Chapter three: Water and the fitness of the environment

This is pH Scale which is a graph of acid and base. The higher the number is that it means OH- is more than H+. For example: water's pH scale is 7 which is netural. If the pH number is smaller than 7 then the molecule has more OH- than H+ so it is acid.

Main questions:

What are the freezes and boil points of Celsius scale?

0 c and 100 c

What is the different between acid and base?
Acid is a substance that increases the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution.
Base is a substance that reduces the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution. Some bases reduce the H+ concentration directly by accepting hydrogen ions.

What is acid precipitation and what cause it?
Any rain, snow, or fog with a pH lower than pH 5.2 are called acid precipitation. Electric power plants that burn coal produce more of these oxides than any other single source. Winds carry the pollutants away, and acid rain may fall hundreds of kilometers away from industrial centers.

5 main facts:

Adhesion: The clinging of one substance to another, also plays a role.

Most cells are surrounded by water, and cells themselves are about 70-95% water.

Polar molecule means that the two ends of the molecule have opposite charges. The oxygen region of the molecule has a partial negative charge, and the hydrogen have a partial positive charge.

This evaporative cooling occurs because the “hottest” molecules, those with the greatest kinetic energy, are the most likely to leave as gas. It is as if the hundred fastest runners at a college transferred to another school; the average speed of the remaining students would decline.

Molecular mass is simply the sum of the masses of all the atoms in a molecule.

Summary:

The third is all about how those small molecules support all the lives on earth. Such as water molecules participate in many chemical reactions necessary to sustain life. Most cells are surrounded by water, and cells themselves are about 70-95% water. There are many phenomenon occur between different substances. Such as cohesion and adhesion are two basic phenomena. This chapter also mentions the important of heat and temperature in this world.
This chapter is basically all about the water on earth. Water plays a very important ruler on earth of climate and it is also important to any forms of lives. After reading this chapter that I realized we should be treasured all the resources on this planet.

Key terms:
1. Calorie (cal): The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 g of water by 1°C; also the amount of heat energy that 1 g of water releases when it cools by 1°C. The Calorie (with a capital C), usually used to indicate the energy content of food, is a kilocalorie.
2. Heat of vaporization: The quantity of heat a liquid must absorb for 1 g of it to be converted from the liquid to the gaseous state.
3. Cohesion: The binding together of like molecules, often by hydrogen bonds.
4. Polar molecule-A molecule (such as water) with opposite charges on different ends of the molecule.
5. Specific heat: a substance is defined as the amount of heat that must be absorbed or lost for 1g of that substance to change its temperature by 1°C.
6. Heat of vaporization: is the quantity of heat a liquid must absorb for 1 g of it to be converted from the liquid to the gaseous state.
7. Surface tension: A measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break the surface of a liquid. Water has a high surface tension because of the hydrogen bonding of surface molecules.
8.Molecular mass: is simply the sum of the masses of all the atoms in a molecule.
9. Buffer: A substance that consists of acid and base forms in a solution and that minimizes changes in pH when extraneous acids or bases are added to the solution.
10. Hydrophilic: any substance that was an affinity for water.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqjcCvzWwww&feature=related

Chapter two: The chemical context of life

This is photosynthesis which is the process of plants getting energy from sunlight. Basically turning sun light and Carbon dioxide in to Oxygen and energy.

Main questions:

What are the four necessary elements for life?
Carbon(C), Oxygen(O), Hydrogen(H), and Nitrogen(N)

What is the space where we found electron and how many percents are there?
90% of electron in Orbital

What is the Molecular Shape?
A molecule’s shape is determined by the positions of its atoms’ valence orbital. Shape is usually the basis for the recognition of one biological molecule by another.

5 main facts:

All chemical reactions are reversible, with the products of the forward reaction becoming the reactants for the reverse reaction.

An element is a substance that cannot be broken down to other substances by chemical reactions. There 92 elements are recognized in this world right now.

A compound is a substance consisting of two or more different elements combined in a fixed ratio.

Mass number is the sum of protons plus neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. The mass number is written as a superscript to the left of an element’s symbol.

Atomic mass is an approximation of the total mass of an atom.

Summary:

Chapter two is basically telling the connection between chemical and Biology. Many lives on earth depend the elements exist on earth to survive. Such as Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen are the major elements for life. All those elements are form by atoms.
Because we are talking about atoms, that we are involved in the world of atoms. Also the chemical reactions are very important to the world we exist. So if we want to fully understand the nature and everything in this world. Then biology is not the only thing we need to learn but chemistry also.

