So, what does a volleball picnic have to do with biology, anyway? volleyball In short, everything! Over the course of the quarter, we’ll look at all kinds of ways the two relate, including people who are using their muscles to play volleyball, sweating when they get hot then drinking water so they don’t get dehydrated, eating food so they have the energy to play ball, enjoying the wild and domestic plants and animals which surround them, and maybe even showing off a bit to gain the attention of “that special person”.

Human Biology = ?

boy with bubbles What about you? Why are you here? Yeah, OK, need I even ask? ...because somebody said you “had to” take the class for your major, right? ...but consider for a moment – why do you think “they” wanted you to take this class? For some of you who plan to work in a medical field, you probably need a biology background to help make sense of the tasks you will be called upon to perform. For all of you who are alive, who want to stay healthy, and who live in a world surrounded by other living organisms, this course should give you a small taste of a variety of background information to help you begin to understand how your body and the bodies of those other organisms work, and will, hopefully, pique your interest and desire to explore some of these areas in more depth.

woman with kid Some of you may be wondering what “Human” Biology is and how that differs from “Biology.” Biology is the study of life. Human Biology surveys a wide variety of biological topics from a human perspective. While this course is not specifically an anatomy and physiology course, some of what we will cover will include anatomy and physiology-related topics, and for those, the human body will serve as the primary example. Human Biology does also include several “non-A&P” topics such as ecology, and those topics will, in general, be approached from a human point-of-view, rather than a more general, all-encompassing point-of-view.

biology words As you study biology, you will frequently run across a lot of “big words” that you will need to learn. One thing which can help you understand those words, which will also aid you in everything from reading the newspaper to communicating with your doctor, is to know the Greek or Latin (or other) derivations of the wordstems which make up those words. For example, the word “biology” is made from the wordstems bios, which means “life,” and -logy which means “to study” or “the study of.”

eggs If biology is the study of life, then first we need to address the issue of “What is life?” In many cases, if someone would point to an object and ask, “Is it alive?”, the answer is often fairly obvious. However, if that person would ask, “How do you know?”, many people who can tell whether the object is alive or not have trouble explaining how they know that. For example, looking at the objects in this photograph, do you think they are alive or not? Think about why you picked the answer you did: what criteria did you use, upon what evidence was your decision based?

chicks Perhaps, one of the next questions on the list would be, “From where do living things come?” That question could be answered on several different levels. One person might focus on reproduction, another might focus on genetics, and someone else might focus on geographical distribution. Another way to answer that question would be to add all those “levels” together and look at the evolutionary history of a particular kind of organism. Many years ago, people used to think that living organisms could come from non-living objects, like mud turning into frogs or garbage turning into rats. Now, however, scientists agree that “like begets like” – that offspring come from parents who are similar to them, each of whom give the offspring half of their genes. However, there are occasionally times when a mutation occurs, and as those mutations are passed to offspring, slowly, over time, the genetic make-up of a whole population of organisms slowly changes.


Background Information

Links to Related Information on Our Web Server

Read through the following Web pages. While you do not need to master the fine details of this information, you do need to be familiar with and understand the overarching principles and concepts involved.

Bio Lecture Introduction
Not all of the information in the “General Information” section applies. Read the other sections (“What Is Biology?”, “Is It Alive?”, “Properties of an Organism,” and “The Five Kingdoms”).
Bio Lecture History of Science
Here is some background information on the development of our biological knowledge.
Bio Lecture Cells and Organelles
Cells are the basic structural units of all living organisms. Here is background information on how cells are organized and the organelles which they contain.
Gen Bio Lab Spontaneous Generation Activity
This is a demonstration that recreates Pasteur’s famous experiment disproving Spontaneous Generation.

Your Assignment
Recreation of Pasteur’s Experiment

In doing this project, you will learn about some of the characteristics of living organisms. After reading the above-mentioned Web pages (and any others you may run across that discuss similar topics), you are asked to complete the following demonstration and the accompanying questions. For those of you with children, this might be a project in which they could be involved. The grading criteria for this assignment are given below, and you should also refer to those as you work on the assignment. A total of 36 points is possible.

