Biology 101, Chapter 1, Introduction: Life Defined

In addition to Biology 101:
• Apologia Biology Exp. 1.1 - Biological Classification  (worksheet)


What is Life?
There are four criteria to actually be able to say something is alive.
1. All life forms contain deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
2. All life forms have a method to extract energy from their surroundings and convert it into energy that is useful to them.
3. All life forms can sense changes in their surroundings and respond to those changes.
4. All life forms reproduce.
(Apologia Biology, p. 1)


King Philip and the Biological Classification System - Taxonomy


During the video, he gives the genus and species for a mountain lion.  On the screen it says, "Felis Concolor."  The spelling and name are correct, but it should be written as Felis concolor with only the first word capitalized and both words italicized.
The genus and species are the only two categories in the Biological Classification system whose proper names will be italicized.
The proper name of a species is always written in lowercase.

Order of the Biological Classification system:

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, species

The words themselves, "kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species" are not capitalized in sentences unless they precede the proper name.  Such as Kingdom Animalia, or Phylum Chordata.
The proper name of the species is never capitalized.

Use this mnemonic to help you remember the order:  King Phillip Cried Out, "For Goodness Sake!"
Write your own mnemonic.  =)



There are 5 kingdoms.
Each is further divided into the levels mentioned in the video. 

--Kingdom Monera consists of bacteria, and are made of one cell.  Their cells have no nucleus and therefore are called prokaryotic cells. (pro-carry-ah-tic)
(All other organisms have a nucleus, and have what are called eukaryotic cells.)
--Kingdom Protista is made up of other organisms such as amoebas, and are also made of one cell, but their cells have a nucleus - a eukaryotic cell.  (you-carry-ah-tic)
Members of this kingdom are larger than bacteria but still are too small to be seen without a microscope.  
Anything you can see with the naked eye is made of many cells.


Part 1



Part 2 Single-celled kingdoms Monera and Protista



Part 3 Multi-celled kingdoms Fungi, Plantae, and Anamalia