Matter, Energy and Organization of Living Things

1. The characteristics of life include growth and development, energy use, metabolism, response to stimuli, adaptation, reproduction, limited span of life, and the ability to evolve.
2. Within the cell are specialized parts for the transport of materials (e.g. cell membrane), energy transformation (e.g. mitochondria), protein building (e.g. ribosomes), cellular control ( e.g. nucleus), transport (e.g. endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex, cell membrane), energy capture (e.g. chloroplasts), and support (e.g. cell wall in plant cells)
3. Molecules are associated with cellular activities. The structure and function of molecules affect the control of the cell in specific ways (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, ATP).
4. Plants and those microorganisms containing chloroplasts use solar energy to combine molecules of carbon dioxide and water into complex, energy rich organic compounds and release oxygen into the environment.
5. A disease may result when a biological system is compromised.

Diversity and Biological Evolution

1. Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide a scientific explanation for the fossil record of ancient life forms, as well as for the striking molecular similarities observed among diverse species of living organisms.
• The basic premise of theoretical biological evolution is that Earth’s present day species developed from earlier, distinctly different species.
• Fossil evidence and structural and biological similarities between species provides evidence that supports the theory of evolution.
2. The theory of natural selection accounts for extinction as well as an increase in the proportion of individuals with advantageous characteristics within a species.

Reproduction and Heredity

1. Genetic information is coded in nucleic acids and is inherited.
DNA can be changed to produce permanent changes in species.
1. Changes in DNA (mutations) can occur spontaneously at low rates. Inserting, deleting or substituting DNA segments can alter genes. An altered gene may be passed on to every cell that develops from it. The resulting change may help, harm or have little or no effect on the offspring’s success in its environment.
2. In sexually reproducing organisms, only mutations in germ cells (egg and sperm) can be passed on to an organism’s offspring.
2. The principle of genetics.
   1. Characteristics are inherited as a result of hereditary factors called genes.
      1. These occur, in most cases, in homologous pairs. Some genes are dominant, while others which may be hidden are recessive. Genes may separate without regard to how other genes separate in the production of sex cells.
      2. Recessive traits shown from one parent may be hidden for one or more generations and appear again in future generations.
      3. Some traits do not exhibit strict dominance or recessive characteristics.
   2. Our understanding of genetics has lead to the development of improved varieties of plants, animals, and medicines through the application of technology.
      1. New varieties of cultivated plants and domesticated animals have resulted from selective breeding for particular traits.
      2. Genetic engineering has permitted the introduction of deliberate mutations, which may maintained as new varieties.