Warm-up #6

Shells and
Snowflakes

A radiolarian is a tiny living

thing that is covered with a
glasslike shell and lives in the
ocean. A snowflake is a crystal
made of frozen water.

How can we distinguish between living and

nonliving things, such as a radiolarian (left)
and a snowflake (right)?

Warm-up #6
Section 1-3

1. What are some similarities between the

snowflake and the glass shell of the radiolarian?
2. What are some differences between the
snowflake and the glass shell?
3. Would you classify the shell as a living thing or a
nonliving thing? Explain your answer.

Characteristics of Living Things

Characteristic

Examples

Living things are made up of units called

cells.
Living things reproduce.

Living things obtain and use materials and

energy.

Many microorganisms consist of only a single cell.

Animals and trees are multicellular.
Maple trees reproduce sexually. A hydra can
reproduce asexually by budding.
Flies produce flies. Dogs produce dogs. Seeds from
maple trees produce maple trees.
Flies begin life as eggs, then become maggots, and
then become adult flies.
Plants obtain their energy from sunlight. Animals
obtain their energy from the food they eat.

Living things respond to their environment.

Leaves and stems of plants grow toward light.

Living things maintain a stable internal

environment.

Despite changes in the temperature of the

environment, a robin maintains a constant body
temperature.

Taken as a group, living things change

over time.

Plants that live in the desert survive because they have

become adapted to the conditions of the desert.

Living things are based on a universal

genetic code.
Living things grow and develop.

Section 1-3

Levels of Organization
Biosphere The part of Earth
that contains all
ecosystems

Biosphere
Ecosystem

Community and
its nonliving
surroundings
Hawk, snake, bison, prairie dog, grass, stream, rocks, air

Community

Populations that
live together in a
defined area
Hawk, snake, bison, prairie dog, grass

Population

Group of
organisms of one
type that live in
the same area
Bison herd

Section 1-3

Levels of Organization

Organism Individual living

thing

Bison
Tissues, organs,

Groups of and organ systems

Cells
Brain

Nervous tissue

Cells

Nervous system

Smallest functional
unit of life
Nerve cell

Groups of atoms;
smallest unit of
Molecules most chemical
compounds

Water

DNA

How do Scientists Study the

world?
Science deals only with natural

world.
Collects and organizes
information in an orderly way.
Scientists propose explanations
that can be tested.

Limitations of Science
Science doesn't make
moral judgments
Science doesn't make
aesthetic judgments.
Science doesn't tell you how
to use scientific knowledge
Science doesn't draw conclusions
about supernatural explanations

A definition of Science
Science is an organized way

of using evidence to learn

about the natural world.
Science is the knowledge
built up from years of using
this process.

Scientists try to explain events.

After observing, a hypothesis is

proposed.
Hypothesis = proposed
scientific explanation for a set of
observations

Science only works because the

people involved with it behave
"scientifically" that is, behave in
ways that push science forward.
So what does it mean to behave
scientifically?

A scientist's code of conduct:

1.) Pay attention to what other people
have already done.
2.) Expose your ideas to testing.
3.) Make sense of the evidence.
4.) Openly communicate ideas and tests
to others.
5.) Play fair: Act with scientific integrity.

Section 1-2

Traditional Scientific Method Flowchart

State the Problem

Analyze Results
Form a Hypothesis
Draw a Conclusion
Set Up a Controlled Experiment
Publish Results
Record Results

BUT the process of science is not in a

straight line from one step to the next

The process of science is more dynamic!

 Science is an ongoing process,

always changing due to new tools,

techniques, and discoveries
Many things that affect your life
involve scientific information.
Examples include AIDS, cancer,
drugs, alcohol, antibiotics, nuclear
power, chemical waste disposal, etc.

 Scientists begin with

observations, using the senses,

and use an orderly process of
gathering information.

Scientists can then make

inferences based on evidence.

