Introduction Part 1:Biology, Cells, Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

There's an Introduction in my textbook (there's always an Introduction in a textbook).

Did I read it? Yes, yes of course I read it (that's what an Introduction is for). It went something like this:

Biology: The Study of Life

Biology is the science used to explore the makings of life: how it works, how it relates to other things in the world, and so on. All living things have somethings in common: they are made of cells; they contain Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA); they reproduce; they're connected to the environment in which they live; they  extract energy (eat); they are complex and organized (sounds like a certain textbook I know).

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

As you probably have noticed, I don't use the abbreviation (DNA) when referring to Deoxyribonucleic Acid. The reason is hardly anyone knows what DNA even stands for, myself included. So I figured that, if I only referred to Deoxyribonucleic Acid by its full name, then I would finally remember it no matter what (and perhaps someone else might too if I say it enough times). Deoxyribonucleic Acid is passed down from the parents to the offspring during reproduction and is the "building block" of life, so to speak. The Deoxyribonucleic Acid of every living thing contains all the information needed for a cell to work properly. I guess you could say that Deoxyribonucleic Acid is the Supervisor of all the cells, making sure than everything is running smoothly on a cellular level. According to my textbook, I will be discussing this much more later in my posts.

Reproduction

All living things can reproduce (come together to create another life). In my opinion, it is a beautiful thing and can almost seem like magic. As the Introduction states, there are two types of Reproduction, and whether a species uses one method or another depends on the formation of their Deoxyribonucleic Acid.

Connected to the Environment

All living things are connected to the land they live in. Meaning that if the environment is cold than anything living there must be built to live in the cold (otherwise it would die). If the environment is hot, than anything living there must be built to live in the heat (otherwise it would also die, like its cousin in the cold). Everything is built with the abilities to live in the particular place they live in. Being connected to the Environment also means that those living in the area are able to change with the environment, since the environment is constantly shifting. 

The picture on the top captures Yosemite in the Summer. There are lots of plants, and since most animals live near water it's likely there are a lot of animals in the area too. The animals and plants in Yosemite in the Summer are built to live in the environment we see in the top picture.

Now for the bottom picture. It's still Yosemite but during the Winter, and now the plants look half dead and the water partially frozen. The environment has changed a lot, yet there are still living things here. The animals have either gone into hibernation or are traveling through Yosemite to find more food. The plants are all hibernating until Spring, when they can flourish again. Coming Summer, this frozen river will probably look just like the picture on the top again. Even though there was a change in the environment, everything living in Yosemite is able to continue living despite the change because they adapted. That is the connection to the environment that every living thing has.

Okay, reading back that sounded rather dull, so from now on I'm going to see if I can be a bit more animated through my journal. *flexes fingers and gets ready to type*

Energy Extraction

Going down the list let's see what we have next. Oh yes, Energy Extraction. I'm going to see if I can shorten the long paragraph in my textbook since, relatively speaking, this topic should be a simple one.

All living things must extract (or take in) energy for themselves. Like most living things, eating is our way of extracting energy (and by "our" I mean all human beings). The process of taking energy from our surroundings is called Metabolism (met-a-bole-ism). You've heard that word before? Perhaps you have. I think I have too somewhere, long ago... Maybe it was in P.E... I'm off topic now!

Metabolism is the amount of food that goes through an organism's body to use as energy.

As my textbook clearly (or not so clearly) states as an example, Photosynthesis is the metabolic process used by plants (meaning the Metabolism of plants is known as Photosynthesis). 

Unlike plants, neither humans nor animals can create their own sugar molecules (also known as carbohydrates, also known as the fuel of the universe. I'll get back to this in another post).

 Both animals and humans have to eat other organisms (whether animal or plant) to gain sugar molecules, which our bodies then turns into the energy molecules needed to continue living. The process of turning sugar molecules into energy molecules is called Cellular Respiration. 

The following facts are rather common knowledge, but as I've promised to put down my findings in this journal I'd best put them down now shouldn't I?

• Organisms that only extract sugar (and therefore energy) from eating plant organisms are called Herbivores (such as Horses, Rabbits, etc).
•  Organisms that only extract sugar from eating animal species are called Carnivores (such as lions, wolves, eagles, etc).
• Organisms that extract sugar from eating both plant organisms and other animal species are called Omnivores (such as Humans, bears, and a few others).

The Food Chain is a simple way of discovering what animals are Carnivores, which are Herbivores  and which are Omnivores. In the Food Chain, organisms are separated into three different groups (and nope; they are not Carnivores, Herbivores, and Omnivores). 

Note: The Red arrows in the chart above show the flow of sugar molecules (which will become energy molecules through Cellular Respiration) as they pass from one living organism to another .

• Producers - Plants - With the use of the Sun and Water, plants use Photosynthesis to "produce" they're own sugar molecules which then turn into energy molecules to sustain the life of the plant.
• Consumers - Herbivores, Carnivores, and Omnivores (Unfortunately the chart above does not contain any Omnivores) - Consumers "consume" (eat) other organisms in order to obtain sugar molecules. In the chart above, the Grasshopper is the herbivore, consuming the plant to gain sugar molecules (and therefore energy molecules). The Snake is the second consumer, eating the Grasshopper to extract energy; then comes the Hawk, who will eat the Snake in order to consume the necessary sugar molecules. 
• Decomposer - Fungi and Bacteria - Decomposers break down the remains of dead organisms, whether plant or Animal (therefore they can be either Carnivores or Herbivores).  The nutrients that is left behind from the Decomposers becomes the perfect material for future plants to grow in, starting the cycle all over again. Decomposers are the last part of the circle that makes up the Food Chain.

Complex and Organized

I guess I'll finish up Part 1 with this last paragraph. Even the simplest looking of living organisms are incredibly complex, and everything not just jumbled up: there's an order to everything in life. For once, I'm going to quote my text book here, since I think it does a pretty good job of describing the organization of life.
"Life forms are organized specifically in regard to their atoms, atoms are specifically arranged into molecules, molecules are organized into cells, cells are organized into tissue, tissue is organized into organs, and organs are specifically arranged into organisms." All that specific arrangement and design, makes it kind of hard to believe that there isn't an Intelligence behind the creation of all things in the world. Life is like a gigantic, complex jigsaw puzzle, one that no human could possibly put together. It's incredible!

Please feel free to comment on anything that you might disagree with or find incorrect.