BSC 1005 L General Bio Lab Notes from Manual Bold were bolded in the lab manual usually denoting its some sort of vocab word Underlined denotes that it is from a learning objective Investigation 1 The Nature and Process of Science We need to understand what science is and how it is done because it affects everything in the world and our lives everything from social issues to maintaining clean water and food We need to be able to evaluate the quality and credibility of scientific information Science is based on the structures and processes we can observe or measure both directly and indirectly with the help of tools Science is a method to understand natural phenomena with testable explanations It is a constant process as we are always looking for a between way to explain experiment question and observe Science is separate from the supernatural The scientific method isn t as simple as some people act like it is treating it as a linear process of coming up with a hypothesis testing it and concluding In reality the process is complex involving constant problem solving and going back to revise both predictions and approaches Even after observations hypotheses experiments analyses and conclusions scientists often have to revise their hypotheses and develop more predictions or questions Observation any information gathered through at least one of your senses We need to always record observations so we can go back to our records and observations to reconsider out inferences from that experience Inference an assumption that is based on observations and past experiences Scientists should be grounded in observation Observation vs Inference An observation is gathered by one of your senses and is closer to a fact An inference is something that you conclude by building on the observations and can be an opinion or an idea about something Hypothesis tentative explanation that is grounded in observations and then tested by means of experiments This is used for a narrow set of scientific phenomena Hypothesis vs Prediction A hypothesis is an explanation that you have created with a great deal of understanding in regards to the subject matter It is specific and grounded in related knowledge A prediction is more about what you think will happen and has less to do with why that event happens It is what you expect based on the hypothesis A theory is very general explanation pertaining to many things Data collected during experiments but alone isn t considered evidence like raw numbers Evidence the product of interpretation of data it s the justification for if a hypothesis is supported or not Evidence is the application of data to support or argue against part of the hypothesis Data vs Evidence Data is collected during experiments such as the quantity of bugs in a habitat Evidence is the product of interpretation of data such as seeing how you relate that quantity of bugs to your hypothesis and what you were testing Revising hypotheses and testing predictions in a new way is also a part of the nature of science Scientists have to rewrite or revise their hypotheses as they experiment because as they gain new information on whatever they are observing they have new insight that can change how they need to go about finding evidence and what to look for Peer review is incredibly important in science because it is crucial that other people can come to the same conclusions with the experiment Doing so ensures that your findings are more realistic and your experiment was reliable Having multiple people go through findings is a good way to catch errors and ensure that the ideas are more credible With peer review a scientist has to share their procedures used in the experiment so others can see how they did the experiment and do it themselves Then they can see if they get the same results and see if there are differences in how they analyze the results This can help protect scientists and their experiments from biases misconduct and errors This is a way that science is self correcting making it more reliable Investigation 2 Animal Structures and Processes Living organisms they must grow reproduce maintain homeostasis a stable internal environment despite changes in the external environment sense and respond to stimuli and obtain and use energy An example of homeostasis is sweating When your body gets too hot your body starts releasing sweat Nervous system a network that coordinates and controls all life functions It processes sensory information and controls responses to internal changes and external stimuli Organisms sense their environment with different nerve cells that are able to take in information pertaining to their environment This information is sent through their nervous system to their brain for it to decide what to do in response to its environment Then the response is sent from the brain to the motor neurons that help the organism run away or any sort of movement that helps them properly respond to the environment Specialized cell structures help a cell carry out a specific function An example of this is nerve cells They have to transport information to other nerve or muscle cells very quickly so they are organized in a network way enabling them to stretch quickly to other cells and share the information Humans have an extensive nervous system including a brain and spinal cord and a large network of nervous tissue connecting all organ systems Central Nervous System CNS the brain and spinal cord Peripheral Nervous System PNS all the nervous tissue outside the CNS that collects sensory information and transmitting instructions from the CNS throughout the body Neurons the nervous tissue is composed of these specialized calls that function together to transmit information throughout the body Sensory neurons convey information from both inside and outside the body to the CNS Motor neurons control the contraction of skeletal muscle Examples of Organ Systems Circulatory Digestive Integumentary Musculoskeletal Reproductive Respiratory Consists of the heart blood and blood vessels It transports substances throughout the body Consists of stomach small intestine liver and anus It breaks down food and absorbs nutrients Consists of skin hair and nails This protects the body Consists of skeletal muscles and bones This supports and moves the body This consists of testes penis ovaries and uterus It produces gametes and offspring Consists of trachea lungs and diaphragm It exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide
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