more precise

Linear scale: shows equal values using equal divisions –explain direct relationships Logarithmic scale: nonlinear–units written in orders of magnitude or powers of 10 –makes ratio based comparisons for large amts of numbers

Patterns • -tables, graphs, charts to identify • -used for patterns with similar or repeated sequences of data Trends • -data that moves in general direction • -requires accurate data

Line graphs & Scatter Plots • -show relationships bw variables • -record quantitative data • -independent variable (x) • -dependent (y) • -line graphs :large trends Bar graphs • -compare data • -exist in diff categories esp if qualitative data Histograms • -similar in structure to bar graphs • -represent data that can be expressed in ranges of numbers not categories Pie charts: • -represent data when expressed as a proportion of a whole • -data interpreted in comparison with all data collected

• -systemic errors stem from flaws in data, alters accuracy • -random errors: unpredictable • -both types must be accounted for in error analysis Error Analysis • -calculates percent error observed in experiment • -done by comparing results to established value • -percent error less than 10% is acceptable

–any errors should be incorporated into conclusions –scientists analyze data from figures to draw conclusions from the trends and make predictions