CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Science is a special type of discipline with peculiar characteristics, the prominent among which is the approach through which knowledge is sought. This approach is known as scientific method. Scientific method is a logical, rational and systematic process by which knowledge in science is acquired. The steps involved in scientific method are observation, hypotheses, predictions, experimentations, conclusion and host of others (Ezeh, 2013). Science is both a process (scientific method) and a product (knowledge, fact and principles) (Ezeh, 2013). Both the process and product of science are acquired through education and this is specialized type of education such as science education. Science plays important roles in the society because it relates to our daily life and career. The importance of science in our society made the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Education to introduce science subjects in the nation’s secondary school curriculum. Biology is one of
such subjects introduced.
Biology is a branch of science that deals with the study of living things, which includes human-beings (Michael, 2012). Biology has many branches which include; zoology, botany, ecology, genetics, morphology, anatomy, physiology, histology, microbiology, evolution, cell biology to mention but a few. Many societal issues are biology-based. These include biodiversity, genetically modified organisms, reproductive technologies, prolongation of life, food production, tourism industry (biological gardens) and processing industries. All of these issues have involved improvements that meet human needs and so this twentieth century has been considered as ‘the age of biology’ (Reiss, 1998). The knowledge of biology helps in checking environmental degradation such as desertification, erosion, water hyacinth, land, air and water pollution.