Six Unifying Principles
By: Jasmine Siriouthai
Biology is the study of life and how organisms interact to the environment
• Organism:
– anything that demonstrates all of the unifying
themes of biology
• Environment:
– an organism’s surroundings
• to be considered alive, need to exhibit ALL unifying themes.
• “A” = without
• “Biotic” = life
– “Abiotic” = without life
Unifying Theme #1
Evolution
ex: egg > chick > chicken
Adaptation
- Behavior or internal process, allows response to a stimulus
- Gives better chance of survival
- Inherited from previous generations
ex: penguins adapting to the cold
Unifying Theme #2
Response
ex: a tree loses leaves in the winter
Homeostasis
ex: body temperature
Unifying Theme #3
Organization
All living things are organized in cells
• Cells can be differentiated (have different jobs)
ex: how the cells are organized
Unifying Theme #4
Energy
– organisms use energy to growth, respond, maintain
homeostasis, and adapt
• Metabolism - All of the energy an organism uses
– Autotrophic: organism uses energy from sun
for photosynthesis to make own food
– Heterotrophic: organism ingests food to
receive energy
ex: sun
Unifying Theme #6
- Interaction and interdependence in living things
ex: food chain
Unifying Theme #5
Continuity
- They need to make replacements
- If fail to reproduce the species go extinct
ex: offspring of two living organisms
Growth
- begin life as a single cell
- grow and take on characteristics of its species
ex: a tree growing over time
Development
ex: egg > tadpole > frog