Science 11

EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCES

Quarter 2, Week 2

Name of Learner: _________________ Score: ________

Section: _________________________ Date: _________

Learning Competency:
1. Describe how unifying themes (e.g., structure and function, evolution, and ecosystems) in the
study of life show the connections among living things and how they interact with each other
and with their environment. S11/12LT-Ila-3

LESSON 2 INTRODUCTION TO LIFE SCIENCE

UNIFYING THEMES IN THE STUDY OF LIFE

Life Science

You have learned in module 1 that Life Sciences are the branches of science that study
living things (plants, animals, human beings or even tiny microscopic organisms) and are
helpful in improving the quality and standard of life. Life sciences have applications in health,
agriculture, medicine, and the pharmaceutical and food science industries.

In this module, you will be able to identify the different unifying themes (e.g., structure
and function, evolution, and ecosystems) in the study of life. Towards the end of the module,
you will be describing how unifying themes in the study of life show the connections among
living things. You will also be describing how unifying themes in the study of life interact with
each other and with their environment.

Unifying Themes in the Study of Life

A. Biological Systems

A system has properties that are based on the arrangement and interactions of its parts.

Your body, like that of any organism, is a living system. You make use of the
interactions among its parts when you type on a keyboard or click a computer mouse.
The joints in your fingers and wrist give your hand a wide range of movements but your
bones themselves cannot move.

Movement depends on contractions of the muscles attached to the bones.

Muscles are coordinated by signals from the brain, carried by nerves. Finally, blood
vessels supply all of these parts with oxygen and food. Together, the parts of your body
enable you to work the computer. You are certainly more than the sum of your parts,
and so are all biological systems.

An ecosystem such as forest is also a biological system. Like your body, an

ecosystem has properties that depend on how its parts interact. For example, the

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 organisms in the ecosystem require a steady supply of certain chemicals to live. Plants
obtain most of their necessary chemicals from the soil, water, and air. Animals acquire
most of the chemicals they need by eating plants or other animals.

Chemicals are returned to the soil by bacteria and fungi that decompose the
wastes and remains of organisms. You could say that such interactions of organisms
with each other and with the nonliving environment “put the system in ecosystem”. The
biological systems theme applies to all levels of life, from the biosphere all the way
down to the interactions of molecules in cells.

B. The Cellular Basis of Life

All organisms are made of cells. Most multicellular organisms have cells that are
specialized for different functions. Two examples of specialized cells in your body are
your muscle cells, which contract and enable you to move, and your nerve cells,
which transmit impulses that control your muscles.

In most multicellular organisms, cells are organized into higher levels of

organization. Beginning with the cellular level, the next is a tissue, which is a group of
similar cells that together perform a specific function. For example, nerve tissue consists
of many nerve cells organized into a complex network.

Several types of tissue together may make up a structure called an organ. The
brain is an organ that consists of nerve tissue and other types of tissues. Finally, several
organs that together carry out a major body functions make up an organ system. In this
example, the brain, spinal cord, and nerves make up the organ system called the
nervous system.

C. Form and Function

The aerodynamic shape of a bird’s wing is a living example of the form-fits

function theme. The structure of the bird’s bones contributes to the bird’s ability to fly.
Inside the bones, an open, honeycomb-like structure provides great strength with little
weight. The form-fits-function theme also extends down to the cellular level. For
example, birds have long extensions of nerve cells that control their flight muscles.
These fibers make it possible for the bird’s brain to coordinate flying movements. As you
explore the structure of life, you’ll discover the harmony of form and function
everywhere. How something works is related to its structure. In other words, form
fits function.

D. Reproduction and Inheritance

“Like begets like” is an old saying that describes the ability of organisms to
reproduce their own kind. For example, a dog and her baby resemble each other. The
puppy in turn may grow up and produce similar-looking offspring of its own. Thus, genes
are responsible for family resemblance.Genes are made of information-rich molecules
called DNA. Each cell in your body contains a copy of the entire DNA that you inherited
from your mother and father.

E. Interaction with the Environment

No organism is completely isolated from its surroundings. As part of an ecosystem,

each organism interacts continuously with its environment. For example, a plant obtains
water and nutrients from the soil, carbon dioxide gas from the air, and energy from sunlight.
The plant uses these three “inputs” from its environment for photosynthesis-the process by
which plants make food.

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 Likewise, the plant also has an impact on its surroundings. For example, as a plant
grows, its roots break up rocks and release acid that change the soil. This affects the types
of organisms that can live in the soil. Plants also release oxygen as a byproduct of
photosynthesis. Other organisms as well as plants use this oxygen for their own survival.

