Download Review Session One

AP Biology Review:
It is absolutely worth your time to review for the AP Biology exam!
Part I:
1. What is a hydrogen bond? --- VERY important!
2. What are the unique properties (characteristics) of water that make life possible on Earth?
3. How does pH affect enzymes and metabolism? How is pH measured? How does pH interfere with tertiary structure? Contrast
dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis.
4. Describe the 4 levels of protein organization. What bonds are involved in maintaining protein shape?
5. What is the structure and function of carbohydrates? polysaccharide vs. monosaccharide; starch, glycogen, cellulose, chitin,
glucose?
6. What is the structure and function of lipids? phospholipids vs. triglycerides.
7. Identify the functional groups. Are they polar or nonpolar? Are they hydrophobic or hydrophilic? In what molecules would you
find these groups?
8. Compare and contrast all features of prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
9. Review the components and organization of a cell membrane. How are cell membranes modified to suit their function? What are
channels, pumps, markers, and receptors? Provide examples.
Provide examples of cell-to-cell communication -- between two plant cells; between two immune-system cells; between a neuron
and another neuron, between a neuron and a muscle cell; between a specific endocrine gland cell and its target cell
10. Compare/contrast plant vs. animal cells. List ALL key organelles and describe their general function. Provide specific examples
of cells with “specialized organelles” or an abundance of certain organelles. Trace the organelle pathway of protein synthesis to
secretion.
11. What are water potential, turgor pressure, cytolysis, plasmolysis, and crenation? What are diffusion, facilitated diffusion,
osmosis, active transport, endocytosis, and exocytosis?
12. Explain the enzyme-substrate complex, lock and key model, induced fit and the tertiary structure of proteins. How can
cofactors and coenzymes help?
13. What are the ways that rate of enzymatic reaction can by inhibited or enhanced? How is enzyme activity regulated? How do
enzyme rates compare in an endothermic animal or exothermic animal?
14. Describe the cell cycle. Events of interphase? What factors control the rate of the cell cycle? Explain.
15. What are the phases of mitosis? What are the outcomes of each phase? Can you sketch each phase and identify structures?
Chromatin vs. chromosome? Distinguish between mitosis and cytokinesis.
Part II:
1. Law of Independent Assortment and Law of Segregation. When do they occur in meiosis? What is the significance of the laws
and how did Mendel derive them from his research?
2. Contrast Metaphase I and II, Anaphase I and II. Diploid vs. haploid? What is a tetrad? Homologous pair? What is the outcome of
meiosis? In what ways does DNA replication, meiosis and sexual reproduction achieve variability?
3. Describe the following inheritance patterns: simple dominant and recessive, incomplete dominance, codominance, sex-linked, sexinfluenced, polygenic inheritance, multiple alleles, and pleiotropy. Cite several examples for each.
4. What are linked genes (different from sex linkage!)? How can crossing over percentages determine relative gene positions on a
chromosome?
5. Distinguish between gene/chromosomal deletion, duplication, inversion, insertion, and translocation.
6. What is semiconservative replication? Briefly describe the experiment that supports this model.
7. List all features of the double helix, including details of nucleotide structure, complementary base pairing and 5' / 3' (anti-parallel).
How does DNA’s structure relate to its function in information storage, inheritance, and protein synthesis?
Discuss the work of: Chargaff, Watson/Crick, Rosalind Franklin, Griffith, Hershey/Chase, Avery, MacLeod/ McCarty,
Meselson/Stahl
8. When during the cell cycle does DNA replication occur? Describe DNA replication including the major enzymes involved.
How is the 5' to 3' problem solved?
9. Describe the major events of transcription and translation. What is a signal or activator for gene transcription? How are steroid
hormones involved? How do operons regulate gene activation? What type of cells use operons?
10. Describe the types of RNA and their roles in protein synthesis. Distinguish between introns and exons. How else is RNA
processed?
11. What is a karyotype? How do you "read" one and what information can be obtained from one?
12. Discuss symptoms and causes (genetic) of PKU, Sickle cell anemia, Tay Sachs disease, Hemophilia, Huntington’s disease,
Klinefelters, Turners, Down Syndrome. Be sure to distinguish between: autosomal vs. sex-linked; dominant vs. recessive; and
mutation vs. non disjunction!
13. How do restriction enzymes work? What is an RFLP? How is DNA separated by gel electrophoresis? What is accomplished by
PCR and what are the basics?
14. What is the basic structure of a virus and how does it infect a cell and reproduce? Lytic vs. lysogenic? Transduction,
conjugation, transformation?
Part III:
1. Compare the ideas of Darwin and Lamarck. DO NOT USE Lamarckian statements!!
2. What are the 5 conditions necessary for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
3. The frequency of sickle cell anemia in a certain population is 12%. What is the frequency of the heterozygous condition in this
population? Be able to solve for q, know the equation!
4. What will cause the gene pool of a population to change? Give an example of each.
5. Describe the types of selection: directional, stabilizing, and disruptive. Give an example of each.
6. What is coevolution? Cite an example.
7. What is speciation? Define and give examples for sympatric speciation, allopatric speciation, and adaptive radiation. What is
genetic drift?
8. What are some isolating mechanisms maintaining separate species, consider pre- and post-zygotic barriers --- Speciation
9. Analogous structures vs. Homologous structures. Divergent evolution vs. Convergent evolution. Vestigial structures? Provide an
example of each.
10. What was the significance of Miller's experiment?
11. What is the endosymbiotic theory and how does it suggest a link between prokaryote and eukaryotes?
12. What categories of evidence suggest that all organisms had a common ancestor? Properties of the universal ancestor? What are
the 3 domains? Provide evidence for the 3 domains: structural, physiological, molecular, and/or genetic. What are the 6
kingdoms?
