...Biodiversity is the foundation of ecosystem services to which human well-being is intimately linked. No feature of Earth is more complex, dynamic, and varied than the layer of living organisms that occupy its surfaces and its seas, and no feature is experiencing more dramatic change at the hands of humans than this extraordinary, singularly unique feature of Earth. This layer of living organisms—the biosphere—through the collective meta¬bolic activities of its innumerable plants, animals, and microbes physically and chemically unites the atmosphere, geo-sphere, and hydrosphere into one environmental system within which millions of species, including humans, have thrived. Breathable air, potable water, fertile soils, productive lands, bountiful...
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...Taxonomy and terminology Throughout most of the history of science from Aristotle to Linnaeus and into the 20th century, species were divided into two kingdoms: animals and plants. Driven by DNA characterizations and other modern analysis, fungi and bacteria have now been removed to separate kingdoms; in particular, fungi have cell walls that contain chitin rather than cellulose. Lichens, which are a symbiotic association of a fungal and photosynthetic organism, are generally not considered plants in the purest sense of taxonomy, although earlier classification schemes viewed them as plants. Viruses are also not considered to be plants, since they do not have a cell of their own, but inhabit a host cell of another organism; moreover, in many classifications they are not considered a living organism at all. Myxomycetes, or slime molds, are also not considered plants, but rather are heterotrophs that can ingest bacteria, fungal spores, and other items. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant taxa of plants, defined as seed plants, bryophytes, ferns and fern allies. As of 2008, approximately 400,000 plant species have been described,[2] of which roughly ninety percent are flowering plants. Vascular plants have lignified tissue and specialized structures termed xylem and phloem, which transport water, minerals, and nutrients upward from the roots and return sugars and other photosynthetic products. Vascular plants include ferns...
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...| Syllabus College of Natural Science BIO/100 Version 2 Introduction to Life Science with Lab | Copyright © 2009, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course applies a broad, conceptual understanding of biology. Students are introduced to scientific ideologies and concepts that not only shape the biological world, but also shape humans. Students examine the scientific method, evolution and biodiversity, the biology of cells, physiology, the dynamics of inheritance, and the effect humans have on the environment. The text emphasizes methods and the theoretical foundations of ideas, while minimizing isolated facts. It stresses the integration of ideas, making connections that form an understanding of the living world. The weekly online labs add a practical component to the class. The labs build upon the concepts in the text and offer a chance to interact with the material and further their understanding. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have...
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...how these conditions were created. Surfaces of Mars, Moon, Venus, Earth. Source: NASA Sections: 1. Introduction 2. Many Planets, One Earth 3. Reading Geologic Records 4. Carbon Cycling and Earth's Climate 5. Testing the Thermostat: Snowball Earth 6. Atmospheric Oxygen 7. Early Life: Single-Celled Organisms 8. The Cambrian Explosion and the Diversification of Animals 9. The Age of Mammals 10. Further Reading Unit 1 : Many Planets, One Earth -1- www.learner.org 1. Introduction Earth's long history tells a story of constant environmental change and of close connections between physical and biological environments. It also demonstrates the robustness of life. Simple organisms first appeared on Earth some 3.8 billion years ago, and complex life forms emerged approximately 2 billion years ago. Life on Earth has endured through many intense stresses, including ice ages, warm episodes, high and low oxygen levels, mass extinctions, huge volcanic eruptions, and meteorite impacts. Untold numbers of species have come and gone, but life has survived even the most extreme fluxes. To understand why Earth has been so conducive to life, we need to identify key conditions that make it habitable and ask why they exist here but not on neighboring planets. This unit describes how Earth's carbon cycle regulates its climate and keeps surface temperatures within a habitable range. It also examines another central factor: the rise of free oxygen in the atmosphere starting more than...
