University
of Phoenix Material
What Is Life?
Part I: Media Relevancy
Read each statement.
Write a 100-word summary explaining how
the chosen media piece supports the statement. Include reference citations.
1. Find
a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—that recognizes the
fundamental concepts of chemistry in biology. Include the link or reference citation
for the piece and describe how it helped you better understand how fundamental
concepts of chemistry affect biology.
![Text Box: The video “Basic Chemistry for Biology Students” was very helpful in understanding the relationship between chemistry and biology. The video explains that it is impossible to understand one science without the other, since biology is the study of living things and organisms function and exist because of chemical processes (Humanrelationsmedia, 2012). All of live processes involve chemical reactions, like the combining, exchanging and breaking apart of the atoms and molecules of a few substances. Although back in the day biology was based mainly on observation, with the expansion of the discipline scientist began to ask questions that couldn’t be explained solely by observation, thus the need to connect chemistry concepts into biology (Humanrelationsmedia, 2012).
Reference:
Humanrelationmedia. (2012). Basic Chemistry for Biology Students [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/PYlALulONE0](file:///C:\Users\NSTANC~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif)
2. Find
a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—that describes the
energy metabolism of cells. Include the link or reference citation for the
piece and describe how it helped you better understand the energy metabolism of
cells.
![Text Box: The video “Energy and Metabolism Explained” mentions that our bodies are constantly working to repair and build cells. To do so, the body needs energy, which comes from the food ingested by the individual. To convert the food into energy, chemical reactions must occur (Pulteneyscience, 2011). This set of chemical reactions is the metabolism, which is crucial in sustaining life in living organisms. The video also explains that the minimum amount of energy the body requires is called the Basal Energy Requirement, which will change depending if the body is in rest or in movement. When it comes to metabolic energy, it is important to note that enzymes are responsible for controlling the chemical reaction within cells. In order to perform tasks such as movement or synthesis of macromolecules, cells must retrieve energy from the environment (Pulteneyscience, 2011).
Reference:
Pulteneyscience. (2011). Energy and Metabolism Explained [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/rjza24Oyalc](file:///C:\Users\NSTANC~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.gif)
3. Find
a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—that compares the
structures and functions of different cell types. Include the link or reference
citation for the piece and describe how it helped you better compare structures
and functions of different cell types.
![Text Box: The video “Cell Structure and Function” was helpful in explaining how different cell types work. The video compared a cell to a factory, and mentioned that structure fits function. The video explained that membranes control and organize what goes in and what comes out of the cell and the nucleus controls the cell’s activities. The ribosomes build proteins (Wanakscience’s Channel, 2012). The video goes on to explain the different functions of several parts of the cell, but it does so in a very clear and simple way. Continuing with the comparison of a cell to a factory, the video explains that some structures, although not necessarily part of the assembly line are still important, like the Mitochondria, which is responsible for cell respiration and metabolism (Wanakscience’s Channel, 2012).
Reference:
Wanakscience’s Channel. ( 2012). Cell Structure and Function [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/g4L_QO4WKtM](file:///C:\Users\NSTANC~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.gif)
4. Find
a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—related to the
scientific method, creating hypotheses, or designing experiments. Include the
link or reference citation for the piece and describe how it helped you better
understand how the scientific method is used to create hypotheses and
experiments.
![Text Box: The video “The Scientific Method” gives a helpful description of the scientific method. It begins with a historic explanation that goes back to Plato and other Greek philosophers. Aristotle was a very smart man who used his intuition to draw conclusions, like his idea that if you drop a bigger object and a smaller object, the bigger one will reach the floor first. Because he was so intelligent, most people didn’t bother testing his hypothesis until much later. Turns out, his idea was wrong. The scientific method, explains the video, always begins with a question, followed by a hypothesis. Next, an independent variable is suggested, and a dependent variable, and the controlled variables (Bozeman Science, 2010).
