Science of Life: Projects and Principles for Beginning Biologists
viii THE SCIENCE OF LIFE ished with them so that you or someone else do not accidentally use or eat these items 䉴 Iodine is used in this book and it can be poisonous if you swal low it If you get any iodine on you rinse the affected area immediately with water for several minutes and tell an adult Dispose of any food that has been contaminated with iodine Dispose of the items once they have been exposed to iodine 䉴 Always use caution when handling chemicals Even common household chemicals such as those in Lysol and other disinfec tants or antiseptics can be harmful because they may irritate your skin If you get any on your hands or in your eyes rinse the affected area immediately with plenty of water 䉴 Take special precautions when working with plants insects and spiders that are naturally found outdoors because they may be poisonous bite or cause you to have an allergic reaction Never experiment with plants such as ivy or mushrooms from the wild they may be poisonous or cause your skin to break out in a rash Some spiders generally those with bright yellow or red markings are poisonous so be careful when handling them 䉴 Only operate a stove or blender under adult supervision and always wear a pair of oven mitts when handling hot liquids 䉴 Wash your hands before and after each experiment if you take a food break during an experiment 䉴 If you live in an area where Lyme disease is present do not perform any outdoor experiments without fi st getting your parent’s permission 䉴 If you are allergic to mold do not perform any of the experi ments in the chapter about fungi
Introduction What Is Biology Biology is a fascinating science that helps us understand most of what we see hear feel and even taste in our world today All human beings experience the science of biology fi sthand in their everyday lives although they may not always be aware of it In order to become more aware of the biology that surrounds you you need to be able to define and understand what biology is So you may be asking yourself what exactly is biology Biology is the science of life and all that deals with the life of animals and plants including their morphology form and structure physiology function and activities of their cells and organs origin and devel opment how they grow and reproduce and distribution where they live As you will soon learn biology encompasses a much wider range of organisms than just plants and animals Biology is more than the study of living organisms It deals with the compounds they produce and the reactions they perform More simply put biol ix
x THE SCIENCE OF LIFE ogy is the science of life and the process of studying all that is or once was living So how do you know if something is living especially if it is not an animal or if it is a newly discovered organism In this book many of the experiments require that you work with living things such as bacteria worms insects and even spiders You will see that while almost no single defini ion can describe what it is to be liv ing life is something that you as a biologist can measure and observe However something that is living can loosely be defin d as something that reacts to changes in its environment is capable of respiring a complicated word for breathing which includes forms of breathing not limited to the use of oxygen and is organic derived from or related to something living Biology sometimes has a different meaning to us in our every day lives Biology can also be thought of as the interaction of one self through all of one’s senses with any of the living or once-living things in our world in an attempt to gain insight into how they work Biology is both learning and experiencing the world in which we live Biology and its specimens takes on many forms some are obvious some not For example the piece of paper that this text is written on has its own biology It is made from wood pulp that came from a living tree Each page therefore has a history as a liv ing organism This page has a future biology as well One day per haps a hundred years from now this book may lie dormant in a landfill with other books that have grown very old In this landfill microorganisms tiny animals that cannot be seen with the unaided eye will begin to degrade the paper thereby obtaining nutrients so that they can divide and multiply into even more microorganisms This page will be transformed into part of a new living organism Biology encompasses many more organisms than just animals and plants In fact there are fi e kingdoms of life and this book is structured so that it includes information about organisms from each of these kingdoms A kingdom is the highest level of classifi cation in biology Organisms representative of the fi e kingdoms include the bacteria Prokaryotae plants Plantae animals Ani
Introduction xi malia fungi Fungi and protozoans Protoctista Scientists who study these kingdoms are called microbiologists botanists zoolo gists mycologists and protozoologists respectively If you are interested in a career in one of these branches of science or you just want to become more aware of the diversity of life that sur rounds you this book will introduce you to the world of biology Understanding the Scientific Method A second theme that you will find throughout this book is that the experiments follow the scientific method which is used in most every branch of science The scientific method is a series of steps that scientists use to pose questions design experiments and form a theory or hypothesis about how the natural world works It allows future scientists to add validity to the conclusions or dis prove them As you are performing each experiment in this book pay close attention to the scientific method which is organized as follows First each experiment has a clearly defin d objective such as what is being measured or observed Next the scientist usually lists the materials used in the experiment so that others can repeat it and so they do not forget how they performed the experiment A detailed procedure is always included because most scientific experiments are too complex to perform without some notes on the best way to repeat it Finally the results are recorded In this book you will fin some expected results However sometimes something totally bizarre happens that is more interesting than the expected result Therefore it is important to keep track of your results in a notebook