The transfer of chemicals between organisms and their environments is a key

process in an ecosystem. Think about your own chemical exchanges with the outside
world. You breathe air, drink water, eat food, and get rid of waste products. Living requires
a daily balance of such “inputs” and “outputs”.

F. Energy and Life

Moving, growing, reproducing, and other activities of life require organisms to

perform work. Work depends on a source of energy. Energy is obtained in chemical form in
sugar, fats, and other “fuel-like” molecules in your food. Your cells use this energy for all
their work.

What happens to the chemical energy stored in the food the consumers eat? It is
converted to other forms of energy as the organism carries out its life activities. Moving,
thinking, breathing, seeing, and everything else you do require your cells to convert some
of the chemical energy of food into other forms of energy.

G. Regulation

The ability of organisms to regulate their internal conditions is an example of

homeostasis, or “steady state”. A mechanism that makes organisms regulates their
internal condition, despite changes in their external environment. Such activity can be
observed in mammals like human, birds and other forms of organism.

For example, you have a “thermostat” in your brain that reacts whenever your body
temperature varies slightly from 37oC (about 98.6oF). If this internal thermostat detects a
slight rise in your body temperature on a hot day, your brain signals your skin to produce
sweat. Sweating helps cool your body.

Panting is another example of a cooling mechanism. You have probably seen a dog
pant on a hot day. But did you know that some birds also pant? Panting causes moisture
on the large surface of the animal’s lungs to evaporate, cooling the body as a result.

H. Adaptation

An adaptation is an inherited trait that helps the organism’s ability to survive and
reproduce in its particular environment. It is a change in the species over generations in order
to better survive in the environment.

I. Evolution

Natural selection is the mechanism by which evolution occurs. The term evolution
means “a process of change”. Biologists use the word evolution specifically to mean a
generation-to-generation change in the proportion of different inherited genes in a
population.

J. Biology and Society

More than ever before, modern biology is changing humans’ everyday lives. New
findings about DNA affect such fields as medicine and agriculture. Research on the

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 nervous system is improving the treatment of certain mental illnesses. The study of
evolution is helping health professionals understand how disease-causing bacteria become
resistant to antibiotic drugs. Environmental issues such as water and air pollution are
changing how people think about their relationship to the biosphere. If you watch the
evening news or read a newspaper for a week, it’s likely that you will hear about many
issues that relate to biology, such as stem cell research, animal cloning, environmental
issues, genetically modified crops, or new ways to treat diseases

The Cellular Basis of Life

The study of the cellular basis of life has started when Robert Hooke first observed tiny
compartments in a sliced piece of cork from a mature tree. He gave them the Latin name
cellulae (meaning small rooms) hence the origin of the biological term “cell”. By 1839, the
zoologist Theodor Schwann reported the presence of cells in animal tissues.

Cytology is the study of cells. All living things are made up of cells. Life starts from a
cell- a fertilized egg or a zygote. A zygote divides into two and each newly formed cell
subdivides. Further divisions form a multitude of cells which organize into tissues, tissues into
organs and organs into organ systems.

Liquid water is essential because biochemical reactions take place in water. Life as we
know contains specific combinations of elements including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and
oxygen that combine to form proteins and nucleic acids which can replicate genetic code. All
the basic elements are formed in stars and distributed throughout space as a result of giant
explosions called supernovas. Since these essential chemicals are quite common in other
places in the Universe we can expect that the development of life somewhere else is also
possible.

Organisms require energy to assimilate or put together the chemicals that form an
individual. Energy is also required for the organism to grow, reproduce, and respond to the
environment. Energy sources may include other organisms, light, or inorganic compounds. The
most common source of energy on the Earth is photosynthesis, which transforms sunlight into
food. This process will not work very well for the outer Solar System, because not much light
reaches such great distances.

How important is the study of the beginning of life?

The study of the life sciences lends important insights into disease processes and
allows the development of novel therapeutics and innovative medical devices, thereby directly
improving human health. The study of life also enables an understanding of the environment
and the other living species with whom we share the earth; this knowledge guides
conservation efforts and literally helps us to save our shared planet.

The study of life empowers us to answer fundamental questions about ourselves –

Where did we come from? What are we made of? What is the basis for the miracle of our
existence? What is our place in the natural world, in the tree of life? We have learned that we
are all part of the human family, sharing the same basic genetic material. Indeed, we are not
just the stuff that dreams are made on, we are the stuff that DNA is made on.