Core Biology
What are 3 pieces of evidence for whales evolving from land living mammals with hooves? bonus how many million years did the evolution take?
looking at fossil remains, the specialized hip joint (which was once indohyus ankle bone), the thick inner ear bone, and a whales blow hole, which evolved as the migration of the navel cavity.
Indohyus (first living ancestor of whales that we know of) had the specialized ankle bones called astragali, the ear bone called involocrum, and a snout. Whales went from the land living indohyus to water living mammals in a period of only 8 million years.
briefly explain the difference between ionic and covalent bonds
covalent bonding involves the sharing of electrons between two or more atoms.
Ionic bonds form when two or more ions come together and are held by different charges. Ions have a positive or negative charge and will give up electrons to complete their octet.
what are the 4 types of biological macro molecules and their basic chemical units?
Carbohydrates (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen) CHO
Lipids (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen) CHO
Proteins (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen) CHON
Nucleic Acids (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphate) CHONP
What are 3 differences between DNA and RNA?
RNA is single stranded, DNA is double stranded.
RNA contains Uracil while DNA contains Thymine.
RNA has the sugar Ribose while DNA has the sugar Deoxyribose.
Briefly describe the production and transcription of the hormone Insulin in the body. What kind of biological molecule is insulin?
Insulin is a hormonal protein.
name the 10 levels of biological organization (in order from smallest/ simplest to largest and most complex)
atoms, biomolecules, cells, tissues, organ systems, organisms, populations, community, ecosystems, biosphere.
briefly define hydrophobic and hydrophilic
hydrophobic- water fearing, non-polar covalent molecules will not interact with water. (all + ions like in CH3)
hydrophilic- water loving, charged or polar molecules will interact with water molecules. (H+ O- charged ions like in H2O)
Proteins are built of covalent polypeptide bonds between amino acids.
briefly describe the basic chemical shape of an amino acid.
briefly describe the chemical reaction that takes place when a peptide bond is formed.
Amino Acids are monomers built of
-a central carbon atom C
- a bonded Amino group like NH2
- a carboxyl group COOH
- a hydrogen atom
- an R group
During a peptide bond the carboxyl group of one amino acid and the amino group of another amino acid combine, a water molecule is released, making this also a dehydration reaction.
Briefly describe the differences between plant and animal Eukaryote cells.
Plant cells have a central vacuole, cell wall, plasmodesmata, plastids used for storage, and chloroplasts. Plant cells prefer a solution that is hypertonic.
Animal cells prefer a solution that is isotonic. Animal cells have Lysosomes, Centrioles, centrosomes.
Describe the bicarbonate buffer in human blood.
When an acidic substance substance adds H+ to the blood, bicarbonate ions neutralize / accept the hydrogen ions forming carbonic acid and water.
CO2 + H2O -><- H2CO3 -><- HCO-3 + H+
list the 4 main macromolecules and their monomers as well as linkages
carbohydrate, monomer monosaccharide, linkage glycosidic
Lipid, monomer fatty acids and glycerol, no true linkage/ ester
protein, monomer amino acid, linkage polypeptide
nucleic acid, monomer nucleotides, linkage phosphodiester bond.
briefly describe the sodium potassium pump and how it helps maintain resting membrane potential
The sodium potassium pump moves 3 positive sodium ions out of the cell for every 2 potassium ions into the cell, facilitating active transport. This contributes to a electrochemical gradient where the outside of the cell of the cell is more positive than the overall negatively charged cell. Potassium ions leak out protein channels in the cell membrane when the cell is at rest, passive transport.