Chapter 1.1

1.1 THE STUDY OF LIFE (AKA BIO-LOGY)

Earth is home to an incredible diversity of life. 

The biosphere includes all living things and all the places they are found. Ex: land environments, our atmosphere, saltwater and freshwater environments

Biodiversity = diversity of life

Biodiversity is greater in areas with warm temperatures










A species is one particular type of living thing  & can interbreed to reproduce. 

Over 2 million different living species have been identified and many are still being discovered.






Organism—Any individual living thing

Brief history on science....

We have studied living things throughout historyusing science. In prehistoric time, cave paintings show people hunting animals. Observing 
where they went, how they behaved, and how to take them down for food.

Egyptians practiced the art of mummification. This practice demonstrated their understanding of human body.

A famous Greek philosopher by the name of Aristotle began to classify living things back in 330 BC.

Another Greek philosopher by the name of Hippocrates studied the human body and believed most illnesses came from an imbalance of blood, black bile, yellow bile, and/or phlegm.

Louis Pasteur proposed that living things did not arise from nothing but came from preexisting matter.



Recently we have seen advancements in science. From mapping of our genome to growing organs from stem cells. 

Bio-engineering from U of Massachusetts Med School

Massachusetts medical hospital makes a dead heart beat again.

Tomorrow we will have a quiz on Section 1.1 in the beginning of class.