Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Many students enter our courses with a limited appreciation of the diversity of life. Ask any group of freshmen at the start of the semester to write down the first type of animal that comes to mind, and the most frequent response is a mammal. (In my courses, over a 21-year period, more than 98% of the examples have been mammals.) As the diversity of life is explored, the common heritage of biological organization can be less, and not more, apparent. The diverse forms, habits, and ecological interactions overwhelm our senses with differences. Emphasizing the diversity and unifying aspects of life is necessary for a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of life on Earth. 2. We live in a world that is largely understood by what we can distinguish and identify with our naked senses. However, the diversity of life and the levels of biological organization extend well below the physical scale of our daily lives. For many students, appreciating the diversity of the microscopic world is abstract, nearly on par with an understanding of the workings of atoms and molecules. A laboratory opportunity to examine the microscopic details of objects from our daily lives (the surface of potato chips, the structure of table salt and sugar, the details of a blade of grass) can be an important sensory extension that prepares the mind for greater comprehension of these minute biological details. Teaching Tips 1. Consider asking students to bring to class a page or two of some article about biology that appeared in the media in the last month. Alternatively, you could have each student email a Web address of a recent biology-related news event to you. You might even have them e-mail relevant articles to you for each of the main topics you address throughout the semester. 2. The scientific organization Sigma Xi offers a free e-mail summary of the major science news articles each weekday. The first paragraph or so of each article is included in the e-mail with a hyperlink to the source of the entire article. The topics are most diverse and can be an excellent way to be aware of daily scientific announcements and reports. Typically, about ten articles are cited in each weekday email. To sign up for this free service, go to (www.americanscientist.org/). 3. For a chance to add a little math to the biological levels of organization, consider calculating the general scale differences between each level of biological organization. For example, are cells generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than organelles? Are organelles generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than macromolecules? For some levels of organization, such as ecosystems, communities, and populations, size/scale differences are perhaps less relevant and more problematic to consider. However, at the smaller levels, the sense of scale might enhance an appreciation for levels of biological organization. 4. Help the class think through the diverse interactions between an organism and its environment. In class, select an organism and have the class develop a list of environmental components that interact with the organism. This list should include living and nonliving categories. 5. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains updated population clocks that estimate the United States and world populations (www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). If students have a general idea of the human population of the United States, statistics about the number of people affected with a disease or disaster become more significant. For example, the current population of the United States is more than 306,000,000 (2008). It is currently estimated that at least one million people in the United States are infected with HIV. The number of people infected with HIV is impressive and concerning, but not perhaps as meaningful as the realization that this represents one of at least every 300 people in the United States. Although the infected people are not evenly distributed amongst geographic and ethnic groups, if you apply this generality to the enrollments in your classes the students might better understand the tremendous impact of HIV infection. 6. The authors make an analogy between the four bases used to form genes and the 26 letters of the English alphabet used to create words and sentences. One could also make an analogy between the four bases and trains composed of four different types of railroad cars (perhaps an engine, boxcar, tanker, and flatcar). Imagine how many different types of trains one could make using just one hundred rail cars of four different types. (The answer is 4100.) 7. An excellent introduction to the domains and kingdoms of life is presented at (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php).

Figure 1.1a Some properties of life. (Part one)

Figure 1.1b Some properties of life. (Part two)

Figure 1.2 Zooming in on life. (Step 3)

Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Many students enter our courses with a limited appreciation of the diversity of life. Ask any group of freshmen at the start of the semester to write down the first type of animal that comes to mind, and the most frequent response is a mammal. (In my courses, over a 21-year period, more than 98% of the examples have been mammals.) As the diversity of life is explored, the common heritage of biological organization can be less, and not more, apparent. The diverse forms, habits, and ecological interactions overwhelm our senses with differences. Emphasizing the diversity and unifying aspects of life is necessary for a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of life on Earth. 2. We live in a world that is largely understood by what we can distinguish and identify with our naked senses. However, the diversity of life and the levels of biological organization extend well below the physical scale of our daily lives. For many students, appreciating the diversity of the microscopic world is abstract, nearly on par with an understanding of the workings of atoms and molecules. A laboratory opportunity to examine the microscopic details of objects from our daily lives (the surface of potato chips, the structure of table salt and sugar, the details of a blade of grass) can be an important sensory extension that prepares the mind for greater comprehension of these minute biological details. Teaching Tips 1. Consider asking students to bring to class a page or two of some article about biology that appeared in the media in the last month. Alternatively, you could have each student email a Web address of a recent biology-related news event to you. You might even have them e-mail relevant articles to you for each of the main topics you address throughout the semester. 2. The scientific organization Sigma Xi offers a free e-mail summary of the major science news articles each weekday. The first paragraph or so of each article is included in the e-mail with a hyperlink to the source of the entire article. The topics are most diverse and can be an excellent way to be aware of daily scientific announcements and reports. Typically, about ten articles are cited in each weekday email. To sign up for this free service, go to (www.americanscientist.org/). 3. For a chance to add a little math to the biological levels of organization, consider calculating the general scale differences between each level of biological organization. For example, are cells generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than organelles? Are organelles generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than macromolecules? For some levels of organization, such as ecosystems, communities, and populations, size/scale differences are perhaps less relevant and more problematic to consider. However, at the smaller levels, the sense of scale might enhance an appreciation for levels of biological organization. 4. Help the class think through the diverse interactions between an organism and its environment. In class, select an organism and have the class develop a list of environmental components that interact with the organism. This list should include living and nonliving categories. 5. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains updated population clocks that estimate the United States and world populations (www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). If students have a general idea of the human population of the United States, statistics about the number of people affected with a disease or disaster become more significant. For example, the current population of the United States is more than 306,000,000 (2008). It is currently estimated that at least one million people in the United States are infected with HIV. The number of people infected with HIV is impressive and concerning, but not perhaps as meaningful as the realization that this represents one of at least every 300 people in the United States. Although the infected people are not evenly distributed amongst geographic and ethnic groups, if you apply this generality to the enrollments in your classes the students might better understand the tremendous impact of HIV infection. 6. The authors make an analogy between the four bases used to form genes and the 26 letters of the English alphabet used to create words and sentences. One could also make an analogy between the four bases and trains composed of four different types of railroad cars (perhaps an engine, boxcar, tanker, and flatcar). Imagine how many different types of trains one could make using just one hundred rail cars of four different types. (The answer is 4100.) 7. An excellent introduction to the domains and kingdoms of life is presented at (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php).

Figure 1.3 Nutrient and energy flow in an ecosystem.

Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Many students enter our courses with a limited appreciation of the diversity of life. Ask any group of freshmen at the start of the semester to write down the first type of animal that comes to mind, and the most frequent response is a mammal. (In my courses, over a 21-year period, more than 98% of the examples have been mammals.) As the diversity of life is explored, the common heritage of biological organization can be less, and not more, apparent. The diverse forms, habits, and ecological interactions overwhelm our senses with differences. Emphasizing the diversity and unifying aspects of life is necessary for a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of life on Earth. 2. We live in a world that is largely understood by what we can distinguish and identify with our naked senses. However, the diversity of life and the levels of biological organization extend well below the physical scale of our daily lives. For many students, appreciating the diversity of the microscopic world is abstract, nearly on par with an understanding of the workings of atoms and molecules. A laboratory opportunity to examine the microscopic details of objects from our daily lives (the surface of potato chips, the structure of table salt and sugar, the details of a blade of grass) can be an important sensory extension that prepares the mind for greater comprehension of these minute biological details. Teaching Tips 1. Consider asking students to bring to class a page or two of some article about biology that appeared in the media in the last month. Alternatively, you could have each student email a Web address of a recent biology-related news event to you. You might even have them e-mail relevant articles to you for each of the main topics you address throughout the semester. 2. The scientific organization Sigma Xi offers a free e-mail summary of the major science news articles each weekday. The first paragraph or so of each article is included in the e-mail with a hyperlink to the source of the entire article. The topics are most diverse and can be an excellent way to be aware of daily scientific announcements and reports. Typically, about ten articles are cited in each weekday email. To sign up for this free service, go to (www.americanscientist.org/). 3. For a chance to add a little math to the biological levels of organization, consider calculating the general scale differences between each level of biological organization. For example, are cells generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than organelles? Are organelles generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than macromolecules? For some levels of organization, such as ecosystems, communities, and populations, size/scale differences are perhaps less relevant and more problematic to consider. However, at the smaller levels, the sense of scale might enhance an appreciation for levels of biological organization. 4. Help the class think through the diverse interactions between an organism and its environment. In class, select an organism and have the class develop a list of environmental components that interact with the organism. This list should include living and nonliving categories. 5. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains updated population clocks that estimate the United States and world populations (www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). If students have a general idea of the human population of the United States, statistics about the number of people affected with a disease or disaster become more significant. For example, the current population of the United States is more than 306,000,000 (2008). It is currently estimated that at least one million people in the United States are infected with HIV. The number of people infected with HIV is impressive and concerning, but not perhaps as meaningful as the realization that this represents one of at least every 300 people in the United States. Although the infected people are not evenly distributed amongst geographic and ethnic groups, if you apply this generality to the enrollments in your classes the students might better understand the tremendous impact of HIV infection. 6. The authors make an analogy between the four bases used to form genes and the 26 letters of the English alphabet used to create words and sentences. One could also make an analogy between the four bases and trains composed of four different types of railroad cars (perhaps an engine, boxcar, tanker, and flatcar). Imagine how many different types of trains one could make using just one hundred rail cars of four different types. (The answer is 4100.) 7. An excellent introduction to the domains and kingdoms of life is presented at (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php).

Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Many students enter our courses with a limited appreciation of the diversity of life. Ask any group of freshmen at the start of the semester to write down the first type of animal that comes to mind, and the most frequent response is a mammal. (In my courses, over a 21-year period, more than 98% of the examples have been mammals.) As the diversity of life is explored, the common heritage of biological organization can be less, and not more, apparent. The diverse forms, habits, and ecological interactions overwhelm our senses with differences. Emphasizing the diversity and unifying aspects of life is necessary for a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of life on Earth. 2. We live in a world that is largely understood by what we can distinguish and identify with our naked senses. However, the diversity of life and the levels of biological organization extend well below the physical scale of our daily lives. For many students, appreciating the diversity of the microscopic world is abstract, nearly on par with an understanding of the workings of atoms and molecules. A laboratory opportunity to examine the microscopic details of objects from our daily lives (the surface of potato chips, the structure of table salt and sugar, the details of a blade of grass) can be an important sensory extension that prepares the mind for greater comprehension of these minute biological details. Teaching Tips 1. Consider asking students to bring to class a page or two of some article about biology that appeared in the media in the last month. Alternatively, you could have each student email a Web address of a recent biology-related news event to you. You might even have them e-mail relevant articles to you for each of the main topics you address throughout the semester. 2. The scientific organization Sigma Xi offers a free e-mail summary of the major science news articles each weekday. The first paragraph or so of each article is included in the e-mail with a hyperlink to the source of the entire article. The topics are most diverse and can be an excellent way to be aware of daily scientific announcements and reports. Typically, about ten articles are cited in each weekday email. To sign up for this free service, go to (www.americanscientist.org/). 3. For a chance to add a little math to the biological levels of organization, consider calculating the general scale differences between each level of biological organization. For example, are cells generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than organelles? Are organelles generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than macromolecules? For some levels of organization, such as ecosystems, communities, and populations, size/scale differences are perhaps less relevant and more problematic to consider. However, at the smaller levels, the sense of scale might enhance an appreciation for levels of biological organization. 4. Help the class think through the diverse interactions between an organism and its environment. In class, select an organism and have the class develop a list of environmental components that interact with the organism. This list should include living and nonliving categories. 5. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains updated population clocks that estimate the United States and world populations (www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). If students have a general idea of the human population of the United States, statistics about the number of people affected with a disease or disaster become more significant. For example, the current population of the United States is more than 306,000,000 (2008). It is currently estimated that at least one million people in the United States are infected with HIV. The number of people infected with HIV is impressive and concerning, but not perhaps as meaningful as the realization that this represents one of at least every 300 people in the United States. Although the infected people are not evenly distributed amongst geographic and ethnic groups, if you apply this generality to the enrollments in your classes the students might better understand the tremendous impact of HIV infection. 6. The authors make an analogy between the four bases used to form genes and the 26 letters of the English alphabet used to create words and sentences. One could also make an analogy between the four bases and trains composed of four different types of railroad cars (perhaps an engine, boxcar, tanker, and flatcar). Imagine how many different types of trains one could make using just one hundred rail cars of four different types. (The answer is 4100.) 7. An excellent introduction to the domains and kingdoms of life is presented at (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php).

