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Levels of Biological Organization. In your journal start with the biosphere and list the levels of life down to an atom. . Play the game!. Levels of Life Card Game… http://www.ldsd.org/Page/ 1436. Biosphere. All of the life on earth and all of the places where life exists.
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Levels of Biological Organization In your journal start with the biosphere and list the levels of life down to an atom.
Play the game! • Levels of Life Card Game… • http://www.ldsd.org/Page/1436
Biosphere • All of the life on earth and all of the places where life exists
Ecosystem (and Biomes) • Consists of all the living things in a particular area, along with all the nonliving components of the environment with which life interacts, such as soil, water, atmospheric gases, and light • Biome – any of the world’s major ecosystems
Community • All of the living organisms inhabiting a particular area
Population • Consists of all the individuals of a species living within the bounds of a specified area
Organism • An individual living thing
Organ System • A group of organs that cooperate in to carry out a particular function for the organism
Organ • A body part that carries out a particular function in the body
Tissue • A group of cells that work together to preform a specialized function
Cells • Life’s fundamental unit of structure and function • unicellular • multicellular
Organelles • Functional components within a cell
Molecules and Atoms • Molecule - A chemical structure consisting of two or more small chemical units called atoms • Atom – the smallest unit of matter that retains the chemical properties of an element
So what do all of these levels of life allow for.... • Emergent Properties – due to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases an organisms is capable of specialized functions (i.e. oxidative phosphorylation)
Does emergence only stop at the organism level? • No –populations can work together to carryout complex activities – think of a colony of Ants; emergent properties are present at all levels of life
Reductionism vs. Systems • Reductionism - Reducing complex systems to simpler components that are more manageable to study • Systems Biology – attempts to model the dynamic behavior of whole biological systems based on a study of the interactions among the system’s parts Reductionism could allow for the discovery of a drug that lowers blood pressure – Systems biology would make sure that the drug did not have an adverse affect on the rest of the body.