The science of biology. Properties and levels of life
Answers are for parents and teachers.
1
Give one biological example of your own for each of the five research methods.
For example: observation – recording work in a beehive; comparison – comparing horse and camel skeletons; historical – ordering fossils by age; experiment – measuring growth with different fertilisers; modelling – computing fish population size on a computer.
2
Write seven properties of life and briefly note for each how it differs from (or resembles) non-living nature.
For example: chemical composition – non-living bodies also contain C, O, H but no biopolymers; reproduction – only living things, using hereditary information; homeostasis – absent in non-living things; metabolism – not regulated in non-living things; growth – a crystal grows, but by adding material on the outside; irritability – no response reaction in non-living things; cellular structure – only in living things.
3
Using a tree in the school yard, give one example for each level from molecule to biosphere.
For example: a chlorophyll molecule; a leaf cell; leaf tissue; a leaf organ; the tree itself (organism); the population of this tree species; the yard or garden ecosystem; Earth’s biosphere.
4
Why must life be studied at several levels at the same time? Explain in 3–4 sentences.
Each level has its own laws: reactions in molecules, division in cells, number changes in populations. One level cannot be understood without another: for example, a change in a gene (molecule) changes a trait (organism) and the make-up of a population.