  1. First, if you have not done so, read through the Web page on Pasteur’s experiment, linked above. That will tell you about what Pasteur did and give you a basis for designing your own version of his experiment.
  2. Obtain the necessary supplies:
  3. In one jar, place approximately ½ C (~125 mL) of broth. Then, put the lid on loosely, set the jar in a pot of water (hopefully deep enough to reach up to the neck of the jar, but not run over/into the top. Heat on the stove until the water is at a “rolling boil,” and boil the jar for 5 min (start timing after the water is boiling), then let it cool to room temperature. Do not remove the lid and do not tighten it all the way, but leave it on somewhat loosely.
  4. The second jar and its lid should be thoroughly hand-washed with soap and water, then dried. Place a little more than ½ C (~125 mL) of broth in the small pot and boil it for 5 min. Let it cool just enough that the pot is still warm but just cool enough to handle, then pour the broth into the clean jar and place the lid on loosely.
  5. Now, have fun designing your own conditions to test. You could try things like boiling a jar but not boiling the broth you put in it, or boiling the broth for different amounts of time, or comparing microwaving to stove-top boiling, or leaving a jar completely open and uncovered, or covering a jar with gauze, or stuffing a cotton ball into the neck of a bottle with a narrower neck, or tightening the lid of a jar all the way so it “seals,” or comparing hand-washing to dishwasher-washing, etc. Take thorough notes on what you do (describe the set-up of each condition you test).
  6. Set all the jars in an out-of-the-way corner (optionally, you could place another jar in the refrigerator for a temperature comparison), and leave them there for 3 days (maybe a bit longer if your house is cool). Check them daily and jot down any interesting things you observe.
  7. After three days (or longer?), carefully examine the contents of each jar and record your findings. Note whether there has been any color change or if any cloudiness has developed. Notice if any mold has obviously started to grow in/on the broth. Notice how the smell of the broth compares to what it had been – do any of the jars smell “bad” now?
  8. When you’re done observing your results, you may dispose of the broth and clean out the jars. Spend some time thinking about what your results mean. If any of your jars of broth became smelly or cloudy what do you think caused that? How does that relate to the type of jar covering, the cleanliness of the jar, the amount of boiling, storage temperature, or whatever else you tried?
  9. Additionally, research, think about, and be prepared to answer the following questions:
  10. If you are a registered student, to receive credit for this assignment, you need to submit your work for this project.

Grading Criteria

1.   Pasteur Demonstration:
2 — Very thorough, detailed notes were taken
1 — Adequate notes were taken
0 — Sketchy or no notes were taken
2 — The student obviously thought about and made the effort test several conditions beyond the minimum requirement
1 — The student tested an adequate number (3) of conditions
0 — Not enough conditions were tested
2 — The student obviously spent a lot of time actually doing this demonstration and paid a lot of attention to details
1 — The student spent an adequate amount of time performing the demonstration
0 — It appears that the student hurried through the demonstration, cut corners, and missed a lot of the details
2 — It is obvious that the student thought a lot about what was going on in this demonstration and what it meant
1 — Some thought was given to the relationship between the conditions tested and effects on the broth
0 — It would appear that little time was spent thinking about how the conditions tested affected the outcomes
2 — The student, obviously, went beyond the minimum requirements of the assignment
1 — The student adequately completed the assignment
0 — The student completed considerably less of the assignment than what was required
2.   Low Salt Broth Question:
2 — Answer to question was correct
1 — Answer to question was mostly correct
0 — Answer to question was mostly or all incorrect or missing
2 — Answer to question was thorough and well thought-out
1 — Answer to question was a bit vague and/or not totally logical
0 — Answer to question was too sketchy/vague and/or did not make sense or was missing
3.   Spontaneous Generation Question:
2 — Answer to question was correct
1 — Answer to question was mostly correct
0 — Answer to question was mostly or all incorrect or missing
2 — Answer to question was thorough and well thought-out
1 — Answer to question was a bit vague and/or not totally logical
0 — Answer to question was too sketchy/vague and/or did not make sense or was missing
4.   Branches of Biology Question:
2 — Explanations were given for all branches listed plus at least 4 others
1 — Explanations were given only for listed branches and/or “new” “branches” aren’t part of biology
0 — Explanations were missing for most of the branches listed
2 — Definitions and Greek/Latin word stems were given for all branches listed plus at least 4 others
1 — Definitions and word stems were given only for listed branches and/or are partially incorrect
0 — Definitions and word stems are missing for most/all of the branches listed
2 — Answer to question was correct
1 — Answer to question was mostly correct
0 — Answer to question was mostly or all incorrect or missing
2 — Answer to question was based on and closely related to daily life
1 — Answer to question was somewhat related to everyday life
0 — Answer to question missed the connection to the student’s life
2 — Answer to question was thorough and well thought-out
1 — Answer to question was a bit vague and/or not totally logical
0 — Answer to question was too sketchy/vague and/or did not make sense or was missing
5.   Properties of Life Question:
2 — Explanations for humans were given for all properties listed
1 — Explanations for humans were given only for some of the listed properties
0 — Explanations for humans were missing for most of the properties listed
2 — Explanations for a volleyball were given for all properties listed
1 — Explanations for a volleyball were given only for some of the listed properties
0 — Explanations for a volleyball were missing for most of the properties listed
2 — Answer to question was correct
1 — Answer to question was mostly correct
0 — Answer to question was mostly or all incorrect or missing
2 — Answer to question was thorough and well thought-out
1 — Answer to question was a bit vague and/or not totally logical
0 — Answer to question was too sketchy/vague and/or did not make sense or was missing
Total Possible:
36 — total points

Copyright © 2006 by J. Stein Carter. All rights reserved.
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