REVIEW QUESTIONS

UNIT ONE

 

PLEASE NOTE:  While these review questions are not a copy of the exam, if you know and understand the answers to these questions you should be very well prepared for the exam.

 

 

  1. Make sure you can define all of the terms from the subdiscipline sheet in your lab manual (p. 2).

 

  1. Give three reasons for studying biology, even if your are not planning on majoring in the field.

 

  1. List the 4 characteristics of science as given in class and be able to explain each one.  For example, why are the results of scientific investigations always said to be tentative?

 

  1. List the steps of the scientific method.

 

  1. How does a hypothesis differ from a theory?

 

  1. How is the term theory used differently in the scientific community, as compared to the general population?

 

  1. What is a peer-reviewed journal?

 

  1. What is spontaneous generation, and how did Pasteur demonstrate the idea to be wrong?

 

  1. What is inductive logic?  Deductive logic?

 

  1. Define matter.  Matter can exist in what three states?

 

  1. What are the building blocks of matter?

 

  1. Define the terms “element” and  “atom.”  Know the parts of an atom, and the charge, if any, on each.

 

  1. How many naturally occurring elements are there?

 

  1. What is the atomic number?  How is the atomic number related to the sequence of elements in the periodic table?

 

  1. What is an isotope?  What is one use of isotopes?

 

  1. What are radioisotopes?  What is meant by their half-life?  How can they be used to date objects?

 

  1. Define atomic weight, and define molecular weight.  Be able to calculate each, if given the information you need.  For example:  what is the atomic weight of oxygen, if it has 8 protons, 8 neutrons and 8 electrons?  What is the molecular weight of carbon dioxide, if carbon has 6 protons, 6 neutrons and 6 electrons, and oxygen is as given in the previous problem?

 

  1. What are valence electrons and why are they important?

 

  1. How many valence electrons does an atom need to be most stable?

 

  1. What four elements make up 96% of the body, by weight?

 

  1. How are covalent bonds formed?  Are they weak or strong bonds?  Do they break when in water?

 

  1. How are ionic bonds formed?  Are ionic bonds strong or weak bonds?  Do they break when placed in water?

 

  1. What is an ion?  A cation?  An anion?

 

  1. How are hydrogen bonds formed?  Are they weak or strong?  They are important bonds holding together the strands of what biological molecule?  How are they important in the stability of large bodies of water?

 

  1. What is an acid?  What is the difference between a strong and a weak acid?  What are some examples of acids?

 

  1. What is a base?  What effect will a base have on an acid?  What are some examples of common bases?

 

  1. Describe the pH scale.  (What is its range and what part of the range is acid, base or neutral).

 

  1. Why is a small difference in pH actually a big difference in acidity?

 

  1. Why is a smaller pH more acidic than a larger pH?

 

  1. Define “energy.”  Be able to list several examples.

 

  1. Organic compounds are based on what element?

 

  1. How does the number of organic compounds compare to inorganic compounds?  How do they differ in size?

 

  1. What are the four types of macromolecules?

 

  1. What is the general formula for a carbohydrate?

 

  1. What is the difference between a monosaccharide, disaccharide and a polysaccharide?  To which of these three categories do glucose, sucrose, starch, glycogen, cellulose and chitin belong?

 

  1. Give two functions of carbohydrates.

 

  1. What one characteristic do all lipids have in common?

 

  1. What are the three groups of lipids.  Be able to give a function of each.

 

  1. What are the building blocks of proteins?  How many of these building blocks are there?

 

  1. Be able to list several functions of proteins.

 

  1. What are the building blocks of nucleic acids?

 

  1. What are the two types of nucleic acids, and in general what are their roles?

 

  1. The genetic code is the sequence of what building blocks?

 

  1. List the characteristics of life, as given in class.

 

  1. What is Panspermia?

 

  1. What age do scientists give to the universe?  Our solar system?

 

  1. How long ago did the earth cool enough for liquid water to form?

 

  1. How old are the oldest confirmed prokaryotic cells?  Eukaryotic cells?

 

  1. How did the atmosphere of early earth differ from that of present-day earth?  What are the implications for spontaneous origin of life?

 

  1. What did Miller and Urey demonstrate with their experiment and why was it so important?

 

  1. Where are some locations where life could have first formed?

 

  1. What are protobionts?

 

  1. What is the major difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells?

 

  1. What are the three Domains of life?  Which one do humans belong to?

 

  1. What are some ideas we discussed on the origin of cells?

 

  1. Why was the property of reproduction, as it evolved, so crucial for the origin of life?

 

  1.  What chemicals are used to store information to pass on to offspring?

 

  1. What is the relationship between DNA, RNA and proteins?

 

  1. What are ribozymes, and why are they thought to be important for early life?

 

  1. What are the four problems we discussed that protobionts would have to overcome to reach the next step?
  2. What role did James Ferris show clay might have on polymerization?

 

  1. What is endosymbiosis?  What organelles are thought to have been involved?

 

  1. What structure is considered the basic unit of life?

 

  1. Who discovered cells and coined their name?

 

  1. Give a few basic differences between a light microscope, a transmission electron microscope and a scanning electron microscope.

 

  1. Who developed the modern cell theory and what two statements does it include?

 

  1. What is the main difference between a eukaryotic cell and a prokaryotic cell?  What kind do humans have?

 

  1. Define “organelle.”

 

  1. Know the basic functions of the organelles we discussed, plus their physical descriptions.

 

  1. Define “metabolism.”

 

  1. What is the difference between anabolic and catabolic reactions?  Which one is endergonic?  Which one is exergonic?

 

  1. What chemical is the intermediated between catabolic and anabolic reactions, and is used as the energy currency of the cell?  How is it produced?

 

  1. What is the complete reaction for photosynthesis?  What type of organisms undergo this reaction?  How do they fit into the food chain?

 

  1. What is the complete reaction for cellular respiration?  What type of organisms undergo this reaction?

 

  1. What are the three parts of cellular respiration, and where do they occur in the cell?

 

  1. What is the structure for ATP?  What chemical does it become when it releases energy that can be used to drive other reactions?

 

  1. What two types of energy are produced by cellular respiration?

 

  1. What is the role of oxygen in cellular respiration?

 

  1. What does the fluid-mosaic model describe?

 

  1. What are the 3 major components of the cell membrane?

 

  1. What are some roles of membrane-bound proteins?

 

  1. Which molecule has both a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic portion, and makes a large part of the cell membrane?

 

  1. What types of molecules readily pass through cell membranes?  What types will not?  What aids are there to move these molecules across the membrane?

 

  1. Know and understand the following terms: solute, solvent, hypertonic solution, hypotonic solution and isotonic solution.  How would a cell react (swell, shrink or no change) to being place in each of these last three solutions?

 

  1. Know the differences between simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion, osmosis, active transport and endocytosis?

 

  1. What are the three types of endocytosis?  Which one is the most specific?  Why?

 

  1. What is mitosis?  Cytokinesis?

 

  1. What are the stages of cell division in mitosis, and what occurs in each stage?

 

  1. What is the difference between a haploid and diploid number of chromosomes?

 

  1. What activities is a cell carrying out when it is in interphase?

 

  1. What are sister chromatids, kinetochores, centromeres and centrosomes?  What role do microtubules play in separating sister chromatids?

 

  1. Be able to identify, using the microscope, the stages of mitosis.

 

  1. Be able to convert from one metric unit to another and be able to convert from metric units to English units and vice versa.

 

  1. Be sure to review all of the labs from your spiral lab manual, as there will be lab questions on the exam also.

 

You are now ready for exam one.  Congratulations!!!