Biology

Unit 1: Physiology and Adaptations

* Questions and concepts to think of:

* What is an adaptation?  And how do trade-offs affect the evolution of adaptations?

* What is evolution?

* What is acclimatization?  How is it different from an adaptation?

* We will learn about the idea that adaptations can evolve via three mechanisms of genetic change: loss of genes; alteration of existing genes; and invention of new genes.

* What is the effect of body size on animal function?

* Understand the basic mechanisms of homeostasis

* Understand the concept of levels of Organization in Biological Systems

* Readings:

* Making of the Fittest

* Preface

* Chapter 1

* Tissue Types

* Organ Systems

* Notes:

* Tissue Types:

* Four basic types of tissue

* Connective

* Nervous

* Muscle

* Epithelial

* Connective

* Cells that are loosely arranged in a liquid, jellylike, or solid extracellular matrix

* Loose connective tissue serves as a packing material between organs

* Cartilage and bone support the body

* Blood transports materials throughout the body

* Nervous

* Nerve cells, or neurons, make up nervous tissue

* All neurons have connections to other cells and deliver signals in the form of electrical impulses

* Muscle

* Muscle tissue functions in movement

* Muscle cells are packed with specialized proteins that move in response to phosphorylation

* Three types

* Striated

* Most muscle tissue

* Consists of long cells with muscle fibers

* Cardiac

* Make up the walls of the heart

* Like skeletal muscle in structure but each cardiac muscle cell branches...