Biology is the pure science which we study about living things. Biologist study all forms of life including ourselves as human beings, other animals, plant and microscopic living thing such as bacteria too small to see with the ordinary human eye.
Biology is such a useful tool with many applications in the morden world. For example it helps us to understand how our body system works both in human and plants and and it also helps us understand how our body system works.
It also investigate the cause of human and plant diseases, and ways to prevent them. This is why student training for careers in medicine or agriculture are required to study Biology. Doctors, nurses, pharmacist, agriculturalist and veterinary surgeons for example all need a sound knowledge of Biology to survive.
Biologist also study the relationship between man and plant. It is important that they should, because how we will live in the future depends on how we use our natural environment today.
By our natural environment we mean the plant, animal, microbes, soil, minerals, air and water inside and around the environment.
We depend on the environment for our food and water and other essential materials, yet, all too often, we damage or destroy it. Especially in morden times man has ruined good farmland. Cut down valuables forest, brought about extinction of plant and animal species and polluted the air, seas, Rivers, and lakes.
We often cause such damage and destruction through ignorance of full effect of our action. Much of it need not to happen, given the knowledge and goodwill.
BIOLOGY AS AN INQUIRY
Biology is defined a a pure science which studies living things why do we call Biology a science and what does the term science mean to answer these questions we shall first define science in two ways.
1. A science is an organised body of knowledge which describes and attempts to explain some parts of the natural world. The classification of living things (appendix) is an example of what is meant by knowledge being organized.
2 science is also about finding out things. Scientists are really more interested in what we do not know than in what is already known. their cheif interest is to add to our knowledge and to depeen our words, the prime purpose of science is research.
Of course other people as well as scientist are interested in the world around them what makes the scientific approach different from the rest are the research method used. These include observation experiment and measurement.
OBSERVATION
to find out what the cell in a green leaf are like you will place some under a microscope and look at them this is am example of research by observation. Because Biologist are often intrested in the structure and behaviour of organisin, observation is common in biological observation it often includes drawing as well as written description.
EXPERIMENT
at times in your Biology course you will use experiment to find the answers to your questions. We shall defer our discussion of scientific experiment until the end of the course, so that you can have first hand experience of the types of experiment we shall be discussing.
1) Using a electron microscope
MEASUREMENT
many of the questions scientist ask can only be answered by measuring or counting. For example, are the yield from this farm increased by using fertilizer, and if so by how much?, or what is the effect of excersice on this person's heart beat?.
A scientist wants result he can relay on so he tries to measure as accurately as he can. He may also cheak his experiment by repeating them a number of times, to find if they are consistent. Several of the experiment you will attempt will be quantitative experiments ; that is experiment which depend on measuring or counting something your course will provide experience of both aspect of Biology ; namely Biology encouraged throughout to conduct your own investigation by observation and experiment and to think and behave like a scientist.
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