Key terms:
1. Chemical equilibrium: In a chemical reaction, the state in which the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the reverse reaction, so that the relative concentrations of the reactants and products do not change with time.

2. Ionic bond: A chemical bond resulting from the attraction between oppositely charged ions.

3. Isotope: One of several atomic forms of an element, each with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons, thus differing in atomic mass.

4. Atomic mass: The total mass of an atom, which is the mass in grams of 1 mole of the atom.

5. Atomic number: The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, unique for each element and designated by a subscript to the left of the elemental symbol.

6. Chemical equilibrium: In a chemical reaction, the state in which the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the reverse reaction, so that the relative concentrations of the reactants and products do not change with time.

7. Energy: is defined as the capacity to cause change-for instance, by doing work.

8. Covalent bond: is the sharing of a pair of valence electrons by two atoms.

9. Van der Waals interactions: Weak attractions between molecules or parts of molecules that result from localized charge fluctuations.

10. Chemical bond: An attraction between two atoms, resulting from a sharing of outer-shell electrons or the presence of opposite charges on the atoms. The bonded atoms gain complete outer electron shells.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBfGcTAJF4o&feature=PlayList&p=32D090BC8084AB76&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=40

Chpter One: Intronduction: Themes in the study of life

This is the levels of Biological Organization. The graph shows from biosphere whcih consists of all the environments on Earth that are inhabited by life. Later till the molecules whcih is a chemical structure consisting of two or more small chemical units called atoms. This graph basically shows the complex lives till the simple life form.

Main questions:

What is the order of Levels of Biological Organization?
Biosphere, Ecosystems, Communities, Populations, Organisms, Organs and Organ Systems, Tissues, Cells, Organelles and Molecules.

What is Reductionism?
The reduction of complex systems to simpler components that is more manageable to study.

What is the order of Dobzhansky’s statement?
Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom and Domain.

5 main facts:

The flight muscles obtain energy in a usable from organelles called mitochondria.

A eukaryotic cell is subdivided by internal membranes into various membrane-enclosed organelles. In most eukaryotic cell, the largest organelle is the nucleus which contains the cell’s DNA. Other organelles are located in the cytoplasm, the entire region between the nucleus and outer membrane of the cell.

Prokaryotic cells are much simpler and generally smaller than eukaryotic cell. The DNA is not separated from the rest of the cell by enclosure in a membrane-bounded nucleus. Prokaryotic cells also lack the other kinds of membrane-enclosed organelles that characterize eukaryotic cells.

Hypothesis is a tentative answer to a well-framed question-an explanation on trial. It is usually an educated guess, based on experience and on the data available from discovery science. A hypothesis must be testable there must be some way to check the validity of the idea.

Evolution: the process of change that has transformed life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to the diversity of organisms living today.




Summary:

The First Chapter is basic start an introduction of what is biology. Biology is a quest, an ongoing inquiry about the nature life. It starts we how the life start on earth and what are the properties of life. Such as: order, Evolutionary adaptation, regulation and reproduction…etc.
Evolution is one of the most important processes for all the species on the earth. If there is no evolution then there won’t be such as diversity earth now. In this chapter also mentions how life forma started from small cell till the Biosphere. It also teaches us the methods of studying nature such as: inquiry and planning reasoning. Biology is not just a simple course but it involves chemistry and technology. So the question we should ask is “can we do it,” other than “should we do it.”

Key Terms:
1. Evolution: the process of change that has transformed life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to the diversity of organisms living today.
2. Biology: The scientific study of life.
3. Deductive reasoning-A type of logic in which specific results are predicted from a general premise.
4. Emergent properties:New properties that arise with each step upward in the hierarchy of life, owing to the arra gement and interactions of parts as complexity increases.
5. System bioligy:An approach to studying biology that aims to model the dynamic behavior of whole biological systems.
6. Inquiry:The search for information and explanation, often focused by specific questions.
7. Genome:The genetic material of an organism or virus; the complete complement of an organism’s or virus’s genes along with its noncoding nucleic acid sequences.
8. Eurkaryotic cell: is subdivided by internal membranes into various membrane-enclosed organelles.
9. Negative Feedback: A primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a physiological variable triggers a response that counteracts the initial change.
10. Positive Feedback: A physiological control mechanism in which a change in a variable triggers mechanisms that amplify the change.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc2C6LO3BDA