Download Fundamentals of Science 101

Fundamentals of Science 101
Study Guide
Exam 2
Time
1.
Define the following; deep time, relativistic time, uniformitarianism, parent
isotope, daughter isotope.
What is the difference between relative dating and absolute dating? How do these
apply to the geological time scale?
How does radioactive dating work? What is the relationship between decay rates
and half lives. Are there environmental factors that affect the decay rates of
isotopes?
Under what circumstances is carbon dating not useful?
Phosphorus-32 is unstable and breaks down into Sulfur-32 with a half life of
about 14 days. Interestingly Phosphorus-32 is also very poisonous and was
implicated in the assassination of a well know Russian dissident in Great Britain
by Russian spies in 2006. Let’s say that you are a detective working for Scotland
Yard and you find a body stuck in a freezer that has been poisoned by
Phosphorus-32. You determine that only 1/16th or 6.25 percent of the original
Phosphorus-32 that he took remains in his body. Estimate how long ago the
person died.
How do we know that radiometric dating is a valid way of dating objects?
Know when the following events took place. Birth of the Universe, formation of
the solar system, formation of the earth, formation of the moon, formation of the
first anatomical humans. Where would these events take place on a 100 yard time
line?
As you approach the speed of light what happens to time?
According to the theory of relativity, what are the two absolute laws in the
universe?
What do we mean by frame of reference?
What is time dilation?
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Plate Tectonics
1.
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5.
What are the two kinds of earth’s crust
Who proposed the idea that all of earth’s land mass was a single giant
continent? What did he call his idea? What did he call the super continent?
Describe how each of the continents was attached in this super continent.
What are the hallmarks of glaciers moving over rock? How do we tell the
direction by which glaciers move?
How did Wegener explain ancient glaciation events in what was now warm
climates? How did he explain glaciers moving up hill, or moving up out of
the sea?
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14.
Explain how the distribution of fossils provides evidence for continental drift?
What were the main reasons that the scientific community rejected Wegener’s
idea of continental drift?
Explain how “Polar wander” confirmed the theory of continental drift.
Why is it significant that the oceanic ridges match the shaped of the
continents?
If you were standing on the North Pole, holding a suspended metal needle on
a string, which direction would the needle point?
How were oceanographers able to map the ocean ridges?
Be able to indicate on a map where the east pacific, the mid Atlantic and the
Indian Ocean ridges are located.
Does the polarity of the earth’s poles ever change? What significance is this
to continental drift?
What is responsible for moving the continents about the earth’s surface?
Where does the energy come from?
The Molecules of Life
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3
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5
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20
What are the basic macromolecules of life? Give an example of each.
What are the individual units or monomers that make up a protein called?
What are the individual units or monomers that make up nucleic acid called?
What type of reaction produces large molecules from small repeating units?
Describe a hydrolysis reaction.
How many different types of amino acids are there? What makes each type of
amino acid different from the other types?
If all proteins are made up of the same 20 amino acids, why are there so many
different types of proteins?
Why are proteins important in the body?
How many different types of nucleotides are there in DNA and RNA? What is it that
makes each of the nucleotide types different?
How does DNA and RNA differ from each other structurally? How do they differ
functionally from each other?
If one strand of DNA is read as ACCGTTA – What will the other corresponding
DNA strand that attaches to it read? If the cell transcribed an RNA from the above
strand what would it read?
How does DNA vary from species to species?
Explain in as much detail as you can how two strands of DNA are put together.
(Include configuration, 5’-3’ direction, base pairing etc.)
If the DNA molecule was compared to a ladder, what would the side railings of the
ladder be made out of? What would the steps be made out of?
How does semiconservative DNA replication conserve traits from one generation to
the other?
When does semiconcervative DNA replication occur?
Who is credited for deriving the complete structure of DNA?
Who was first to find that DNA exhibited a helical structure?
21 Researchers found that the amount of Adenine was always equal to the amount of
Thymine. Likewise the amount of Cytosine was always equal to the amount of
Guanine. What did these facts suggest about the structure of DNA?
22 How does DNA dictate the type of proteins that are made? What is the role of RNA
in this process?
23 Who was Dolly? How was she created? When cloning, where does the egg come
from? How is the egg changed in the cloning process.
24 Describe the ‟central dogma of molecular biology”.
25 What is a gene?
26 Vocabulary
Monomer
Guanine
Polymer
Carbohydrate deoxyribose
thymine
cytosine
Template
Ribose
adenine
base pairing
Lipid