Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________

Section 1: The Study of Life

Study Guide B
KEY CONCEPT
Biologists study life in all its forms.

VOCABULARY
biosphere biology metabolism
biodiversity organism DNA
species cell

MAIN IDEA: Earth is home to an incredible diversity of life.

Take notes about the diversity of life on Earth in the chart below.
1. In the box labeled The Biosphere, list examples of environments on earth in
which life is found.
2. In the box labeled Biodiversity, write a definition of the term in your own
words.
3. In the box labeled Species, briefly explain what a species is.
Earth is home to an incredible
diversity of life.

The Biosphere

Biodiversity

Species

4. How is biodiversity related to the biosphere?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5. In general, how does biodiversity vary across the biosphere?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 1 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 1: The Study of Life
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________

Study Guide B continued

MAIN IDEA: All organisms share certain characteristics.

6. Before reading, take a quick look at the headings in this main idea. What are
the four characteristics that identify something as living?
_______________________________________________________________
7. As you read, take notes on how the four basic characteristics help define what
is a living thing.

Characteristic Summary Sentence

Cells

Energy and
metabolism

Response to
environment

Reproduction and
development

Vocabulary Check
8. The word biosphere is made up of two word parts: bio- and sphere. How can
these two word parts help you to remember the definition of biosphere?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
9. What is an organism?
_______________________________________________________________
10. The term metabolism is based on a Greek word that means “change.” How is
this meaning related to the meaning of metabolism?
_______________________________________________________________
11. How is DNA related to reproduction?
_______________________________________________________________

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 2 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 1: The Study of Life
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________
Section 2: Unifying Themes of Biology

Study Guide B
KEY CONCEPT
Unifying themes connect concepts from many fields of biology.

VOCABULARY
system homeostasis adaptation
ecosystem evolution

MAIN IDEA: All levels of life have systems of related parts.

1. What is a system?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. What are some examples of systems?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Complete the table by writing either the level of life or an example of a system at
that level of life.

Level Example
3. Chemicals and processes interact in a precise way so that a
cell can function properly.

Cells 4.

5. Different parts of a living thing work together so that the

living thing can survive.

Ecosystem 6.

MAIN IDEA: Structure and function are related in biology.

7. What are structure and function?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
8. Give an example of how structure and function are related on the cellular level.
_______________________________________________________________
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 3 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 2: Unifying Themes of Biology
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________

Study Guide B continued

MAIN IDEA: Organisms must maintain homeostasis to survive in diverse

environments.
9. What is homeostasis?
_______________________________________________________________
10. Why is homeostasis important to the survival of an organism?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
11. In the space below, draw a sketch to help you remember what negative
feedback is.

Body temperature Body systems send

decreases. messages.

MAIN IDEA: Evolution explains the unity and diversity of life.

12. What is evolution?
_______________________________________________________________
13. Over the course of time, evolution _______________ the genetic makeup of a
population.
14. _____________ are genetic traits that give an advantage to an individual and
can be passed on to offspring

Vocabulary Check
15. A system in which living and nonliving things in a certain area interact is
called a(n) _________________.
16. The maintenance of constant internal conditions in an organism is called
_____________________.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 4 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 2: Unifying Themes of Biology
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________
Section 3: Scientific Thinking and Processes

Study Guide B
KEY CONCEPT
Science is a way of thinking, questioning, and gathering evidence.

VOCABULARY
observation hypothesis independent variable
constant data experiment
dependent variable theory

MAIN IDEA: Like all science, biology is a process of inquiry.

Complete the table below by giving a brief description and a brief example of each
of the scientific process terms.

Scientific Process Description Example

Observation 1. 2.

Data 3. 4.

Hypothesis 5. 6.

7. How do scientists use statistics when they test a hypothesis?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
8. Why is it important that a scientist’s results are evaluated by other scientists?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
9. Look at Figure 3.3. Beginning with observation, what are five parts of
scientific thinking?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 5 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 3: Scientific Thinking and Processes
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________

Study Guide B continued

MAIN IDEA: Biologists use experiments to test hypotheses.

10. In _______________ studies, scientists do not interfere with what is going on.
11. Scientists can test hypotheses through ____________.
12. A(n) ____________ variable is one which is observed and not manipulated by
the scientist.
13. How are constants different from independent variables?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

MAIN IDEA: A theory explains a wide range of observations.

14. What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
15. Why are theories never proven?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Vocabulary Check
16. What is a hypothesis?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
17. How can you remember the difference between an independent variable and a
dependent variable? Think about what the words independent and dependent
mean.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 6 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 3: Scientific Thinking and Processes
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________
Section 4: Biologists’ Tools and Technology

Study Guide B
KEY CONCEPT
Technology continually changes the way biologists work.

VOCABULARY

microscope molecular genetics

gene genomics

MAIN IDEA: Imaging technologies provide new views of life.

Compare and contrast the different types of microscopes and medical imaging
techniques.

Type of Technology Characteristics

Light microscope (LM) 1.

Scanning electron 2.
microscope (SEM)

Transmission electron 3.
microscope (TEM)

X-ray 4.

Magnetic resonance 5.
imaging (MRI)

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 7 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 4: Biologists’ Tools and Technology
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________

Study Guide B continued

MAIN IDEA: Complex systems are modeled on computers.

6. What is a model?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
7. Why might scientists use computer models in research instead of conducting
an experiment on the real system they would like to study?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

MAIN IDEA: The tools of molecular genetics give rise to new biological studies.
8. What is a gene?
_______________________________________________________________
9. How are computers used in genomics?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
10. How does a gene differ from a genome?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Vocabulary Check
11. The term genomics is related to the term genome. How does the definition of
genome give you a clue about what genomics means?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
12. The term molecular genetics is made up of two words: molecular and genetics.
What are the meanings of these two words, and how can these words help you
to remember what molecular genetics is?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 8 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 4: Biologists’ Tools and Technology
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________
Section 5: Biology and Your Future

Study Guide B
KEY CONCEPT
Understanding biology can help you make informed decisions.

VOCABULARY

biotechnology transgenic

MAIN IDEA: Your health and the health of the environment depend on your
knowledge of biology.
1. Briefly describe three ways in which biology can help you make informed
decisions about your health.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. Briefly describe why biology and scientific thinking can help you make
informed decisions related to the world around you.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

MAIN IDEA: Biotechnology offers great promise but also raises many issues.
3. What is biotechnology?
_______________________________________________________________
Use the chart below to list the benefits of biotechnology, as well as the risks and
ethical concerns about biotechnology.

Benefits Risks and Ethical Concerns

4. 5.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 9 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 5: Biology and Your Future
Name ______________________________ Class___________________Date__________________

Study Guide B continued

MAIN IDEA: Biology presents many unanswered questions.

6. Most of our knowledge about DNA was discovered during the past
____________ years.
7. Many questions go ____________ because we don’t know enough about
biology to even come up with those questions.
8. Before the invention of the microscope, people did not know about cells and
bacteria. With this in mind, why do you think many questions go unanswered
and unasked?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Vocabulary Check
Each of the vocabulary words has been divided into its root words. Define the
roots. Then use the definitions to define the vocabulary word.
9. Transgenic organism can be divided into trans- and genic.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
10. Biotechnology can be divided into bio- and technology.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Any Questions?
11. What questions do you have about biology or scientific research? List three
topics in biology that you want to learn more about, and why they interest you.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Holt McDougal Biology 10 Biology in the 21st Century

Study Guide B Section 5: Biology and Your Future