Reference:
Bozeman Science. (2010). The Scientific Method. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/GKGtkzgKfkc](file:///C:\Users\NSTANC~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image004.gif)
Part II: Applying Science to Everyday
Life
Recently,
Earl attended a picnic at his daughter’s school. The picnic was a potluck, and
the food was served outdoors. Contributions included hamburgers, hot dogs,
baked beans, potato chips, potato salad, coleslaw, apple pie, and vanilla ice
cream. Within 24 hours of the picnic, several attendees developed symptoms of
food poisoning. Of the 50 people who attended the picnic, only 30 people became
ill. Every person at the picnic ate something, but not every person had an
opportunity to sample each item. Earl noticed that the potato salad he started
to eat was warm. He also noticed that his hamburger was somewhat pink in the
middle and not fully cooked. Earl wonders if eating the hamburgers or the potato
salad could be responsible for making some attendees ill. Earl has begun to apply
the scientific method to this common problem. Complete each of the following
tasks in 200 to 300 words.
1.
How
would the scientific method help Earl create an experiment to determine which food
sources made people sick?
The
scientific method would help Earl because it would allow him to test his
hypothesis (some type of food made people sick) and prove it to be true. It
would be impossible for Earl to gather food samples from what was actually
served at the picnic, since that was 24 hours before people began to get sick,
and the food was probably all gone. However, since Earl noticed that his
hamburger was undercooked, and the potato salad was not cold, he could create
an experiment by using those two items. By using the scientific method, Earl
would be able to not only guess which food made people sick, but also discard
any possibilities that might not be truth. For Earl to come really close to the
truth, ideally he should contact the individual who brought the potato salad to
the party and ask questions regarding which ingredients were used in the
preparation of the dish, and how it was kept until it was served. The same
should be done with the person who prepared the hamburgers. He could then try
to recreate the recipes and the conditions and home, and hopefully use himself
as a test subject, so he doesn’t get anyone else sick with his experiment.
2.
Describe
the steps of the scientific method Earl utilized.
Maybe
without even noticing, Earl has already begun to use the scientific method. By
being curious and inquisitive, Earl put his mind to work to try to find an
explanation to why people got sick at the party. By trying to figure out why
people got sick from the food at the party, he would not only come up with an
explanation but also an opportunity to avoid the same situation to happen
again. The question regarding the reason behind the mass food poisoning began
his journey through the scientific method. By observing that the potato salad
was warm and the hamburgers were undercooked, Earl performed a background
research and came up with a hypothesis, as to whether the potato salad and the
burgers made people sick. Earl took only the first stops of the scientific
method, which were determining the question and the hypothesis. In order to
fully complete the scientific method process, Earl should continue on and
complete the remaining steps, which involve testing the hypothesis by doing an
experiment, analyzing the data, drawing conclusions, and communicating the
results. Is important to note that in this situation, it would be very
difficult for Earl to be able to conclude exactly which food was the
problematic one, since de can’t be sure if there was something wrong with the
other dishes because he did not ty all of them. The only way to know for sure would
be to contact every single person who was at the party to find out what they
ate.
3.
Describe
the remaining steps Earl will use if he decides to use the scientific method to
determine what made the people sick.
The
first step Earl should take would be deciding the question. In this case, the
question should be “what food made people sick at the party?” The second step
would be determining a hypothesis, which in this case could be “The potato
salad made people sick at the party”. The independent variable, which is the
one we can control, would be eating a portion of potato salad, with the same
ingredients as the original one served at the potluck, and kept in the same
conditions. The depended variable is the resulting variable, or in this case,
if the individual gets sick again or not. The controlled variables are
everything that stays the same, or in this case the ingredients in the potato
salad and the conditions it was kept in. A control group could also be used,
where some individuals get the same potato salad, but from a batch that was
kept properly refrigerated, as opposed to the other one served warm. After
collecting the data (or in this case, observing if individuals got sick or
not), Earl could draw his conclusions and even publish the results, in the
sense of letting the attendees at the party know what possibly made them sick.
