Asking about life / Allan J. Tobin, Jennie Dusheck.

CONTENTS

CHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY
The chemical foundations of life
Biological molecules small and large
Why are all organisms made of cells
Directions and rates of biochemical processes
How do organisms supply themselves with energy
Photosynthesis: How do organisms get energy from the sun?

GENETICS: THE CONTINUITY OF LIFE
Cell reproduction
From meiosis to Mendel
The structure, replication, and repair of DNA
How are genes expressed?
Jumping genes and other unconventional genetic systems
Genetic engineering and recombinant DNA
Human genetics

EVOLUTION
What is the evidence for evolution?
Microevolution: How does a population evolve?
Macroevolution: How do species evolve?
How did the first organisms evolve

DIVERSITY
Classification: What's in a name?
Prokaryotes: How does the other half live?
Classifying the protists and multicellular fungi
Protosme animals: Most animals from mouth first
Deuterostome animals: Echinoderms and chordates

ECOLOGY
Ecosystems
Communities: How do species interact
Biomes and aquatic communities
Populations and the human place in the biosphere
The ecology of animal behaviour

STRUTURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS OF FLOWERING PLANTS
Structural and chemical adaptations of plants
what drives water up and sugar down
Growth and development of flowering plants
How do plant hormones regulate growth and development

STRUCTURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS OF ANIMALS
Form and function in animals
How do animals obtain nourishment from food
How do animals coordinate cells and organs
Blood, circulation and the heart
How do animals obtain and distribute oxygen
How do animals manage water' salts and wastes
Défense: Inflammation and immunity
The cells of the nervous system
The nervous system and the sense organs
Sexual reproduction
How do organisms become complex

Includes bibliographical references and index.