Figure 1.4 Two main kinds of cells: prokaryotic and eukaryotic.

Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Many students enter our courses with a limited appreciation of the diversity of life. Ask any group of freshmen at the start of the semester to write down the first type of animal that comes to mind, and the most frequent response is a mammal. (In my courses, over a 21-year period, more than 98% of the examples have been mammals.) As the diversity of life is explored, the common heritage of biological organization can be less, and not more, apparent. The diverse forms, habits, and ecological interactions overwhelm our senses with differences. Emphasizing the diversity and unifying aspects of life is necessary for a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of life on Earth. 2. We live in a world that is largely understood by what we can distinguish and identify with our naked senses. However, the diversity of life and the levels of biological organization extend well below the physical scale of our daily lives. For many students, appreciating the diversity of the microscopic world is abstract, nearly on par with an understanding of the workings of atoms and molecules. A laboratory opportunity to examine the microscopic details of objects from our daily lives (the surface of potato chips, the structure of table salt and sugar, the details of a blade of grass) can be an important sensory extension that prepares the mind for greater comprehension of these minute biological details. Teaching Tips 1. Consider asking students to bring to class a page or two of some article about biology that appeared in the media in the last month. Alternatively, you could have each student email a Web address of a recent biology-related news event to you. You might even have them e-mail relevant articles to you for each of the main topics you address throughout the semester. 2. The scientific organization Sigma Xi offers a free e-mail summary of the major science news articles each weekday. The first paragraph or so of each article is included in the e-mail with a hyperlink to the source of the entire article. The topics are most diverse and can be an excellent way to be aware of daily scientific announcements and reports. Typically, about ten articles are cited in each weekday email. To sign up for this free service, go to (www.americanscientist.org/). 3. For a chance to add a little math to the biological levels of organization, consider calculating the general scale differences between each level of biological organization. For example, are cells generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than organelles? Are organelles generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than macromolecules? For some levels of organization, such as ecosystems, communities, and populations, size/scale differences are perhaps less relevant and more problematic to consider. However, at the smaller levels, the sense of scale might enhance an appreciation for levels of biological organization. 4. Help the class think through the diverse interactions between an organism and its environment. In class, select an organism and have the class develop a list of environmental components that interact with the organism. This list should include living and nonliving categories. 5. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains updated population clocks that estimate the United States and world populations (www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). If students have a general idea of the human population of the United States, statistics about the number of people affected with a disease or disaster become more significant. For example, the current population of the United States is more than 306,000,000 (2008). It is currently estimated that at least one million people in the United States are infected with HIV. The number of people infected with HIV is impressive and concerning, but not perhaps as meaningful as the realization that this represents one of at least every 300 people in the United States. Although the infected people are not evenly distributed amongst geographic and ethnic groups, if you apply this generality to the enrollments in your classes the students might better understand the tremendous impact of HIV infection. 6. The authors make an analogy between the four bases used to form genes and the 26 letters of the English alphabet used to create words and sentences. One could also make an analogy between the four bases and trains composed of four different types of railroad cars (perhaps an engine, boxcar, tanker, and flatcar). Imagine how many different types of trains one could make using just one hundred rail cars of four different types. (The answer is 4100.) 7. An excellent introduction to the domains and kingdoms of life is presented at (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php).

Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Many students enter our courses with a limited appreciation of the diversity of life. Ask any group of freshmen at the start of the semester to write down the first type of animal that comes to mind, and the most frequent response is a mammal. (In my courses, over a 21-year period, more than 98% of the examples have been mammals.) As the diversity of life is explored, the common heritage of biological organization can be less, and not more, apparent. The diverse forms, habits, and ecological interactions overwhelm our senses with differences. Emphasizing the diversity and unifying aspects of life is necessary for a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of life on Earth. 2. We live in a world that is largely understood by what we can distinguish and identify with our naked senses. However, the diversity of life and the levels of biological organization extend well below the physical scale of our daily lives. For many students, appreciating the diversity of the microscopic world is abstract, nearly on par with an understanding of the workings of atoms and molecules. A laboratory opportunity to examine the microscopic details of objects from our daily lives (the surface of potato chips, the structure of table salt and sugar, the details of a blade of grass) can be an important sensory extension that prepares the mind for greater comprehension of these minute biological details. Teaching Tips 1. Consider asking students to bring to class a page or two of some article about biology that appeared in the media in the last month. Alternatively, you could have each student email a Web address of a recent biology-related news event to you. You might even have them e-mail relevant articles to you for each of the main topics you address throughout the semester. 2. The scientific organization Sigma Xi offers a free e-mail summary of the major science news articles each weekday. The first paragraph or so of each article is included in the e-mail with a hyperlink to the source of the entire article. The topics are most diverse and can be an excellent way to be aware of daily scientific announcements and reports. Typically, about ten articles are cited in each weekday email. To sign up for this free service, go to (www.americanscientist.org/). 3. For a chance to add a little math to the biological levels of organization, consider calculating the general scale differences between each level of biological organization. For example, are cells generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than organelles? Are organelles generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than macromolecules? For some levels of organization, such as ecosystems, communities, and populations, size/scale differences are perhaps less relevant and more problematic to consider. However, at the smaller levels, the sense of scale might enhance an appreciation for levels of biological organization. 4. Help the class think through the diverse interactions between an organism and its environment. In class, select an organism and have the class develop a list of environmental components that interact with the organism. This list should include living and nonliving categories. 5. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains updated population clocks that estimate the United States and world populations (www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). If students have a general idea of the human population of the United States, statistics about the number of people affected with a disease or disaster become more significant. For example, the current population of the United States is more than 306,000,000 (2008). It is currently estimated that at least one million people in the United States are infected with HIV. The number of people infected with HIV is impressive and concerning, but not perhaps as meaningful as the realization that this represents one of at least every 300 people in the United States. Although the infected people are not evenly distributed amongst geographic and ethnic groups, if you apply this generality to the enrollments in your classes the students might better understand the tremendous impact of HIV infection. 6. The authors make an analogy between the four bases used to form genes and the 26 letters of the English alphabet used to create words and sentences. One could also make an analogy between the four bases and trains composed of four different types of railroad cars (perhaps an engine, boxcar, tanker, and flatcar). Imagine how many different types of trains one could make using just one hundred rail cars of four different types. (The answer is 4100.) 7. An excellent introduction to the domains and kingdoms of life is presented at (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php).

Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Many students enter our courses with a limited appreciation of the diversity of life. Ask any group of freshmen at the start of the semester to write down the first type of animal that comes to mind, and the most frequent response is a mammal. (In my courses, over a 21-year period, more than 98% of the examples have been mammals.) As the diversity of life is explored, the common heritage of biological organization can be less, and not more, apparent. The diverse forms, habits, and ecological interactions overwhelm our senses with differences. Emphasizing the diversity and unifying aspects of life is necessary for a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of life on Earth. 2. We live in a world that is largely understood by what we can distinguish and identify with our naked senses. However, the diversity of life and the levels of biological organization extend well below the physical scale of our daily lives. For many students, appreciating the diversity of the microscopic world is abstract, nearly on par with an understanding of the workings of atoms and molecules. A laboratory opportunity to examine the microscopic details of objects from our daily lives (the surface of potato chips, the structure of table salt and sugar, the details of a blade of grass) can be an important sensory extension that prepares the mind for greater comprehension of these minute biological details. Teaching Tips 1. Consider asking students to bring to class a page or two of some article about biology that appeared in the media in the last month. Alternatively, you could have each student email a Web address of a recent biology-related news event to you. You might even have them e-mail relevant articles to you for each of the main topics you address throughout the semester. 2. The scientific organization Sigma Xi offers a free e-mail summary of the major science news articles each weekday. The first paragraph or so of each article is included in the e-mail with a hyperlink to the source of the entire article. The topics are most diverse and can be an excellent way to be aware of daily scientific announcements and reports. Typically, about ten articles are cited in each weekday email. To sign up for this free service, go to (www.americanscientist.org/). 3. For a chance to add a little math to the biological levels of organization, consider calculating the general scale differences between each level of biological organization. For example, are cells generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than organelles? Are organelles generally 5, 10, 50, 100 times more massive than macromolecules? For some levels of organization, such as ecosystems, communities, and populations, size/scale differences are perhaps less relevant and more problematic to consider. However, at the smaller levels, the sense of scale might enhance an appreciation for levels of biological organization. 4. Help the class think through the diverse interactions between an organism and its environment. In class, select an organism and have the class develop a list of environmental components that interact with the organism. This list should include living and nonliving categories. 5. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains updated population clocks that estimate the United States and world populations (www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). If students have a general idea of the human population of the United States, statistics about the number of people affected with a disease or disaster become more significant. For example, the current population of the United States is more than 306,000,000 (2008). It is currently estimated that at least one million people in the United States are infected with HIV. The number of people infected with HIV is impressive and concerning, but not perhaps as meaningful as the realization that this represents one of at least every 300 people in the United States. Although the infected people are not evenly distributed amongst geographic and ethnic groups, if you apply this generality to the enrollments in your classes the students might better understand the tremendous impact of HIV infection. 6. The authors make an analogy between the four bases used to form genes and the 26 letters of the English alphabet used to create words and sentences. One could also make an analogy between the four bases and trains composed of four different types of railroad cars (perhaps an engine, boxcar, tanker, and flatcar). Imagine how many different types of trains one could make using just one hundred rail cars of four different types. (The answer is 4100.) 7. An excellent introduction to the domains and kingdoms of life is presented at (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php).

