What is Biology?

Biology is the study of life and organisms(living things). This includes how living things survive and interact with each other, and the different parts of their cells. Biology helps us understand why some trees lose their leaves in the winter. It helps us learn how some plants can survive through scorching weather, while others can survive through freezing snow. Biology compares and contrasts plant cells and animal cells. It explains why humans breathe oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. Biology is also divided into various branches.

Organisms

An organism is biotic, which means they are living. Plants, animals, and bacteria are some examples of organisms. All organisms carry out these basic functions: movement, reproduction, sensitivity, growth, respiration, excretion, and nutrition.

• Movement: All organisms move at some time in their life; no organism stays the same.
• Reproduction: All organisms reproduce in one way or another. Reproduction is the purpose of life; to carry on your species’s population.
• Sensitivity: All organisms react to their environment and changes in the environment.
• Growth: All organisms grow in their life. Multicellular organisms grow new cells, and unicellular organisms grow new functions or parts.
• Respiration: All organisms carry out gas exchange, whether through their lungs or through their skin.
• Excretion: All organisms release waste. If they did not, they would die because of the excess material inside them.
• Nutrition: All organisms need nutrition to survive. They all need oxygen, water, and nitrogen to survive, and they get it by either consuming other organisms which have those nutrients or taking the nutrients from the environment.

The Branches of Biology

Biology is divided into various branches.

• Microbiology: the study of cells and organelles inside them using microscopes
• Taxonomy: the branch of biology that classifies organisms into groups, with broad groups having more specific groups inside them
• Physiology: the study of how tissues and organs make up an organism and what function they perform
• Ecology: the study of interactions and groups in an ecosystem
• Evolution: the study of how organisms evolve into new species or subspecies because of a change in the environment
• Zoology: the study of animals and everything to know about animals

There are many more branches, but these are some of the main ones.

Microbiology

Microbiology uses microscopes to study cells, which are the most basic units of life. You can think of a cell as one Lego in a structure made of Legos. Cells carry out all the life functions of living things. Microbiologists study the function of cells, the organelles(parts) inside them, and the difference between plant cells, animal cells, the cell of a fungi, and the cell of a protist. They even study cells of bacteria or archaea(single-celled organisms) which are in a completely different category of cells.

Taxonomy

Taxonomy classifies organisms into different groups: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species, with domain being the least specific and species being the most specific. There are three different domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukaryota. Archaea and bacteria are unicellular(having only one cell inside them) organisms which are very simple and do not have a nucleus or organelles. Eukaryota consists of organisms that do have a nucleus and organelles in their cells. There are 4 kingdoms of the eukaryotic domain: Animals, Plants, Fungi, and Protists.

Physiology

This branch of biology studies how organs and tissues serve different functions. Organs are made of tissues, which are made of many of the same type of cell. Organs are body parts that have specific functions. A few examples of organs are the brain, the ear, the eye, the stomach, etc.

Ecology

Ecology is the study of ecosystems and the interactions that take place there. In an ecosystem, you find many communities, which are groups of the same organism. Multiple communities in the same ecosystem make up a population. Communities have different interactions with each other. The three types of interactions that communities can have are predation, competition, and symbiosis. Predation is when a predator organism eats another organism(the prey) for food. Competition is when two or more organisms compete with each other for the same resources, which can include food, water, or shelter. Plants compete with other nearby plants for sunlight and nitrogen in the soil. Symbiosis is an interaction in which at least on of the organisms in the interaction benefits. The three types of symbiosis are mutualism(both organisms are benefited), commensalism(on organism is benefited and the other is neither benefited or harmed), and parasitism(one organism is benefited and the other is harmed).

Evolution

Evolution is the idea that organisms evolve overtime to help them survive through an environment change. Evolution creates new species or subspecies. Evolution explains why some extinct organisms share similar features with organisms that are living today. It also explains why organisms in the same species have different features to help them live in the environment that they live in. When this happens, the different organisms in the same species are called subspecies.

Zoology

Zoology is the study of animals and animal functions. It studies how animals are classified, the different types of animals, the functions of animals, and adaptations and features that different animals have to help them survive in a certain ecosystem.

How biology is helpful

Biology is not only science that is fun to learn. Biology has a reason to be studied. Most jobs concerning science will be about biology. There are organisms all around you, and many could be harmful. Biology tells us how to deal with those harmful organisms. You need to be aware of how the living world works.