                What I Need to Know


This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you master
the Unifying Themes of Biology. The scope of this module permits it to be used in
many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse
vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard
sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be changed to
correspond with the textbook you are now using.

The module covers:
      Lesson 1 – Unifying Themes of Study of Life (Biology)

After going through this module, you are expected to:
   1. name the unifying themes in the study of life;
   2. describe the unifying themes illustrated;
   3. explain the connection among living things and their interaction with the
      environment;
   4. give details on how these themes serve as the foundation in the study of
      biology.
   5. value life by taking good care of all beings, human, plants and animals.




                What I Know


Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of
paper.

   1. Continuity of life is explained by ______________.
          A. evolution
          B. regulation
          C. form and function
          D. reproduction and inheritance
   2. Living things are considered organisms if they possess which of the following
      characteristics?
          A. grow and develop
          B. failure to produce offspring
          C. absence of orderly structure
          D. incapability of adapting to changing environment


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3. Which of the following best explains why humans sweat when they feel hot?
       A. ability to grow
       B. ability to reproduce
       C. maintain the internal environment
       D. use energy
4. Study the given picture. Which of the following
   DOES NOT describe it?
       A. It shows how organisms respond to its
          environment.
       B. The organisms are growing and developing.
       C. There is a transfer of energy among living
          organisms.
       D. They are evolving.
5. Which statement does not describe the image on
   the right side?
       A. Plants acquire energy for them to perform its
          task, the food making.
       B. Plants need the abiotic factors in order to
          grow.
       C. There is a transfer of energy from the sun to
          the plants.
       D. They are evolving.
6. Which among the given statements describes a cell?
       A. Early organisms lack cell.
       B. Cell is the basic unit of life.
       C. Cell is present among eukaryotic only.
       D. All of the above.
7. Living organisms cannot live alone, they are interacting with the abiotic factors
   for sustainability of life. Which among the organisms is considered as the
   abiotic?
       A. bacteria
       B. plant
       C. light
       D. man
8. One of the characteristics possessed by living organisms is growth and
   development. This happens upon acquiring energy. When creating a food
   chain, in what order do we start illustrating the smallest organism having the
   most energy?
       A. leading to the right
       B. leading to the left
       C. in the middle
       D. any order will do




                                       2


 9. A nice smell of a plant is an adaptation that ______________
        A. helps the plant to keep the nutrients inside.
        B. pushes away the animals that try to eat them.
        C. attracts the pollinators.
        D. regulates the internal environment.
 10. It was observed that the deciduous trees lose their leaves during winter
     season in order to avoid freezing. This is an example of ______________.
        A. a response
        B. organization of life
        C. function and structure
        D. unity of living systems
 11. It is a unifying theme of life science that explains the improvement of lives
     of all organisms through research.
        A. adaptation
        B. inheritance
        C. energy and life
        D. biology and society
12. All organisms alive today have descended from simple cellular creatures
     billions of years ago. Biologists were able to identify and preserved some of
     the characteristics of that earliest organisms. This is associated in what
     theme?
        A. Function and structure are interdependent.
        B. Cell theory as a description of living systems.
        C. Emergent properties arise from the organization of life.
        D. Unity of living systems is explained by evolutionary conservation.
 13. The orchard sprayed with the chemical yields an average of 60 kilos of
      mangoes per tree, the other orchard yields an average of 40 kilos of mangoes
      per tree. Based on the data, in order to have a better yield trees must
     ______________.
             I. receive the same amount of sunlight
             II. receive the same amount of water
             III. increase the orchard spray
       A.   I only
       B.   II only
       C.   I, II
       D.   I, II, III




                                       3


14. Many threatened or endangered species can be saved by a large

    ______________.

       A. coal mine
       B. food chain
       C. wildlife hunting
       D. reforestation project
15. Living organisms can be protected through fighting deforestation. Which
    statement/s describe/s this?

      A. Plant more trees.
      B. Reduce the use of products made from wood fiber.
      C. Demand forest products from sustainable sources and deforestation fee
         supply chains.
      D. The choices are all correct.




                                    4


 Lesson
                 Unifying Themes in the
     1           Study of Life

Earth is the home of human beings and organisms, including animals, plants and
microorganisms. They are found in the different parts of the said planet. The
ecosystems-the biological communities- include living organisms (biotic factors) like
animals, plants, insects and bacteria (interacting to its environment), as well as the
nonliving components (abiotic factors) like the rock, soil, water and sunlight. Non-
living things are classified as inanimate objects that may influence, alter or impact
the life of biotic factors. These abiotic factors are essential to biotic factors in various
ways.
The field of science that deals with the study of life is the Life Science/Biology. It
involves different disciplines. These disciplines are connected to one another,
through which the biologist termed as unifying themes.
This module emphasizes these unifying themes that serve as the bases of the study
of Life Science. The ten unifying themes include: emergent properties, the cell, the
heritable information, structure/function, interaction with the environment,
regulation, unity and diversity, evolution, scientific inquiry, and the science,
technology and society. More so, this module explores how organisms interact with
one another and to its environment.




