Biology Class Description
Biology, the study of life, begins with the study of things that are not alive: particles, atoms, and compounds. These bits of matter are like a basic Lego set --- some blue blocks, a few red or yellow bricks, maybe a few special parts. Each piece on its own is full of potential but isn't very impressive until it's joined to others. Carefully hook them up, tweak that model a little, and voila , you've created something with form, function, and purpose. Maybe it's a bridge, fort, or dune buggy. Then again, if atoms and compounds are your Legos, maybe it's an endoplasmic reticulum or a spleen. Life, like Legos, is a matter of organization. Next, we'll investigate the means by which living creatures reproduce the genetic message that allows for success or failure in the next generation - the mysteries of Mendel, the heartbreak of hair loss, the genius of genes, and generally, nature's luck of the draw.
The second half of our studies hinge on this irony: The more things are the same, the “differenter” they become. The rich diversity of life allows female mosquitoes to lay eggs only after drinking a carnivore shake. It's Mountain Dew-like nectar for her cousin the butterfly, though. Here is a baby picture of another invertebrate:
The squid and the snail are so alike that they're both considered Mollusks. They're so different that it would be simple for you to select one as a pet and the other as a bodyguard. This pattern of similarity and diversity repeats itself consistently in the vertebrate world, just as it does in the invertebrate world. We'll examine a wide range of animals from the inside out – literally.