Introduction

Introduction to Biology

The word Biology comes from two Greek words that tell us what the subject is about.

"bios" which means "life"

"logos" which means "study"

This means that Biology is the study of living things and how they stay alive in their surroundings.

Biology is the study of life - examining living organisms, their interactions with one another, and their relationships with their environments.

It is the branch of science where we look at how animals, plants, and humans live and behave.

Living Things

A living thing is any creature that is alive and can do things like breathing, eating, and growing.

A living thing is any organism that possesses or shows the characteristics of life.

If something can move, grow, and have babies, we call it a living thing.

We use a special name to remember the things all living things do, which is MR NIGER CAD:

M stands for Movement

R stands for Respiration (Breathing)

N stands for Nutrition (Eating food)

I stands for Irritability (Feeling things and reacting)

G stands for Growth (Getting bigger)

E stands for Excretion (Removing waste like urine)

R stands for Reproduction (Having children)

C stands for Competition (Struggling for food or space)

A stands for Adaptation (Changing to survive in a place)

D stands for Death (Ending of life)

All living things are made of tiny units called cells and they need energy from food to stay alive. They can produce young ones, get bigger, use energy, react when you touch them, and change to fit where they live. Common examples are tiny germs like bacteria, small water creatures like protozoa, plants in the farm, mushrooms, animals like goats, and human beings.

Viruses

Viruses are very strange because they act like they are dead sometimes and alive at other times.

Viruses are not absolutely living or non-living.

They change their behavior depending on where they are hiding.

When they are outside a body: They are quiet and do not act like they are alive.

When they are inside a body: They wake up, act alive, and use the body to make more of themselves.

Non-Living Things

A non-living thing is something that is not alive and cannot do what living things do.

A non-living thing is one that lacks or has stopped displaying the characteristics of life.

These things cannot do any of the actions in MR NIGER CAD.

They do not grow, they do not have children, and they do not breathe or eat food. They do not feel pain or react when things happen around them. Examples of these things include your school book, a stone on the road, the sun in the sky, and the water in a bucket.