Inference = logical interpretation

based on prior knowledge

Section 1-1

Observation and Inference

Statement
Object A is round and orange.

Observation Inference

X
X

Object A is a basketball.
Object C is round and black and white.

Object C is larger than Object B.

Object B is smooth.

X
X

Object B is a table-tennis ball.

Each object is used in a different sport.

Object A is a basketball.
Object B is a table-tennis

ball.
Object C is a soccer ball.

 Evidence = The data used to make

conclusions.
Scientific ideas are sustained by evidence
and cannot be propped up if the
evidence tears them down.
Data is the information gathered
Qualitative- descriptive
appears healthy
Quantitative-counting, measuring
2. 5 cm

Collecting Quantitative Data

Scientists us the Metric System

SI (International System of Units)

Based on 10s
Celsius temperature
0 degrees H2O freezes
100 degrees H2O boils
Meter length
Gram mass
Liter - volume

 Variables factors that can change (ex: light,

temperature, time, materials, etc.)

Independent variable deliberately changed
(Also called the manipulated variable)
Dependent variable is observed, changes in
response to other variable
(Also called the responding variable)

Only one variable should be changed at a time

Controlled experiment should test only one
factor at a time. All other variables are
controlled.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN TO SET UP A

CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT!
Introduce Lab #2

Controlled experimentation on scurvy

In 1747, while serving as surgeon on HMS Salisbury, James Lind carried out a controlled experiment
to develop a cure for scurvy.
Lind selected 12 men from the ship, all suffering from scurvy. Lind limited his subjects to men
who "were as similar as I could have them", that is he provided strict entry requirements to
reduce extraneous variation. He divided them into six pairs, giving each pair different
supplements to their basic diet for two weeks. The treatments were all remedies that had been
proposed:
A quart of cider every day
Twenty five gutts (drops) of elixir vitriol (sulphuric acid) three times a day upon an empty
stomach
One half-pint of seawater every day
A mixture of garlic, mustard, and horseradish in a lump the size of a nutmeg
Two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day
Two oranges and one lemon every day
The men given citrus fruits recovered dramatically within a week. One of them returned to duty
after six days, and the others cared for the rest. The other subjects experienced some
improvement, but nothing compared to the subjects who ate the citrus fruits, which proved
substantially superior to the other treatments.

Spontaneous Generation

How did people in the middle ages explain how

maggots appeared on meat?

Francesco Redi, Italian physician - 1668

OBSERVATIONS: Flies land on meat that is left uncovered. Later, maggots appear on the meat.
HYPOTHESIS: Flies produce maggots.
PROCEDURE

Uncovered jars
Controlled Variables:
jars, type of meat,
location, temperature,
time

Covered jars

Several
days pass

Manipulated Variables:
gauze covering that
keeps flies away from
meat
Responding Variable:
whether maggots
Maggots appear
No maggots appear
appear
CONCLUSION: Maggots form only when flies come in contact with meat. Spontaneous
generation of maggots did not occur.

Designing CONTROLLED Experiments

Section 1- Pasteur 1864

Louis
2Lou
Made many discoveries throughout his lifetime
related to microorganisms

Broth is boiled.

Broth is free of
microorganisms
for a year.

Curved neck
is removed.

Designing Controlled Experiments

Broth is
teeming with
microorganisms.

Section 1-2

Broth is boiled.

Pasteurs Experiment

Broth is free of
microorganisms
for a year.

Curved neck
is removed.

Designing Controlled Experiments

Broth is
teeming with
microorganisms.

Section 1-2

Pasteurs Experiment

Broth is boiled.

Broth is free of
microorganisms
for a year.

Curved neck
is removed.

Designing Controlled Experiments

Broth is
teeming with
microorganisms.

Section 1-2

Pasteurs Experiment

Broth is boiled.

Broth is free of
microorganisms
for a year.

Curved neck
is removed.

Designing Controlled Experiments

Broth is
teeming with
microorganisms.