Figure 1.8 The three domains of life.

Student Misconceptions and Concerns 1. Students often believe that Charles Darwin was the first to suggest that life evolves; the early contributions by Greek philosophers and the work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck may be unappreciated. Consider emphasizing this earlier work in your introduction to Darwin’s contributions. 2. Students often misunderstand the basic process of evolution and instead reflect a Lamarckian point of view. Organisms do not evolve structures deliberately or out of want or need. Individuals do not evolve. Evolution is a passive process in which the environment favors one or more variations of a trait that naturally exist within a population. Teaching Tips 1. Many resources related to Charles Darwin are available on the Internet: a. General evolution resources http://evolution.berkeley.edu/ http://nationalacademies.org/evolution/ http://ncseweb.org/ b. The complete works of Charles Darwin can be found at http://darwin-online.org.uk/ c. Details of Charles Darwin’s home are located at http://williamcalvin.com/bookshelf/down_hse.htm d. An extensive usenet newsgroup devoted to the discussion and debate of biological and physical origins is at www.talkorigins.org/. 2. There are many variations of games that model aspects of natural selection. Here is one that is appropriate for a laboratory exercise. Purchase several bags of dried grocery store beans of diverse sizes and colors. Large lima beans, small white beans, red beans, and black beans are all good options. Consider the beans food for the predatory students. To begin, randomly distribute (throw) 100 beans of each of four colors onto a green lawn. Allow individual students to collect beans over a set period, perhaps 3 minutes. Then count the total number of each color of bean collected. Assume that the beans remaining undetected (still in the lawn) reproduce by doubling in number. Calculate the number of beans of each color remaining in the field. For the next round, count out the number of each color to add to the lawn so that the new totals on the lawn will double the number of beans that students did not find in the first generation. Before each predatory episode, record the total number of each color of beans that have survived in the field. Then let your student predators out for another round of collection (generation). Repeat the process for at least three or four generations. Note what color of beans has been favored by the environment. Apply Darwin’s facts and inescapable conclusions to this exercise. Ask students to speculate which colors might have been favored during another season or on a parking lot. 3. Many websites devoted to domesticated species can be used to illustrate the variety of forms produced by artificial selection. Those devoted to pigeons and dogs have proven to be especially useful.

Figure 1.10 An evolutionary tree of bears.

Chapter 1 0 Introduction: Biology Today

What does it have to do with this course?

We are living in a golden age of biology. Biology provides exciting breakthroughs changing our culture. Molecular biology is solving crimes and revealing ancestries. Ecology helps us address environmental issues. Neuroscience and evolutionary biology are reshaping psychology and sociology. Biology and Society: Biology All Around Us © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

What makes something alive?? Make a list of things that make something alive. Compare to something that is not alive. What happens? What makes something alive?

