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Biology 2nd Semester Final Exam Study Guide
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The exam will consist of 91 questions and will be worth one-third (~33%) of your semester grade.
To study for this final write down the answers to the questions below on a separate sheet of paper. To find them,
review your notes first, and use the textbook and handouts as additional references. There will be no surprises on
the final; all the necessary information is provided on this study guide. All the notes from the semester are posted on
Mr. Mueller’s champscharter.org page.
The more you challenge yourself while studying, the more you will ultimately learn. Quiz yourself frequently with the
questions on this study guide.
Chapters 3-6: Ecology
1. The combined portions of Earth in which all living things exist is called the…
2. What are bacteria and fungi that break down the nutrients in dead matter into simpler substances that are taken up by
plant roots?
3. What is an autotroph/producer? What is a heterotroph/consumer? What is a decomposer?
4. What is chemosynthesis? What is photosynthesis? What are some examples of photo- and chemosynthetic organisms?
5. What are the reactants and products of photosynthesis?
6. What is the complete equation for cellular respiration (chapter 9!)?
7. What can happen when a lake or ocean receives a large input of a limiting nutrient like phosphorus or nitrogen?
8. What is nitrogen fixation? How does it affect plants?
9. Only ____ percent of the energy stored in an organism can be passed on to the next trophic level. What happens to the
rest of the energy?
10. What type of organisms are found at the bottom of an ecological pyramid? At the top?
11. How is carbon stored in the biosphere?
12. How do the movements of energy and nutrients through living systems differ?
13. What is an abiotic factor? What is a biotic factor? What are some examples of each?
14. What is an organism’s niche?
15. Define and understand the following: immigration, emigration, carrying capacity, demographic transition.
16. How do birthrate and death rate affect population growth?
17. The demographic transition begins with changes in society that…
18. What are some effects of deforestation?
19. Define the following terms: sustainable development, biological magnification, biodiversity, habitat fragmentation,
invasive species, conservation.
20. How is biodiversity beneficial to human society?
21. What causes global warming?
Chapter 12: DNA and RNA
22. What are the three parts of a nucleotide? When nucleotides join together what type of polymers do they form?
23. How does base pairing affect the amount of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine in DNA?
24. Where and in what form does DNA exist in eukaryotes? in prokaryotes?
25. What is the result of DNA replication? i.e., what does it mean that DNA replication is semi-conservative?
26. What are the similarities and differences between DNA and RNA? (check your Venn diagram!)
27. What are the 3 types of RNA? What is each one’s role in protein synthesis?
28. What is transcription? What is the product of transcription? Where in the cell does it take place?
29. What is a codon? How many bases/nucleotides are needed to code for one amino acid?
30. Explain why there are so many different types of proteins when there are only 20 different amino acids.
31. What is translation? What happens during translation?
32. What is an anticodon? Which type of RNA carries an anticodon? If an anticodon is AGC, what is the mRNA codon?
33. Sequences of DNA that contain instructions for assembling proteins are called…
34. What makes a cell specialized in a multicellular organism? Why do specialized cells regulate the expression of genes?
35. Is gene regulation more complex in prokaryotes or eukaryotes?
36. Cell specialization that occurs during embryonic development is called…
Chapters 15-17: Evolution
37. Define the following: evolution, fitness, adaptation, homologous structures, vestigial organ, natural selection, survival of
the fittest, natural/genetic variation.
38. Charles Darwin’s observation that finches of different species on the Galápagos Islands have many similar physical
characteristics supports the hypothesis that…
39. What are the different forms adaptations can be?
40. According to natural selection, individuals who survive are the ones best adapted for their environment. Their survival is
due to…
41. What is the result of natural selection over many generations?
42. What is a species? What is a population?
43. Define and understand: genotype, phenotype, allele, gene pool, relative frequency, mutation, polygenic trait, genetic drift,
speciation.
44. What are the two main sources of genetic variation?
45. Do mutations always affect an organism’s phenotype?
46. In a gene pool, as the relative frequency of one allele for a trait increases, what happens to the relative frequencies of
other alleles for that trait?
47. How does a polygenic trait affect the number of possible genotypes and phenotypes in an organism?
48. What is a random change that can result in decreased variation?
49. Natural selection acts directly on…
50. Define the following: temporal isolation, geographic isolation, behavioral isolation
51. What factor is necessary for the formation of a new species?
52. What is the benefit of variation within a species? What is the benefit of great diversity of species?
53. What is a half-life? How are half-lives used to determine the age of rocks and rock layers (and the fossils found therein)?
54. The first organisms on Earth were most like today’s…
55. In carrier pigeons there is a rare inherited condition that causes the death of the chicks before hatching. How could this
disease be passed on from generation to generation?
56. How have mass extinctions encouraged the rapid evolution of surviving species?
Chapters 19 and 40: Bacteria, Viruses, and The Immune System
57. Are bacteria heterotrophic or autotrophic? Are they prokaryotes or eukaryotes?
58. What is the basic structure of a virus?
59. Which characteristics of living things are true about viruses?
60. What is the body’s most important nonspecific defense?
61. Define the following: antibiotic, vaccine, pathogen, antibody, antigen.
62. How do bacteria and viruses respond to antibiotics and vaccines?
63. What is the body’s most important nonspecific defense?
64. When a person receives a vaccine, how does his or her immune system respond?
65. How does immunodeficiency affect a person?
Chapter 35: The Nervous System
66. What is the process by which organ systems maintain relatively constant internal conditions?
67. What is the difference between positive and negative feedback (feedback inhibition)?
68. Which process enables the body to maintain a stable temperature?
69. What are the three types of neurons? How do they differ?
70. What is the function of neurotransmitters?
71. What must happen for a neuron to reach an action potential?
72. What is the function of the central nervous system?
Chapter 36: The Muscular System
73. What are 3 things that must be present for actin and myosin to interact during muscle contraction?
Chapter 37: The Circulatory & Respiratory Systems
74. What is the function of the valves located in veins and between the atria and ventricles of the heart?
75. Sites of gas exchange within the lungs that allow O2 to enter the blood and CO2 to leave the blood are called…
Chapter 38: The Digestive and Excretory Systems
76. How do nutrients absorbed by the small intestine reach all of the cells in the body?
77. The organ responsible for secreting buffers that stabilize pH and digestive enzymes that break down carbohydrates,
proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids into the digestive tract is the…
78. The organ responsible for producing bile, deactivating toxic substances, and regulating the amount of sugars, fats, and
proteins in the blood is the
79. The organ responsible for filtering the blood of waste products such as urea through the activity of structures called
nephrons is the
Chapter 39: The Endocrine System
80. Which hormones are released to respond to stress during the fight or flight response?
81. What is the function of the thyroid hormone thyroxine?
82. What is the function of insulin? of glucagon? A person with diabetes mellitus may suffer from…
83. What hormones are released by the ovaries? by the testes?