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...South Carolina Social Studies Academic Standards Mick Zais, Ph.D. State Superintendent of Education South Carolina Department of Education Columbia, South Carolina State Board Approved Document – August 18, 2011 Contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1 Social Studies Standards Page Format .............................................................................................5 Grade-Level Standards for Social Studies Grades K–3 Kindergarten. Foundations of Social Studies: Children as Citizens ...............................................7 Grade 1. Foundations of Social Studies: Families........................................................................12 Grade 2. Foundations of Social Studies: Communities ................................................................17 Grade 3. South Carolina Studies ..................................................................................................22 Grades 4–5 Grade 4. United States Studies to 1865 ........................................................................................29 Grade 5. United States Studies: 1865 to the Present ....................................................................36 Grades 6–8 Grade 6. Early Cultures to 1600...
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...“The longer you live the longer you should live” –Wiley “Evolution’s a bitch” –Wiley “Suckers are good to eat” –Wiley WHAT HAS EVOLUTION DONE FOR ME What has evolution done for me • Agricultural crops and animal breeding for the past 8,000 years • With the discovery of methods to reconstruct evolutionary relationships there is been a vast increase in the relevance of evolutionary biology to human society. Reconstructing Phylogenies • 1859-1950- No coherent empirical methods • 1950-1966- Emergence of Phylogenetic Systematics • Phylogeny by discovery of the order of evolutionary innovation Ribotyping • Fingerprinting or sequencing RNA • Many diseases have unknown causes • However, diseased tissues can be ribotyped. (Wiley Death Fish) • This process involves extracting DNA from diseased tissues and then sequencing the DNA that codes for rRNA. • If a disease agent such as a bacteria is present, then we will get ribosomal DNA sequences from the host (you) and the bacteria (the infection agent). Ribotyping: Phylogeny matching • Once we have the rDNA sequences, we can plug them into a sequence matrix of all life and see where our unknowns appear on the tree of life. Our Food Chain • Some products are easy to identify, but others are not. • A slab of fish fillet from a sea bass looks like a slab of sih fillet from a farmed Asian catfish. • But the sea bass costs $10/pound while the Asian catfish...
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... Photographs – Erach Bharucha Drawings – Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research All rights reserved. Distributed by University Grants Commission, New Delhi. 2004. ii Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses Preliminary Pages.p65 2 4/9/2004, 5:06 PM Vision The importance of Environmental Studies cannot be disputed. The need for sustainable development is a key to the future of mankind. The degradation of our environment is linked to continuing problems of pollution, loss of forest, solid waste disposal, issues related to economic productivity and national as well as ecological security. The increasing levels of global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer and a serious loss of biodiversity have also made everyone aware of growing environmental concerns. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio De Janero in 1992, and the World...
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...Biology guide First assessment 2016 Biology guide First assessment 2016 Diploma Programme Biology guide Published February 2014 Published on behalf of the International Baccalaureate Organization, a not-for-profit educational foundation of 15 Route des Morillons, 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland by the International Baccalaureate Organization (UK) Ltd Peterson House, Malthouse Avenue, Cardiff Gate Cardiff, Wales CF23 8GL United Kingdom Website: www.ibo.org © International Baccalaureate Organization 2014 The International Baccalaureate Organization (known as the IB) offers four high-quality and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools, aiming to create a better, more peaceful world. This publication is one of a range of materials produced to support these programmes. The IB may use a variety of sources in its work and checks information to verify accuracy and authenticity, particularly when using community-based knowledge sources such as Wikipedia. The IB respects the principles of intellectual property and makes strenuous efforts to identify and obtain permission before publication from rights holders of all copyright material used. The IB is grateful for permissions received for material used in this publication and will be pleased to correct any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted...