Biology is the scientific study of life. Life is structured on a size scale ranging from the molecular to the global. Biology’s scope stretches across the enormous diversity of life on Earth. http://www.saburchill.com/questions/lanlt001.html#STEEL THE SCOPE OF LIFE The Properties of Life

a Order b Regulation c Growth and development d Energy utilization Figure 1.1a

e Response to the environment f Reproduction g Evolution Figure 1.1b

Life’s levels of Organization In order to organize all of the different forms of life, scientists have grouped different properties into specific groups Thus, Nature has levels of organization The Properties of organisms can be grouped together they start small and get larger What are the levels of organization- make a list of them now.

Biosphere Ecosystems Communities Populations Organisms Organ Systems and Organs Tissues Cells Organelles Molecules and Atoms Atom Nucleus Figure 1.2-3

Ecosystems: Energy flow and material cycling Each organism interacts continuously with its environment. Organisms interact continuously with the living and nonliving factors in the environment. The interactions between organisms and their environment take place within an ecosystem. The dynamics of any ecosystem depend on two main processes: Cycling of nutrients (see following graphic) Flow of energy

Inflow of light energy Chemical energy food Cycling of nutrients Consumers animals Producers plants and other photosynthetic organisms Decomposers in soil Loss of heat energy ECOSYSTEM Figure 1.3

Cells and Their DNA The cell is the lowest level of structure that can perform all activities required for life- thus it is the smallest unit of life. Anything smaller than a cell- is NOT alive All living organisms are composed of cells. There are two major types of cells: Prokaryotic Eukaryotic

Eukaryotic vs. Prokaryotic The eukaryotic cell is larger, more complex, and contains organelles. The nucleus is the largest organelle in most eukaryotic cells. Plants and animals are composed of eukaryotic cells. VS. The prokaryotic cell is simpler and smaller and contains no organelles. Bacteria have prokaryotic cells.

Prokaryotic cell Nucleoid region Organelles Nucleus Colorized TEM (bacterium) • Eukaryotic cell Figure 1.4

All cells use DNA as the chemical material of genes. Genes are the units of inheritance that transmit information from parents to offspring. The language of DNA contains just four letters: A, G, C, T The entire book of genetic instructions that an organism inherits is called its genome.

Life in Its Diverse Forms Diversity is the hallmark of life. The diversity of known life includes 1.8 million species. Estimates of the total diversity range from 10 million to over 100 million species. Taxonomy is the branch of biology that names and classifies species. It formalizes the hierarchical ordering of organisms. We are called: Homo Sapiens (next slide shows entire taxonomy)

Human Classification Classification level Name Characterized by: Domain Eukarya Nucleus, organelles Kingdom Animalia Ingests food, multicellular, no cell wall Phylum Chordata Spinal cord Subphylum Vertebrata Segmented backbone Superclass Tetrapoda Four limbs Class Mammalia Nurse offspring Subclass Theria Live birth Order Primates High level of intelligence Family Hominidae Walk upright Genus Homo Human Species H. sapiens Modern human

The Three Domains of Life The three domains of life are Bacteria Archaea Bacteria and Archaea have prokaryotic cells. Eukarya

DOMAIN BACTERIA DOMAIN ARCHAEA DOMAIN EUKARYA Kingdom Plantae Kingdom Fungi Kingdom Animalia Protists (multiple kingdoms) TEM Colorized TEM LM Figure 1.8

EVOLUTION: BIOLOGY’S UNIFYING THEME Life evolves. Each species is one twig of a branching tree of life extending back over 3 billion years. Species that are very similar, such as brown bears and polar bears, share a more recent common ancestor. Natural selection: In natural populations Differential survival and reproduction among individuals that vary in one or more heritable traits Artificial selection: Breeding of captive populations Traits selected are not necessarily adaptive

Ancestral bear Common ancestor of polar bear and brown bear Giant panda Spectacled bear Sloth bear Sun bear American black bear Asiatic black bear Polar bear Brown bear 30 25 20 15 10 5 Millions of years ago Figure 1.10

Evolution and adaptations Scientists are dismayed to discover that some bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics through various alterations, or mutations, in their DNA. Bacteria can gain resistance through two primary ways: 1. By mutation, and 2. By using a built-in design feature to swap DNA)—bacteria share resistance genes. The mutant bacteria are better able to survive in the presence of the antibiotic and will continue to cause illness in the patient.)