Discover the Biological Sciences
The introductory information for this site has been contributed as a joint assignment by students in Bio. Sci. 10.
Biology
By: Jeff Swinney
Biology
Biology is defined as the study of life, but there is more to biology than studying life. Biology classifies and describes organisms, how species came into existence, their functions and how they interact with the environment.
In modern biology there are four foundations, Cell theory, Evolution, Gene theory, and Homeostasis. Biology has many different fields such as Molecular biology, Developmental biology Evolutionary biology and so on. Biology is apart of everything. biology branches off into many different and interesting subjects that all have to do with living organisms, you could say it is the foundation for life. One of the sub-topics of biology is Homeostasis: The ability of an organism or cell to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting its physiological processes.
With consideration to any given life system parameter, an organism may be a conformer or a regulator. Regulators also known as Endotherms which are organisms that generate heat ti maintain their own body temperature, typically above the temperature of its surroundings. Conformers/ Ectotherms regulate their body temperature largely by exchanging heat with its surroundings. Mammals and birds are considered endothermic and reptiles and some sea creatures are considered to be ectothermic. Although conformers are effected by their environment they have some behavioral adaptations allowing them to exercise some control over a given parameter. Reptiles for example, often rest on sun-heated rocks in the morning in order to raise their body temperature. The behavior of regulators may contribute to their internal stability, that same sun baked rock may be a nice place for a cat to take a morning nap or just hang out. Biological homeostasis is basically the controlling system for the body, without it animals and humans would have a hard time dealing with their environment.
References:
1) <http://www.biology.online.org/dictionary/Biology>http://www.biology.online.org/dictionary/Biology
2) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology
3) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeostasis>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeostasis
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