The Evolving Concept of Life
Chlorophyll:
Microfossils - are fossils that contain the remains of tiny plants and animals.
The cyanobacteria are the first photosynthetic organisms to form.
Primordial Soup theory - proposed by Alexander Oparin life started in
a primordial soup of organic molecules. The atmospheric water vapor
condensed into rain and washed minerals into seas.
Fracesco Redi - an Italian Physician in 1668 disproved spontaneous
generation for large organisms by showing that maggots arose from meat
only when flies laid eggs in the meat.
John Needham (1745) - theorized that if he took chicken broth and heated
it, all living things in it would die.
Louis Pasteur - swan-neck flask experiment.
The Connections and Interactions Among Living Things
ECOLOGY is the branch of biology that deals with the study of living
organisms and their relationships with each other and their environment.
Biological Systems - A system consists of related parts that interact with
each other to form a whole. It has different parts, but each plays a
significant role for the whole to function as one. Without the help from each
other, it cannot fully perform its function.
Levels of Organization
The cells are considered as the basic unit of life.
All living organisms are made up of cells. When cells come together,
they form the tissues. A group of tissues that perform the same
functions form the organs. A group of organs that works together
form the different organ systems. An organism consists of many organ
systems but functions as one individual.
Reproduction and Inheritance
It involves transfer of genetic information from parents to offsprings.
Reproduction ensures the survival of species. All living organisms
reproduce either through asexual or sexual reproduction.
Energy and Life
Living organisms obtain energy from the food they eat.
Plants undergo photosynthesis where they convert the energy from
the sun into sugar.
Thermal Regulation
The ability of an organism to regulate their internal conditions is
called homeostasis.
Humans have to maintain a body temperature of 37C. When the
temperature outside our bodies becomes hot, the skin cools down by
perspiration, maintaining the normal body temperature.
Adaptation and Evolution
In a world that is continuously changing, life itself evolves.
Evolution is the change in the physical and heritable traits of
organisms over successive generations.
What Are the Main Characteristics of organisms?
Made of CELLS
Require ENERGY (food)
REPRODUCE (species)
Maintain HOMEOSTASIS (temperature)
RESPOND to environment
GROW and DEVELOP
EXCHANGE materials with surroundings (water, wastes, gases)
History of Cells & the Cell Theory
Robert Hooke is responsible for naming cells
Hooke called them CELLS because they looked like the small rooms
that monks lived in called Cells
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
In 1673, Leeuwenhoek (a Dutch microscope maker), was first to view
organism (living things)
Leeuwenhoek used a simple, handheld microscope to view pond
water & scrapings from his teeth
Matthias Schleiden
In 1838, a German botanist named Matthias Schleiden concluded that
all plants were made of cells.
Theodore Schwann
In 1839, a German zoologist named Theodore Schwann concluded
that all animals were made of cells
Rudolph Virchow
He reasoned that all cells come from other pre-existing cells by cell
division
NUMBER OF CELLS
Unicellular composed of one cell
Multicellular- composed of many cells that may organize into tissues, etc.
How Organisms Obtain and Utilize Energy
Energy = the ability to do work
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) - Source of cellular energy
green pigment necessary for photosynthesis.
Absorbs red and blue wavelengths of light and reflects green light. (thats
why most plants look green)
Factors Affecting Photosynthesis
Temperature
Light Intensity
Water and Carbon Dioxide Availability
Stomata:
small openings in plant leaves that normally admit carbon dioxide
Water can also escape through opening
Guard Cells:
Can open or close stomata to help prevent excess water loss from plant
Carbohydrates are one of the most important food sources for animals. If
carbohydrates are stored, then its potential as a source of energy is null.
Cellular respiration is a process of energy conversion where carbohydrates are
broken down into ATP.
The Reproduction of Plants
Flowers are the sexual reproductive organs in angiosperms.
They consist of the androecium (male reproductive
structure) and gynoecium (female reproductive structure)
Androecium is the male reproductive structure of the plant that consists of a
whorl of stamens.
