Biology 178-001 (Spring 2006): Study Guide for Exam 1

Use this guide to study along with your notes and the text book. You should then take the practice test (under test conditions). The review session will be at 1 PM on Friday in Science 106.

1. Biology: The Study of Life (Chapter 1)

  • Be able to describe biology.
  • Know the 6 kingdoms and 3 domains of life and the 7 characteristics of life.
  • Be able place the components of biological systems (at the subcellular, supercellular, and organismal levels) in the correct order of size and complexity of organization.
  • Be able to define tissues, organs, populations, species, communities, and ecosystems.
  • Be familiar with the unifying themes of biology.
  • Know the stages involved in a scientific investigation and be able to apply this knowledge to specific observations.
  • Know the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning and be able to apply this knowledge.
  • Be able to design controlled experiments. Know what a theory is and the difference between a theory and a hypothesis. Be able to write scientific questions, hypotheses and predictions.
  • Be familiar with the scientific process (for a principle or scientific fact to be accepted by the scientific community).
  • Be familiar with Darwin’s theory of evolution and the evidence he based this on. Why is this a theory?
  • Know who discovered cells (and when) and what cells he first observed.
  • Know who (and when) was responsible for the cell theory.

2. The Nature of Molecules (Chapter 2)

  • Be able to describe matter, atoms, and ions. Also know what cations and anions are.
  • Know the difference between mass and weight.
  • Know what subatomic particle determines the chemical behavior of atoms. Know why electrons have potential energy and what determines how much potential energy they have. Be able to define oxidation and reduction and be able to determine when an atom has been oxidized or reduced. Know what an orbital is, the maximum number of electrons that can be found in an orbital, and how many orbitals there are in the first 3 energy levels of an atom.
  • Know what atomic number, atomic mass, and elements are.
  • Know what an isotope (including radioactive isotopes) is and be able to use half-life to calculate the age of biological specimens.
  • Be familiar with the periodic table and be able to use it to solve problems (such as whether 2 elements will bond covalently or ionically).
  • Know what molecules and compounds are.
  • Be able to describe ionic, covalent, and hydrogen bonds. Know which types of bonding are important in biological molecules and which types are strongest/weakest. Know the properties of each type of bond. Know what a polar covalent bond is.
  • Know the properties of water, their biological importance, and what characteristic of water is responsible for these properties. Know what hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules are. Also know what happens when water dissociates.
  • Be able to define moles (make sure you know how many molecules of a substance are found in a mole), concentration, and pH, and be able to use this knowledge to solve problems. Know what acids, bases, and buffers are, and the biological importance of buffers.
  1. The Chemical Building Blocks of Life (Chapter 3)
  • Be familiar with the properties of carbon.
  • Know what macromolecules, polymers, organic molecules, and functional groups are. Know how macromolecules can be synthesized and broken down.
  • Know the composition of a carbohydrate. Know what monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides are. Know the formula and function of glucose. Be able to define isomers and know what structural and stereoisomers are (and be able to give examples). Be able to give examples of transport disaccharides in both plants and animals. Why are carbohydrates transported in these forms? Know the functions of polysaccharides. Know what starch, glycogen, cellulose, and chitin are used for. Also, be familiar with the differences between starch, cellulose, and chitin.
  • Be able to describe a lipid. Know what the components and functions of fats are. Know the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats and be able to give examples of each. Know what atherosclerosis is and how it occurs. Know what the components and functions of phospholipids are. Know how phospholipids behave in water and why this is important for life. Know what an amphipathic molecule is. Know what terpenes and steroids are and be able to give examples.
  • Be familiar with the subunits of proteins. Know the basic composition of an amino acid and how the 20 different types of amino acids differ from one another. Be familiar with the 3 types of bond that stabilize protein structure. Be able to define primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary protein structure and know what motifs and domains are (also know at what level of protein structure these occur). Know the function of chaperone proteins and be able to give an example of these proteins and describe how this example functions. Also know the role of chaperone proteins in disease. Be able to give examples of protein aggregation diseases. Know what denaturation is and how it is caused. Also know the biological functions of proteins.
  • Know what the subunits of nucleic acids are. Know the difference between ribose and deoxyribose. Know what the 5 bases of nucleic acids are and which bases pair with one another. Know what purines and pyrimidines are and be able to give examples. Know the functions of nucleic acids and know the differences between DNA and RNA. Know the structure of DNA. Also know why only certain bases will pair and which bases pair. Finally, be familiar with the structure of ATP.
  1. Cell Structure (Chapter 5, P 79-83)
  • Be familiar with the common characteristics of all cell types.
  • Know how thick the plasma membrane is.
  • Know the 3 principles of the modern cell theory.
  • Why are cells small? Be able to give at least 3 (and any more you can think of) ways that large cells circumvent these problems. Know what a syncytium is and be able to give examples.
  • Be able to define resolution (including the equation for determining resolution). Know the resolution of the human eye, the compound light microscope (LM), and the electron microscope (EM). Why is the resolution of the EM improved over that of the LM? Understand how light and electron microscopes work (focusing of light/electrons, types of lenses, etc). What type of information does the TEM give about a specimen? The SEM?
  • What is the purpose of staining a specimen? What is differential staining?
  • Be able to describe immunocytochemistry and its purpose.
  • Be able to look at microscope images and determine (from compound LM, stereoscopic LM, immunocytochemistry (using fluorescence), TEM, and SEM) what type of microscope was used to make the image.
  • Know the differences (and similarities) between and the characteristics of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Which kingdoms are prokaryotic? Which are eukaryotic?