Ecology Ecology is an interdisciplinary field that includes biology and Earth science. The word "ecology" ("Ökologie") was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919). Ancient Greek philosophers such as Hippocrates and Aristotle laid the foundations of ecology in their studies on natural history. Modern ecology transformed into a more rigorous science in the late 19th century. Evolutionary concepts on adaptation and natural selection became cornerstones of modern ecological theory. Ecology is not synonymous with environment, environmentalism, natural history, or environmental science. Ecology is a human science as well. Integrative levels, scope, and scale of organization[edit] Hierarchical ecology[edit] System behaviors must first be arrayed into different levels of organization. O'Neill et al. (1986)[5]:76 Biodiversity[edit] Biodiversity refers to the variety of life and its processes. Noss & Carpenter (1994)[9]:5 Habitat[edit] Biodiversity of a coral reef. Niche[edit]
Anatomy Anatomy is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of animals and their parts; it is also referred to as zootomy to separate it from human anatomy. In some of its facets, anatomy is related to embryology and comparative anatomy, which itself is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny.[1] Human anatomy is one of the basic essential sciences of medicine. Definition[edit] Human compared to elephant frame Anatomical chart by Vesalius, Epitome, 1543 The discipline of anatomy can be subdivided into a number of branches including gross or macroscopic anatomy and microscopic anatomy.[4] Gross anatomy is the study of structures large enough to be seen with the naked eye, and also includes superficial anatomy or surface anatomy, the study by sight of the external body features. The term "anatomy" is commonly taken to refer to human anatomy. Animal tissues[edit] A diagram of an animal cell Unlike plant cells, animal cells have neither a cell wall nor chloroplasts.
Cell (biology) The cell (from Latin cella, meaning "small room"[1]) is the basic structural, functional and biological unit of all known living organisms. Cells are the smallest unit of life that can replicate independently, and are often called the "building blocks of life". The study of cells is called cell biology. The cell was discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665. The cell theory, first developed in 1839 by Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, states that all organisms are composed of one or more cells, that all cells come from preexisting cells, that vital functions of an organism occur within cells, and that all cells contain the hereditary information necessary for regulating cell functions and for transmitting information to the next generation of cells.[5] Cells emerged on Earth at least 3.5 billion years ago.[6][7][8] Anatomy There are two types of cells, eukaryotes, which contain a nucleus, and prokaryotes, which do not. Prokaryotic cells Eukaryotic cells Subcellular components Membrane
Biochemistry Biochemistry is closely related to molecular biology, the study of the molecular mechanisms by which genetic information encoded in DNA is able to result in the processes of life. Depending on the exact definition of the terms used, molecular biology can be thought of as a branch of biochemistry, or biochemistry as a tool with which to investigate and study molecular biology. Much of biochemistry deals with the structures, functions and interactions of biological macromolecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids, which provide the structure of cells and perform many of the functions associated with life. History[edit] It once was generally believed that life and its materials had some essential property or substance distinct from any found in non-living matter, and it was thought that only living beings could produce the molecules of life. Starting materials: the chemical elements of life[edit] Biomolecules[edit] Carbohydrates[edit] Lipids[edit] Proteins[edit]
Neuron All neurons are electrically excitable, maintaining voltage gradients across their membranes by means of metabolically driven ion pumps, which combine with ion channels embedded in the membrane to generate intracellular-versus-extracellular concentration differences of ions such as sodium, potassium, chloride, and calcium. Changes in the cross-membrane voltage can alter the function of voltage-dependent ion channels. If the voltage changes by a large enough amount, an all-or-none electrochemical pulse called an action potential is generated, which travels rapidly along the cell's axon, and activates synaptic connections with other cells when it arrives. Neurons do not undergo cell division. In most cases, neurons are generated by special types of stem cells. A type of glial cell, called astrocytes (named for being somewhat star-shaped), have also been observed to turn into neurons by virtue of the stem cell characteristic pluripotency. Overview[edit] Anatomy and histology[edit]
Vocabulary Organism Life is a characteristic distinguishing objects having signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not,[1][2] either because such functions have ceased (death), or because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate.[3][4] Biology is science concerned with the study of life. Though life is confirmed only on the Earth, many think that extraterrestrial life is not only plausible, but probable or inevitable.[15][16] Other planets and moons in the Solar System have been examined for evidence of having once supported simple life, and projects such as SETI have attempted to detect radio transmissions from possible alien civilizations. According to the panspermia hypothesis, microscopic life exists throughout the Universe, and is distributed by meteoroids, asteroids and planetoids.[17] Early theories Materialism Herds of zebra and impala gathering on the Maasai Mara plain Democritus (460 BC) thought that the essential characteristic of life is having a soul (psyche).
