Class: Name: ( ) Date:

1 Introducing biology

1.1 What is biology? (Book 1A, p. 1-3)

 Biology (生物學) is the scientific study of (1) _______________ (生物).

 Some branches of biology:

Branch of biology The scientific study of…

I Anatomy (解剖學) a interactions between organisms and their environment

II Cytology (細胞學) b the classification of organisms

III Ecology (生態學) c the structure of organisms

IV Genetics (遺傳學) d the basic unit of organisms — cells

V Physiology (生理學) e how organisms’ bodies function

VI Taxonomy (分類學) f the ways in which characteristics of organisms are passed
on from one generation to the next

I: (2) _______________ II: (3) _______________ III: (4) _______________

IV: (5) _______________ V: (6) _______________ VI: (7) _______________

1.2 The characteristics of organisms (Book 1A, p. 1-4)

Characteristic Description

(1) _______________ Organisms can produce new individuals

(生殖) (offspring 後代).

(2) _______________ Organisms obtain food for energy, growth and

(營養) maintaining health.

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 Characteristic Description

(3) _______________ Organisms can break down food to release its

(呼吸作用) stored energy for body activities.

(4) _______________ Organisms increase in size and in complexity.

(生長)

(5) _______________ Organisms remove waste products produced

(排泄) from chemical reactions in their bodies.

(6) _______________ Organisms can detect changes in their

(感應性), also called environment and make responses.
sensitivity (敏感性)

Movement (運動) Most animals can move freely. Plants show a

limited degree of movement.

 Not all the above characteristics are shown by all organisms.

1.3 Importance of studying biology (Book 1A, p. 1-6)

1 Develop a sense of wonder about the living world

2 Develop scientific thinking skills (refer to Section 1.4)
3 Understand how biological knowledge is applied to daily life Can you give
4 Better understand biology-related social issues some examples?

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1.4 The scientific method (Book 1A, p. 1-7)

 Scientists study the natural world using the (1) ______________ ______________ (科學方法).
 There is no single scientific method, but it usually involves a few basic steps:

1 Making (2) _______________

Flies move around fresh

Redi, 1668 meat and maggots
appear after a few days.

2 Asking a question

Why are maggots

found on rotting
meat?

3 Proposing a (3) _______________(假說)

 Scientists ask questions about the

My hypothesis is
observations they make.
‘the flies produce
the maggots’.

4 Making a (4) _______________

Maggots will not appear

 A hypothesis is a reasonable answer to if I keep the meat away
from the flies.
the question. It tries to explain what is
observed.
 It is not needed in investigations which
do not require explanations of
observations.

 Scientists predict what the expected

observation will be if the hypothesis
is correct.

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 5 Doing (5) _______________
jar not covered: jar covered
flies can reach the meat flies cannot reach the meat

maggots no
appeared maggots
Experimental set-up Control set-up

 Variables in a fair test:

(6) _______________ (7) _______________ (8) _______________

variable (自變量) variable (因變量) variable (控制變量)
(to be changed) (to be measured) (to be kept the same)

Whether flies were allowed Whether maggots appeared Size of the meat, size of the
to reach the meat jar, temperature, etc.

 The (9) _______________ (對照) set-up is identical to the experimental set-up, except that the
factor under investigation is absent.

6 Drawing a (10) _______________

 If the results of the experiment match the prediction,
The result supports my
hypothesis! I conclude
the hypothesis is (11) ______________.
that the maggots are
produced by the flies.
 If the results do not match the prediction, the
hypothesis is not supported.

Hypothesis
supported

Making Asking a Proposing a Making a Doing Drawing a

observations question hypothesis prediction experiments conclusion

New or revised Hypothesis not

hypothesis supported

▲ Basic steps of the scientific method

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1.5 Performing a scientific investigation (Book 1A, p. 1-10)

Task
Design an investigation to find out if the presence of rice speeds up the
ripening of papayas.

Aim
To study the importance of rice in (1) ______________ _______________ (speeding up / slowing
down) the ripening of papayas.

Problem to investigate
Why do papayas ripen more quickly if they are kept in a container with rice?

Hypothesis
The presence of (2)_______________ speeds up the ripening of papayas.

Principle behind the design of this investigation

1 How can the hypothesis be tested?
Prepare two identical boxes. Put (3) _______________ into one of the boxes. Then place a
(4) _______________ papaya into each box. Compare the degree of (5) _______________ of
the two papayas over a period of time.

2 According to the hypothesis, predict the results of the investigation:

The papaya kept in the box with rice ripens more quickly.

3 Identify the variables below:

(6) _______________ (7) _______________ (8) _______________

variable variable variable

Whether there is rice in the Degree of ripening of the Initial degree of ripening of
container papaya the papaya, size of the
papaya, etc

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4 Is it necessary to set up a control? Why?
(9) _______________ (Yes / No). To confirm that the presence of (10) _______________ is
the only factor that affects the speed of ripening of papayas.

5 What assumption is made in this investigation?

The two papayas are (11) _______________.

Procedure
1 Prepare two identical transparent plastic boxes. Fill one of the boxes with
(12) _______________ until it is half full.
2 Put a (13) _______________ papaya into each box. Then cover the two boxes.
3 Leave the two boxes at (14) _______________ temperature for seven days. Take photographs
of the two papayas every day and compare their (15) _______________.

plastic boxes

papayas

rice

Experimental set-up Control set-up

Results
Degree of ripening (arbitrary unit)#
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
Box with rice 0 1 2 2 3 4 5
Box without rice 0 1 2 2 3 4 5
#
The greater the number, the higher the degree of ripening

Conclusion
The presence of rice (16) ______________________________ (speeds up / does not speed up /
slows down) the ripening of papayas.

 Go to
Practical 1.1 Design an investigation of the effect of fresh pineapple on the setting of jelly
(Book 1A, p. 1-12; Practical Workbook for SBA 1A, p. 1-1)

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Answers
Ch 1 Introducing biology

1.1

1 organisms 2 c 3 d 4 a 5 f
6 e 7 b

1.2

1 Reproduction 2 Nutrition 3 Respiration 4 Growth 5 Excretion

6 Irritability

1.4

1 scientific method 2 observations 3 hypothesis 4 prediction 5 experiments

6 Independent 7 Dependent 8 Controlled 9 control 10 conclusion
11 supported

1.5

1 speeding up 2 rice 3 rice 4 raw 5 ripening

6 Independent 7 Dependent 8 Controlled 9 Yes 10 rice
11 identical 12 rice 13 raw papaya 14 room 15 colour
16 does not speed up

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