Download Unit 1 Study Questions

Unit 1 Study Questions
Please note these are practice questions!!!! Do not simply answer these questions and
feel that you are prepared for the exam. Use these questions as a guide to locate areas
where you need more study.
____________is the science that is described as the study of life.
List three reasons discussed in class which describe the importance of
understanding basic biology.
There were seven properties of living things describe in class. List each and
offer an example.
Life on earth is represented by a unique scale that is hierarchal in composition.
List each level in order from “largest to smallest” and provide a definition for
each.
The _______ is considered to be the basic unit of life.
Cells also contain information in the form of _____ (units of inheritance). These
are organized on _________ which are composed of primarily of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
A ___________ cell does not contain a true nucleus.
Define biodiversity.
The grouping of organisms into taxa (categories) based on similarities to other
organisms is known as ___________.
Name the branch of biology which is concerned with the naming and classifying
of organisms.
The current taxonomic scheme uses 8 taxa. List these in order starting with the
most specific (or narrow) and ending with the most inclusive.
There were three domains discussed in class; list which are composed of
prokaryotic organisms and which are composed of eukaryotic organisms.
_______ is the primary unifying concept in biology.
________ may be described as descent with modification.
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______________ is the process which drives evolution; it may be summarized as
differential reproductive success by genetically different members of a population
due to differences in resource collection from a dynamic environment.
Who is the author of On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection in 1859?
List the two main themes from this book.
Define hypothesis.
_____ may be defined as anything that has mass and takes up space.
There are 92 naturally occurring _______; defined as substances that cannot be
broken down any further by chemical reactions.
Name the four most common elements found in living things.
These four compose approximately ______% of living matter.
Define a trace element and offer an example.
The smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of an element is known as
an _________.
List the three types of subatomic particles discussed in class and denote their
respective charge and location in an atom.
Two or more atoms held by chemical bonds form a _________.
______________ are formed by two or more different atoms held together by
chemical bonds.
___________bonds are formed when atoms share electrons.
________bonds are formed between the attraction of a cation and an anion.
Ions which lose electrons are termed _________, while ions which gain electrons
are known as _________.
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___________ bonds form between partially positive hydrogen atoms and atoms
which are partially positive. For example, this is the type of bond which binds
adjacent water molecules.
Define a polar substance.
Water is ____ (less/more) dense as a solid than a liquid.
Define solution.
Define solvent.
Define solute.
Why is water known as the universal solvent?
Describe the difference between a hydrophilic and hydrophobic compound.
Would you expect a polar molecule to be hydrophobic or hydrophilic?
H2O  H+ + OHLabel the reaction above (water molecule, hydrogen ion, hydroxide ion)
The ______scale is used to measure acidity or alkalinity.
Solutions which have a higher concentration of ______ are acidic in nature.
Solutions which have a higher concentration of ______ are alkaline.
Solution A has a pH of 5.6. Solution B has a pH of 6.2. Which is the stronger
acid?
What are electrolytes?
Would you expect distilled water to conduct electricity? Why or why not?
What are buffers?
Which property of water is responsible for water transport in plant tissues?
A _______ is defined as a group of cells with similar structure and function.
______ bonds must be broken for water molecules to vaporize.
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Carbon atoms have a tendency to form ___ bonds.
A ______ is defined as all members of a given species that occur at a given
place at a given time.
__________ are long molecules consisting of many similar or identical building
blocks linked by covalent bonds.
Each monomer molecule will be connected to an adjacent monomer by a
chemical reaction known as _____________.
Anabolic reactions are building reactions and require the ___________of energy.
_____ are organic compounds used to help speed up reactions by lowering the
activation energy of the reaction.
Word association: hydrophobic is to hydrophilic as _____ is to anabolism.
List the four broad categories of biological macromolecules.
Word association: monosaccharide is to polysaccharide as _______ is to protein.
List two functions of carbohydrates.
Name a monosaccharide.
_________ are covalent bonds formed by dehydration synthesis linking
monosaccharides together into polysaccharides.
Name the most common polysaccharide found in plants.
Name a storage polysaccharide found in animal tissue.
Name the basic components of a fat.
In____________ fats, the fatty acid tails do not have double bonds in the
hydrocarbon chains. These are commonly found in animal fats like lard and
butter.
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____________fats, such as vegetable oil and olive oil are often liquid at room
temperature.
______ are amphipathic molecules and are similar to fats but each has two fatty
acid tails and a phosphate group (PO4) attached to glycerol.
Describe the formation of a phospholipid bilayer.
List two examples of a steroid.
Would you expect steroids to be soluble in water? Why or why not?
How many natural amino acids are there?
List the four components of an amino acid.
Amino acids linked by _________ bonds during dehydration synthesis to form
polypeptides.
Word association: casein is to storage protein as insulin is to _________protein.
List the eight categories of protein functions discussed in class.
The function of a protein is determined by its _______.
Which level of protein structure is due to the interactions among side chains
along the polypeptide backbone?
Which level of protein structure does the α helix represent?
Which level of protein structure is represented by the interactions among different
polypeptide chains?
Environmental factors can affect the shape of a protein. If the change is dramatic
the protein may become __________ __ and lose its functionality.
___________ acids are biological macromolecules which can store and transmit
hereditary information.
Nucleic acids are polymers composed of monomers called _____________.
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Name the three parts of a DNA nucleotide.
Name the three parts of an RNA nucleotide.
_________ bonds hold the complementary strands of DNA nucleotides together.
These bonds form between specific base pair sequences (i.e. A-T and G-C).
The ________ describes the 3-D shape of a DNA molecule.
___________ and __________ are given the credit for the discovery of the
shape of DNA.
The structure of DNA allows DNA to carry genetic information (in the sequences
of the bases) and to _____________ (make a copy of itself).
List two ways in which molecules of DNA differ from molecules of RNA.
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