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...How is the scientific method used to solve problems? Scientific method used to solve problems by keen observations, rational analysis, and experimentation. Observation: Closely observe the physical world around you. How is the scientific method used to solve problems? Scientific method used to solve problems by keen observations, rational analysis, and experimentation. Observation: Closely observe the physical world around you. Question: Recognize a question or a problem. Hypothesis: An educated guess or a reasonable explanation. When the hypothesis can be tested by experiment, it qualifies as a scientific hypothesis Prediction: Consequences that can be observed if the hypothesis is correct. The consequences should be absent if the hypothesis is not correct. Conclusion: Formulate the simplest general rule that organizes the hypothesis, predicted effects, and experimental findings. What is the principle of falsifiability? For a hypothesis to be considered scientific it must be testable?it must, in principle, be capable of being proven wrong. Fact: A phenomenon about which competent observers can agree. Theory: A synthesis of a large body of information that encompasses well-tested hypotheses about certain aspects of the natural world. Law: A general hypothesis or statement about the relationship of natural quantities that has been tested over and over again and has not been contradicted. Also known as a principle. Evidence: which...
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...Hide WLE Austria Logo (no text).svgWiki Loves Africa: share African cultural fashion and adornment pictures with the world! This is a good article. Click here for more information. Page semi-protected Tiger From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Tigress" redirects here. For other uses, see Tiger (disambiguation) and Tigress (disambiguation). Tiger Temporal range: early Pleistocene–Recent PreЄЄOSDCPTJKPgN ↓ Tigress at Jim Corbett National Park.jpg A Bengal tiger (P. tigris tigris) Conservation status Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1] Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Genus: Panthera Species: P. tigris Binomial name Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758) Subspecies P. t. tigris P. t. corbetti P. t. jacksoni P. t. sumatrae P. t. altaica P. t. amoyensis †P. t. virgata †P. t. balica †P. t. sondaica †P. t. acutidens †P. t. trinilensis Tiger map.jpg Tiger's historic range in about 1850 (pale yellow) and in 2006 (in green).[2] Synonyms Felis tigris Linnaeus, 1758[3] Tigris striatus Severtzov, 1858 Tigris regalis Gray, 1867 The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to 3.38 m (11.1 ft) over curves and exceptionally weighing up to 388.7 kg (857 lb) in the wild. Its most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with a lighter underside. The species is classified in the genus...
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...Lichen /A lichen is a composite organism that emerges from algae[->0] or cyanobacteria[->1] (or both) living among filaments of a fungus[->2] in a mutually beneficial (symbiotic[->3]) relationship.[1][2][3] The whole combined life form has properties that are very different to properties of its component organisms. Lichens come in many colors, sizes, and forms. The properties are sometimes plant-like, but lichens are not plants. Lichens may grow like a tiny, leafless, branching shrub (fruticose[->4]), like it has leaves (foliose[->5]), like a crust of paint on a surface (crustose[->6]),[4] or have other growth forms.[5] A macrolichen is a lichen that is either bush-like or leafy. A microlichen is everything else.[1] Here, "macro" and "micro" do not refer to size, but to the growth form.[1] Common names for lichens[->7] may contain the word "moss" (e.g., "Reindeer moss[->8]", "Iceland moss[->9]"), and lichens may superficially look like and grow with mosses, but lichens are not related to mosses or any plant.[3]:3 Lichens don't have roots that absorb water and nutrients like in plants.[6]:2 Instead they produce their own food from sunlight, air, water, and minerals in their environment.[7] They are not parasites[->10] on the plants they may grow on, but only use them as a substrate to grow on or in. Lichens occur from sea level[->11] to high alpine[->12] elevations, in a very wide range of environmental conditions, and can grow on almost any surface.[7] Lichens are abundant...
