Download Biology Finals Study Guide

Biology End of Course Exam Study
Guide
Chapter 1 -:
What is the difference between a hypothesis and
a theory?
What is the goal of science?
Explain what a hypothesis is.
How is an experiment designed?
What are the variables in a controlled
experiment?
How does a theory develop?
What does Biology study?
List the characteristics of living things
(organisms).
List the levels of organization in which living
things can be studied
Explain what the metric system is and what the
base measurements are (table on page 24).
Compare and contrast a light and electron
microscope.
Define cell culture and cell fractionation.
Chapter 3:
What different levels of organization do
ecologists study?
What methods are used to study ecology?
Where does the energy for life processes come
from?
How does energy flow through living systems?
How efficient is the transfer of energy among
organisms in an ecosystem?
How does matter move among the living and
nonliving parts of an ecosystem?
How are nutrients important in living systems?
Chapter 2:
Identify the 3 subatomic particles found in
atoms.
Explain how all of the isotopes of an element are
similar and how they are different.
What is a chemical compound?
Describe the types of chemical bonds.
Explain why water molecules are polar.
Differentiate between a solution and a
suspension.
Explain what acid and basic solutions are.
What are the 6 main elements found in living
things?
What are macromolecules?
What are monomers and polymers?
Name the four main types of macromolecules
and their functions in living things.
What are proteins made of?
What are enzymes and why are they important to
living things?
What happens to chemical bonds during
chemical reactions?
What is the role of energy in chemical reactions?
Chapter 7:
Describe how viruses, prokaryotes, and
eukaryotes differ in complexity and general
structure.
Explain what the cell theory is.
What are the roles of the nucleus, endoplasmic
reticulum, and Golgi apparatus?
What are the functions of the cytoskeleton and
the cell wall?
What additional structures do plant cells have
which animal cells do not? Describe the
functions of these structures.
What does semi-permeable mean?
What is the function of the cell membrane?
Define osmosis.
Compare active and passive transport and give
examples of each.
What are the levels of organization in multicellular organisms?
Chapter 8:
Where do plants get the energy they need to
produce food?
What is the role of ATP in cellular activities?
Define the words autotroph and heterotroph.
What are the parts and functions of a
chloroplast?
Write the equation for photosynthesis in words
and in chemical formula.
Summarize the main events, reactants, and
products of both the light dependent and light
independent reactions. (fig. 8-7 on page 209)
Chapter 9:
What is cellular respiration?
What happens during the process of glycolysis?
What are the two main types of fermentation?
What happens during the Krebs cycle?
How are high-energy electrons used by the
electron transport chain?
Chapter 10:
Explain the problems that growth causes for
cells.
Describe how cell division solves the problems
of cell growth.
Summarize the main events of the cell cycle.
What are the 4 phases of mitosis?
Describe cytokinesis in plants and animal cells.
Identify a factor that can stop cells from
growing.
Describe how the cell cycle is regulated.
Explain how cancer cells are different from other
cells.
What is cancer?
Chapter 11:
What does the principle of dominance state about
alleles?
What happens during segregation?
How do geneticists use the principles of
probability?
How do geneticists use Punnett squares?
What is the principle of independent assortment?
What inheritance patterns exist aside from
simple dominance?
What happens during the process of meiosis?
How is meiosis different from mitosis?
Chapter 12:
What did scientists discover about the
relationship between genes and DNA?
What is the overall structure of the DNA
molecule?
What happens during DNA replication?
What are the 3 main types of RNA?
What is transcription?
What is translation?
Chapter 14:
How is sex (gender) determined?
How do small changes in DNA cause genetic
disorders?
Why are sex-linked disorders more common in
males than females?
What is nondisjunction, and what problems does
it cause?
Chapter 15:
What was Charles Darwin’s contribution to
science?
What pattern did Darwin observe among
organisms of the Galapagos Islands?
How did Hutton and Lyell describe geological
change?
According to Lamarck, how did species evolve?
What was Malthus’s theory of population
growth?
How is natural variation used in artificial
selection?
How is natural selection related to a species’
fitness?
What evidence of evolution did Darwin present?
Chapter 16:
What are the main sources of heritable variation
in a population?
How is evolution defined in genetic terms?
What determines the numbers of phenotypes for
a given trait?
How does natural selection affect single-gene
and polygenic traits?
What is genetic drift?
What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle?
What factors are involved in formation of a new
species?
Describe the process of speciation in the
Galapagos finches.
Chapter 40:
What causes disease?
How are infectious diseases transmitted?
What is the function of the immune system?
What are the body’s nonspecific defenses against
invading pathogens?
What is an autoimmune disease?
How can AIDS be prevented?
Chapter 35:
How is the human body organized?
What is homeostasis?
What are the functions of the nervous system?
How is a nerve impulse transmitted?
What are the functions of the central nervous
system?
What are the functions of the two divisions of
the peripheral nervous system?
Chapter 19:
How do the two groups of prokaryotes differ?
What factors are used to identify prokaryotes?
What is the importance of bacteria?
What is the structure of a virus?
How do viruses cause infection?
Possible Essay questions:
1.
Explain what is meant by the terms
homozygous and heterozygous.
2.
Why are decomposers necessary for the
continuation of life on Earth?
3.
Identify 2 types of RNA and briefly
describe the function of each.
4.
Compare and contrast mitosis and
meiosis.