Gynoecium is the female reproductive structure of a flower. It may consist of a
single pistil (monocarpellary) or may have several pistils (multicarpellary).
The pistil is made up of the stigma, the style, and the ovary.
The style is a slender stalk that supports the stigma while
the stigma is the sticky part that receives the pollen.
The ovary is the basal sac that contains the ovules (female
reproductive cells).
Pollination unites the male and female reproductive cells or gametes. It takes
place when the pollen grains from the male anther are transferred to the
female stigma.
TYPES OF POLLINATION
Autogamy is a type of pollination where pollen grains are
transferred to the stigma of the same flower.
Geitonogamy is a type of pollination where pollen grains are
transferred to the stigma of another flower of the same plant.
Xenogamy, also called cross-pollination, is a type of pollination
where pollen grains are transferred to the stigma of
a different plant.
AGENTS OF POLLINATION
Abiotic agents are nonliving things that aid in the transfer of pollen
grains from the anther to the stigma. They include wind and water.
Biotic agents are living things that aid in pollination. They include
animals and even humans.
Fertilization takes place when the sperm (germinated pollen) unites with the
egg (ovule) forming a fertilized egg called a zygote.
TYPES OF FERTILIZATION
Double Fertilization
During double fertilization, the pollen grain enters the ovary and
releases two sperm cells. One sperm cell unites with the egg cell
forming a diploid cell or zygote. The other sperm cell bonds with two
polar nuclei forming a triploid endosperm nucleus.
Post-fertilization
During post-fertilization, the zygote develops into an embryo while
the endosperm nucleus develops into the endosperm.
ANIMAL SURVIVAL
NUTRIENT ABSORPTION IN CELLS
Digestion is the process by which food is broken down into simple, soluble
compounds in the digestive tract. It involves mechanical and chemical
processes.
Mechanical Process - During the mechanical process, the food is broken down
into small particles that are mixed with the digestive juices. This process starts
in the mouth and continues into the stomach.
Chemical process - During the chemical process, also known as hydrolysis,
digestive enzyme changes food particles into soluble forms that can be easily
absorbed.
Absorption is the passage of nutrients through the intestinal walls and into the
blood. The primary site of absorption is the small intestine.
Metabolism is a process that converts absorbed nutrients into energy needed
for repair, growth, and development of organisms.

GAS EXCHANGE OF ORGANISMS
Gas exchange in animals refers to the exchange of respiratory gases
uptake of molecular oxygen and discharge of carbon dioxide. This process
follows the principle of diffusion-the movement of molecules from an area
of high concentration to one of low concentration.
Nutrient and Waste Transport System
The main transport system for animals is the circulatory system. The
circulatory system plays a central role in an organisms survival.
Homeostasis comes from the two Greek words homeo meaning similar and
stasis meaning stable. It is the ability of the body to maintain a constant
internal equilibrium.
THE IMMUNE SYSYEM: DEFENSE FOR DISEASES
The immune system is a collection of cells, organs, and processes that
protect the body against foreign substances that can cause certain diseases.
Immunity is the bodys ability to fight certain illnesses, damages, and
diseases caused by microbes.
Parts of Immune System
The bone marrow is responsible for the production of different types
of white blood cells which provide defense against infections.
The lymph nodes are structures that analyze destroyed cells and find
molecules called antigens which stimulate an immune response, such
as activating white blood cells.
The spleen acts as a large lymph node capable of destroying and
segregating malfunctioning cells as well as old cells.
The Reproduction of Animals
There are two types of reproduction that exists in living
organisms: asexual and sexual reproduction.
Asexual Reproduction - This type of reproduction does not need two parents
to produce an individual. Therefore, the offspring produced is the exact copy
of the parent animal. Most common forms are fission, fragmentation, and
budding.
Fission - is a type of asexual reproduction wherein two
individuals will form as the parent divides in half.