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...Employment News 31 May - 6 June 2014 www.employmentnews.gov.in 21 UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION EXAMINATION NOTICE NO. 09/2014-CSP (LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS : 30/06/2014) DATE :31.05.2014 CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION, 2014 (Commission’s website-http://upsc.gov.in) F. No. 1/5/2013-E.I(B) : Preliminary Examination of the Civil Services Examination for recruitment to the Services and Posts mentioned below will be held by the Union Public Service Commission on 24th Aug., 2014 in accordance with the Rules published by the Department of Personnel & Training in the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 31st May, 2014. (i) Indian Administrative Service. (ii) Indian Foreign Service. (iii) Indian Police Service. (iv) Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’. (v) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’. (vi) Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’. (vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’. (viii) Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’. (ix) Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration). (x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’. (xi) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’. (xii) Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’. (xiii) Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A'. (xiv) Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’. (xv) Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’ (xvi) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group...
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...Employment News 11 - 17 February 2012 www.employmentnews.gov.in 21 Union Public Service Commission EXAMINATION NOTICE NO. 04/2012-CSP DATED 11.02.2012 (LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS : 05.03.2012) CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION, 2012 (Commission's website - http://www.upsc.gov.in) F. No. 1/4/2011-E.I(B) : Preliminary Examination of the Civil Services Examination for recruitment to the Services and Posts mentioned below will be held by the Union Public Service Commission on 20th May, 2012 in accordance with the Rules published by the Department of Personnel & Training in the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 4th February, 2012. (i) Indian Administrative Service. (ii) Indian Foreign Service. (iii) Indian Police Service. (iv) Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’. (v) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’. (vi) Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’. (vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’. (viii) Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’. (ix) Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration). (x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’. (xi) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’. (xii) Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’. (xiii) Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A'. (xiv) Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’. (xv) Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’ (xvi) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’. (xvii) Indian Information...
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...Insight Report The Global Competitiveness Report 2014–2015 Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum Insight Report The Global Competitiveness Report 2014–2015 Full Data Edition Professor Klaus Schwab World Economic Forum Editor Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martín Columbia University Chief Advisor of The Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network © 2014 World Economic Forum World Economic Forum Geneva The Global Competitiveness Report 2014–2015: Full Data Edition is published by the World Economic Forum within the framework of The Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network. Copyright © 2014 by the World Economic Forum Professor Klaus Schwab Executive Chairman All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise without the prior permission of the World Economic Forum. Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martín Chief Advisor of The Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network Espen Barth Eide Managing Director and Member of the Managing Board ISBN-13: 978-92-95044-98-2 ISBN-10: 92-95044-98-3 Jennifer Blanke Chief Economist This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS AND BENCHMARKING NETWORK Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, Head of the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network and...
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...Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress Professor Joseph E. STIGLITZ, Chair, Columbia University Professor Amartya SEN, Chair Adviser, Harvard University Professor Jean-Paul FITOUSSI, Coordinator of the Commission, IEP www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr Other Members Bina AGARWAL Kenneth J. ARROW Anthony B. ATKINSON François BOURGUIGNON Jean-Philippe COTIS Angus S. DEATON Kemal DERVIS Marc FLEURBAEY Nancy FOLBRE Jean GADREY Enrico GIOVANNINI Roger GUESNERIE James J. HECKMAN Geoffrey HEAL Claude HENRY Daniel KAHNEMAN Alan B. KRUEGER Andrew J. OSWALD Robert D. PUTNAM Nick STERN Cass SUNSTEIN Philippe WEIL University of Delhi StanfordUniversity Warden of Nuffield College School of Economics, Insee, Princeton University UNPD Université Paris 5 University of Massachussets Université Lille OECD Collège de France Chicago University Columbia University Sciences-Po/Columbia University Princeton University Princeton University University of Warwick Harvard University London School of Economics University of Chicago Sciences Po Rapporteurs Jean-Etienne CHAPRON General Rapporteur Didier BLANCHET Jacques LE CACHEUX Marco MIRA D’ERCOLE Pierre-Alain PIONNIER Laurence RIOUX Paul SCHREYER Xavier TIMBEAU Vincent MARCUS INSEE INSEE OFCE OCDE INSEE INSEE/CREST OCDE OFCE INSEE Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I. SHORT NARRATIVE ON THE CONTENT OF THE REPORT Chapter 1: Classical GDP Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
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