Paul Andersen starts with a brief description of the history of life. He then discusses the seven characteristics of life and why viruses are not alive. He then describes the three domains in the current classification system and explains why eukaryotes are more closely related to members of the Archaea domain.
Paul Andersen explains the current classification system that we use in Biology. He starts with a brief history of taxonomy. He explains how the goal of classification is to reflect evolutionary relationships. He then explains how each individual organism is classified according to genus and species.
Paul Andersen describes the important characteristics of viruses. He starts with a brief description of origin theories. He then describes the two characteristics of all viruses; genetic information and protein coats. He also describes how some viruses use specialized envelopes to gain entry to their host cells. He also explains the lytic and lysogenic reproductive cycles.
Paul Andersen describes the defining characteristics of the domain Eubacteria. He begins with a quick description of the phylogeny of bacteria and horizontal gene transfer. He then surveys the structures of a bacteria; nucleoid region, capsule, pilli, cell wall with peptidoglycan, flagella. He describes the differing morphologies and metabolism in different bacteria. He describes how bacteria can be Gram positive or Gram negative. He finishes with a brief discussion of quorum sensing.
In this video Paul Andersen describes the defining characteristics of members in the domain archaebacteria. He starts with a brief description of the phylogeny of this group. He then describes the major characteristics on an archaea, such as differences in the phospholipids. He explains how they reproduce through binary fission and finishes with a discussion of archaebacteria diversity.
Paul Andersen discusses the defining characteristics of the members of Domain Eukarya. He starts with a brief description of the phylogeny of life on earth. He then discusses the major characteristics of eukaryotic cells. He explains how eukaryotic cells evolved from prokaryotic cells using endosymbiosis and infolding. He finally discusses the metabolism and reproduction found in eukaryotes.
Paul Andersen surveys organisms in the protists. He reviews the diversity found within the domain Eukarya and explains that the Kindgom Protista is simple a junk drawer for organisms that don't fit elsewhere.
Paul Andersen surveys the Kingdom Fungi. He starts with a brief description of the fungi phylogeny. He describes some of the major characteristics of fungi; heterotrophy, cell walls of chitin, hyphae, sessile. He describes the characteristics of five major phyla of fungi, ascomycota, basidiomycota, chytridiomycota, glomeromycota and zygomycota.
Paul surveys the Kingdom Plantae. He begins with a brief description of the phylogeny of land plants. He then describes the defining characteristics of plants, including cell walls, embryophytes, alternation of generation and photosynthesis. He briefly describes the sporophyte and the gametophyte. He finishes with brief discussion of plant evolution and includes major divisions, like bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms.
Paul Andersen briefly surveys members of the Domain Animalia. He begins with brief description of the phylogeny of animals. He then describes the characteristics of all animals, heterotrophy, multicellularity, motility and blastula. He describes eight invertebrates and vertebrates.
Paul Andersen explains how biology is ordered in the hierarchy of life. He first of all describes how emergent properties appear as you move to more inclusive systems. The then describes life at the following levels; atom, molecule, macromolecule, organelle, cell, tissue, organ, organ system, organisms, population, community, ecosystem, biome and finally biosphere.