Fragmentation - the breaking of body parts into fragments, is
always followed by regeneration and regrowth of lost parts. Even
if the animal is broken into many pieces, each piece will grow into
a new individual.
Budding is when an outgrowth called a bud grows and develops
from the parent animal and would eventually separate to
become a new individual. This type of reproduction is common in
certain species of coral and hydra.
Sexual reproduction - needs two parents to produce an offspring. In
external fertilization, the union of egg and sperm occurs outside the female
reproductive tract. This is common among most species of bony fish and
amphibians.
In internal fertilization, the union of egg and sperm occurs within the female
reproductive tract. Animals that undergo in this type of reproduction
produce offspring in any of the following ways:
Oviparity after the eggs are fertilized internally, it would
complete its development outside the mothers body.
Ovoviviparity the eggs are also fertilized internally and receive
its nourishment through its yolk. However, eggs will complete its
development within the mother.
Viviparity the eggs are developed internally and receive
nourishment directly from the mothers blood through placenta
rather than from the yolk.
Plant Survival
Aquatic plants, also called hydrophytes, grow in water or in soil
permanently saturated with water. They are well distributed
around the world.
They are often found in areas called littoral zone, which is the
shallow part of the water where the sunlight could reach the soil.
Major factors affecting the number of aquatic plants growing in a specific
body of water
Water depth
Nutrient availability
Type of soil
Aquatic plants can be classified as floating, submerged, or emergent
plants.
Floating plants are not rooted at the waters bottom, and the leaves
and flowers float and move freely on the waters surface.
Submerged plants are aquatic plants which are rooted on the
waters bottom but do not extend all the way to the surface.
Emergent plants are rooted on the waters bottom and extend their
leaves and stem to the surface.
Evolution & Natural Selection
Evolution: The process of change over time
Charles Darwin
Father of Evolution
Proposed a mechanism for evolution, natural selection
Natural Selection: Organisms that are best adapted to an environment
survive and reproduce more than others
Darwins Theory of Natural Selection occurs in four steps:
Overproduction - Each species produces more offspring
that can survive
Variation - Each individual has a unique combination of
inherited traits.
Competition - Natural selection occurs through Survival
of the fittest
Fittest: the ability to survive and reproduce
Selection - The individuals with the best traits /
adaptations will survive and have the opportunity to
pass on its traits to offspring.
Natural selection acts on the phenotype (physical appearance), not the
genotype (genetic makeup)
Descent with Modification each living species has descended, with
changes, from other species over time.
Common Descent all living organisms are related to one another
Evidence for Evolution:
Fossils: a record of the history of life on Earth
Homologous Body Structures: similar anatomy in different types of
animals because of common ancestor
Vestigial Organs: leftover traces of evolution that serve no purpose
Embryology: embryos of all vertebrates are very similar early on.
Biochemistry: DNA with more similar sequences suggest species are
more closely related
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHTS
Carolous Linnaeus
Father of taxonomy (differentiate classical taxonomy and modern taxonomy)
Started the binomial system of nomenclature
Thomas Malthus
Believed that populations grow geometrically while resources slowly increase
or not at all, leading to competition
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
First to propose about the theory of evolution: Theory of inheritance of
acquired traits and Theory of use and disuse
Georges Cuvier
Established extinction through fossils
Believed that the earth was immensely old
James Hutton
Proposed theory of gradualism (Slow subtle processes could cause substantial
change over time)
Charles Lyell
Proposed the theory of uniformitarianism
Gregor Mendel
Studied garden peas
Responsible for the: Law of segregation and Law of Independent Assortment
Alfred Russel Wallace
Realized that species evolved because fittest individuals survived and
reproduced passing their advantageous characters.
Hugo de Vries
Thought of theory of mutation but his idea of mutation before has nothing to
do with the real mutations
Carl Correns
Worked on the Behavior of the Progeny of Racial Hybrids
Erich Von Tschermak
Applied mendial laws to artificial selection to improve crop yield