                 What’s In

Biology is the discipline of science that deals with the study of life. This comprises
number of disciplines such as biochemistry and ecology. As a wide-ranging and
complex science, biologists designed the term “unifying themes”, which serve as the
bases for the study of life.




                                             5


      2.                                       5.




       3.



Activity 3: Match It
Directions: Match the given statements to its corresponding unifying themes.

    1. Living things work as a system, at the same         A. biological system
       time they cannot be separated from non-living
       things since they are both operating as a system.
    2. Cells are the basic unit of life, which denotes     B. energy and life
       that all living things are composed of cells.
    3. Autotrophs use light to perform the process         C. biology and society
       photosynthesis, on the other hand, heterotrophs
       consume other organisms to obtain food.
    4. Living things cannot live alone, their survival     D. interaction with the
       depends on how they interact with the                      environment
       environment.
    5. Organisms’ structures fit with its functions.       E. the cellular basis of
                                                               life
    6. Traits of parents are being passed from             F. form and function
       one generation to the next generation.
    7. Cells of the body are surrounded by a               G. reproduction and
       small amount of fluid, and normal cell functions           Inheritance
       depend on the maintenance of cell’s fluid
       environment including temperature, volume,          H. adaptation
       and chemical content.
    8. Living organisms survive depending on               I. regulation /
       how one will adapt to its changing environment.        homeostasis
    9. The diversity of life arises by change
       leading to the present biodiversity that we see.    J. evolution
    10. The field of science is changing the lives of
       all organisms through research.                     K. scientific inquiry




                                         8


                What is It


     The unifying theme connects the different subdisciplines that make biology as a
science. In addition to, the living organisms differ from nonliving organisms in
various aspects. What are these shared properties (of living organisms) that make
something “alive”?
       All levels of life have systems of related parts.
             A system is an organized group of interacting parts.
             A cell is a system of chemicals and processes. It is the basic unit of
               life.
             A body system includes organs that interact.
             An ecosystem includes living and nonliving things that interact.
       Structure and function are related in biology.
            Structure determines function.
            The structure is the shape of the object.
            The function is the object’s specific role.

       Organisms must maintain homeostasis to survive in diverse
        environments.
            Homeostasis is the maintenance of constant internal conditions.
            All living organisms must live in a stable environment.

       Evolution explains the unity and diversity of life.
            Evolution is the change in living things over time. The genetic makeup
              of a population of a species changes.
            It accounts for both the diversity and the unity of life.

       Traits are being inherited and transferred.
            The continuity of life depends on the inheritance of biological
               information in the form of DNA molecules.
            The genetic information is encoded in the nucleotide sequences of the
               DNA.

       Organisms reproduce.
            It is necessary part of living; process of making more of one’s own
              kind.

       Organisms are interdependent with one another.
            Organisms have evolved to live and interact with other organisms.
            Ecology deals with the interactions of living organisms with one
              another and their environment.

       Organisms acquire and process energy.
            Living organisms use a source of energy for their metabolic activities.
            Some living organisms capture the light energy and convert it into
              chemical energy in food.
            Some living organisms use chemical energy stored in molecules
              obtained from food.


                                         9


                   What’s More


Activity 5: Connect Me

Directions: Show the connections of the given biotic and abiotic factors written
inside the box through a concept map.




       Soil                    sunlight            water             Carbon dioxide



      Oxygen                  Corn plant            Man                 Chicken



Activity 6: What’s the connection?
Biology, also referred as Biological Science or Life Science deals with the study of
living organisms. It is divided into subdisciplines. As a broad discipline, biologists
use the term unifying themes where the study is being anchored. The major unifying
themes that were mentioned include the cell theory as a description of living systems,
continuity of life as explained by the molecular basis of inheritance, the
interdependence of structure and function, the diversity of life brought by evolution,
unity of living systems as explained by evolutionary conservations, and emergent
properties that arise from the organization of life.

Directions: Describe each unifying theme illustrated below. Give details on how these
themes serve as the foundation in the study of biology.




      1.




              Growth and development

              Continuity of life

                                           11


                What I Need to Know


This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you master
the Unifying Themes of Biology. The scope of this module permits it to be used in
many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse
vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard
sequence of the course.