13. What are the features shared by all Bacteria? Fungi? Protista? What are the important contributions to the environment of each?
14. In a multicellular organism all individual cells must be supplied with food and water. What evolutionary solution to this problem
is exemplified by the fungi? How does it get to new food sources?
15. List characteristics and examples for the following Phyla. What is a notochord?
Porifera
Platyhelminthes
Mollusca
Arthropoda
Cnidaria
Nematoda
Annelida
Echinodermata
Chordata
16. Distinguish between the major body plans of animals: radial and bilateral; acoelomates, pseudocoelomates and coelomates.
How are protostomes and deuterostomes different? Provide animal phyla examples.
17. What are the 4 major evolutionary adaptations seen in chordates? Discuss structural adaptations found in fish, amphibians,
reptiles, and mammals.
Part IV:
1. List properties and examples for the four tissue types. Relate structure and function.
2. Describe the respiration processes in a mammal. Compare to a fish, insect, and amphibian.
3. How does oxygen and carbon dioxide travel in the blood?
4. How does a nephron work to concentrate urine yet excrete toxic nitrogen? Describe filtration, secretion, reabsorption, excretion.
How is a concentration gradient involved?
5. Compare problems in urine production and water conservation in humans, desert mammals, birds, fresh-water fish, salt-water fish,
and terrestrial insects.
6. Compare thermoregulation in ectotherms and endotherms.
7. What is the general function of the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal glands, pancreas, ovaries, and testes? Include key HORMONES!
Describe the menstrual cycle in a non-pregnant human female.
8. What is a negative-feedback loop? Clearly explain negative feedback using the following specific examples:
 Insulin/Glucagon
 Parathyroid Hormone (PTH)/ Calcitonin
 Thyrotropin (TSH) /Thyroxine (T 4)
9. What is signal transduction? What is the role of a second messenger? Compare the action of steroid vs. non-steroid hormones.
10. Distinguish between the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system.
11. Explain how an action potential (nerve impulse) travels down an axon.
12. Describe the signal transduction events at the synapse.
13. Beginning at the presynaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junction, explain the process of muscle contraction. Describe the
signal transduction events. Include the structure of the sarcomere in your discussion.
14. Describe the processes of fat and protein digestion and product absorption as they occur in the human stomach and small intestine.
Include a discussion of the enzymatic reactions involved.
15. What are the types of lymphocytes in the human body and their general functions?
16. Explain the process of Cell-Mediated immunity. How does Humoral (Antibody-Mediated) immunity work? Describe the
antigen-antibody response.
17. What is the secondary immune response? What is acquired immunity?
18. Discuss the general stages/structures of animal development (cleavage, blastula, gastrulation, germ layers, neurulation).
Part V:
1. Compare and contrast the terms: endergonic/exergonic and anabolism/catabolism.
2. Describe the general processes and outcomes of Glycolysis and the Krebs cycle. What happens to pyruvate? Describe the
structure of ATP.
3. What is an electrochemical gradient? What is chemiosmosis? How does each of these contribute to the formation of ATP during
electron transport?
4. What is the role of NAD+, FAD+, and oxygen in aerobic cellular respiration?
5. Discuss the 2 types of fermentation. What types of organisms use each type?
6. How does photosynthesis convert light energy into chemical energy? Distinguish between the products of light-dependent and
light-independent reactions.
7. How are the chemical products of the light trapping reaction coupled to the synthesis of carbohydrates?
8. What kinds of photosynthetic adaptations have evolved in response to different environmental conditions? C 3/C4/CAM
9. What factors influence the rate of transpiration? Discuss the structure/function of: roots, leaves and stems.
10. Trace the pathway in a flowering plant as the water moves from the soil through the tissues of the root, stem, and leaves to the
atmosphere. Explain the mechanisms involved in conducting water through these tissues. How does translocation in phloem
occur?
11. What are the distinguishing characteristics of the 4 major plant divisions: Mosses, Ferns, Gymnosperms, and Angiosperms?
12. What is meant by the alternation of generations in plant life cycles?
13. What are the responses of plants to environmental cues and how do hormones mediate them? Describe the following plant
hormones: Auxin, Gibberellins, Cytokinins, ABA (Abscisic Acid), and Ethylene.
14. Discuss reproduction in angiosperms (double fertilization, pollen tube, endosperm). Know the structure of a bean seed and
discuss its germination to the seedling stage. Include hormonal controls and structural changes.
15. What models are useful in describing the growth of a population? Limiting factors? Carrying capacity?
16. How is population size regulated by abiotic and biotic factors? How do biotic and abiotic factors affect community structure and
ecosystem function?
17. Describe the trophic levels in a typical ecosystem. Discuss the flow of energy through the ecosystem, the relationship between the
different trophic levels, and the factors that limit the number of trophic levels.
18. Explain how the elements, carbon and nitrogen, cycle through an ecosystem? In which ways are humans affecting
biogeochemical cycles?
19. Interdependence in nature is evident in symbiosis. Explain symbiotic relationships that aid in nutrient uptake, using examples
from angiosperms and vertebrates.
20. Describe the process of ecological succession from a pioneer community to a climax community. Include in your answer a
discussion of species diversity and interactions, accumulation of biomass, and energy flow.
21. What environmental issues face each of the major biomes on this planet?
22. What factors influence the amount of dissolved oxygen in an aquatic environment? Compare a eutrophic lake to an oligotrophic
lake.
23. What is kinesis? What is taxis? Provide an example of each.