Brain This article compares the properties of brains across the entire range of animal species, with the greatest attention to vertebrates. It deals with the human brain insofar as it shares the properties of other brains. The ways in which the human brain differs from other brains are covered in the human brain article. Several topics that might be covered here are instead covered there because much more can be said about them in a human context. The most important is brain disease and the effects of brain damage, covered in the human brain article because the most common diseases of the human brain either do not show up in other species, or else manifest themselves in different ways. Anatomy[edit] Cross section of the olfactory bulb of a rat, stained in two different ways at the same time: one stain shows neuron cell bodies, the other shows receptors for the neurotransmitterGABA. Cellular structure[edit] Neurons generate electrical signals that travel along their axons. Evolution[edit]
Cellule procariote ed eucariote In Prima Media in genere si studiano le cellule. Una prima distinzione le suddivide in procariote ed eucariote. Sfogliamo queste diapositive tratte dal libro Biologia.blu di Sadava, Heller, Orians, Purves, Hillis, edizioni Zanichelli. Proseguiamo il nostro studio utilizzando queste due brevi, ma molto ben fatte, presentazioni. Si tratta di interattivi multimediali che, dopo aver illustrato le principali caratteristiche e differenze tra i due tipi di cellule, permettono di approfondire la conoscenza delle varie componenti, semplicemente cliccando sopra ai nomi che compaiono nell’immagine. Cellula procariote Cellula eucariote Articoli che ti possono interessare Risorse interattive di matematica Questa risorsa multimediale comprende attività interattive per la matematica, strategie di apprendimento e video che illustrano come la matematica serva nella vita quotidiana.
Biology History The objects of our research will be the different forms and manifestations of life, the conditions and laws under which these phenomena occur, and the causes through which they have been effected. The science that concerns itself with these objects we will indicate by the name biology [Biologie] or the doctrine of life [Lebenslehre]. Although modern biology is a relatively recent development, sciences related to and included within it have been studied since ancient times. Natural philosophy was studied as early as the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indian subcontinent, and China. Scholars of the medieval Islamic world who wrote on biology included al-Jahiz (781–869), Al-Dinawari (828–896), who wrote on botany,[8] and Rhazes (865–925) who wrote on anatomy and physiology. Biology began to quickly develop and grow with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's dramatic improvement of the microscope. Foundations of modern biology Cell theory Main article: Cell theory Evolution Genetics
Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system.[1] Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics, medicine and allied disciplines, philosophy, physics, and psychology. It also exerts influence on other fields, such as neuroeducation[2] and neurolaw. The term neurobiology is usually used interchangeably with the term neuroscience, although the former refers specifically to the biology of the nervous system, whereas the latter refers to the entire science of the nervous system. Because of the increasing number of scientists who study the nervous system, several prominent neuroscience organizations have been formed to provide a forum to all neuroscientists and educators. History[edit] The study of the nervous system dates back to ancient Egypt. Modern neuroscience[edit] Human nervous system
Monera Los cinco reinos de la clasificación de Whittaker y Margulis. Sin embargo, muchos especialistas consideran actualmente que esta denominación es obsoleta, pues se sostiene que en realidad se trata de dos grupos diferentes: arqueas y bacterias (éste último incluye las llamadas algas verdeazules o cianobacterias). Historia[editar] El término Monera tiene una historia larga en la que ha cambiado de significado, aunque ajustado siempre a lo que señala su etimología, del griego μονήρης, moneres, simple, como referencia a los microorganismos más simples. Cuando Chatton descubrió en los años 1920 que las bacterias carecen de núcleo celular, propuso los términos procariota y eucariota en el mismo sentido en que los usamos ahora, y empezó a parecer oportuno a algunos llamar Monera al conjunto de los procariontes. Uso habitual del término[editar] Características generales: Clasificación[editar] Pero la verdadera revolución vino con la llegada del análisis del ARN ribosomal 16S y 5S desarrollado por C.