BIOLOGY 1M03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Cell Theory, Natural Selection, Robert Hooke
21 Sep 2015
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Document Summary
Biology 1m03 - lecture 3 - the tree of life. The main concept of life is that organisms are alive", meaning they display the ability to grow, metabolize, reproduce, respond to the environment by processing information, and, collectively as populations, evolve. The cell theory, another concept of life, involves the idea that all organisms comprise cells and that all cells derive from preexisting cells. A phylogenetic tree is a diagram that may be interpreted as representing evolutionary relationships, concluded from research, among species. Phylogenics (translates into tribe sources") can be established by analyzing similarities and differences in traits. Species sharing distinctive traits are situated in close proximity on phylogenetic trees. Biologists, and scientists in general, ask questions, generate hypotheses to answer them, and design experiments or make observations that test the predictions made by competing hypotheses, creating scientific theories. Scientific theories are made of two components: patterns observed in the natural world, and mechanisms or processes identified that produce patterns.
