Where Do We Look for Life?

Where Do We Look for Life? — page 1

Where Do We Look for Life? — page 2 — Hin K LiK T E A s s T T CiEn T is CiEn T is WHERE DO WE LOOK FOR LiFE INTRODUCTION Peering through his handcrafted microscope Anton van Leeuwenhoek examined the bee under the lens He could see the insect had tiny mouthparts and a needlelike stinger He reported his first micro scopic observations of the bee a fungus and a louse to the Royal Society of London but many doubted his work until they could repli cate his experiments Leeuwenhoek continued building micro scopes more than 500 of them in order to look more closely at substances such as lake water blood and even tooth scrapings In 1676 he announced that he had observed tiny organisms moving around inside drops of water When another scientist was able to confirm those results it was determined that Leeuwenhoek was the first person to observe bacteria From the smallest bacterium to the larg est whale the life sciences encounter and study life in all its varied forms Life scientists use the scientific method to gather knowledge investigate observe and ex periment to learn about the world Studying life sciences can help solve human health problems improve conservation methods and foster coexistence among Earth’s living things Whether it was Leeuwenhoek ob serving human blood cells for the first time botanists finding that plant leaves undergo a process called photosynthesis or marine biologists locating the elusive giant squid in its deep-ocean habitat amazing discoveries are made possible through the life sciences 5

Where Do We Look for Life? — page 3

Where Do We Look for Life? — page 4 — HIN K LIK T E A S CIEN T IST WHERE DO WE LOOK FOR LIFE CHAPTER 1 LIFE SCIENCE EVOLVES Life Science iS tHe Study of ALL Living oRgAniSmS largest animals tallest plants and biggest super from earth’s smallest microorganisms to its organisms Life scientists might study cells insects humans blue whales giant sequoia trees or the great Barrier Reef By understanding how organisms live survive and reproduce life scientists can improve not only human lives but the lives of other living things as well the main science behind the life sciences is biology over the years many branches of life science have formed including botany the study of plants microbi ology the study of microorganisms genetics the study of heredity and zoology the study of animals Biology developed into its modern form through contributions from ancient civilizations early people observed animals and plants but didn’t always realize the connections of living things to their everyday lives Zoologists analyze growth and behavior in animals such as humpback whales the ancient egyptians often explained disease as an evil demon and described 7

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