1: Science & the Study of Life
Correctly list the different levels of biological organization, from the smallest and simplest to the largest and most complex.
Cells-Tissues-Organs-Organ Systems-Organism
Define atomic mass
number of protons + number of neutrons
Learned behavior that occurs during a sensitive period early in life
imprinting
Define carrying capacity
Largest number of organisms of a particular species that can be maintained Âindefinitely by a given environment.
In regards to food source (make their own food or find it elsewhere) what are the four groups we categorize living things into?
Producer, Herbivore, Carnivore, Decomposer
All the banded sunfish (Enneacanthus obesus) in a pond would comprise a(n)
Population
-NH2
What is sexual selection? Give an example
Form of natural selection that favors features which increase an animal’s chances of mating
Example: A female peacock spider chooses a mate with the most colors and flashy mating dance
Define density-dependent vs density-independent factors
give an example of each
both are factors that affect populations
density-dependent factors are related to the number of organisms in a population (example: available food)
density-independent factors are unrelated to the number of individuals (example: natural disaster)
In every energy transformation some energy is lost as _________
heat
Jeff wants to know what concentration of bleach would be most effective at killing
bacteria without overdoing it and using too much bleach. Jeff makes 3 solutions of
bleach in water, 1, 5, and 10% solutions. He then adds a specific number of bacteria to a
test tube of each solution and waits 3 minutes. He puts these bacterial on a petri plate
and later counts colonies to see how many bacteria survived. What are the independent and dependent variables?
Independent: bleach concentration
Dependent: number of bacteria that survived
What sort of reaction turns monomers into polymers? What sort of reaction degrades polymers into monomers?
Dehydration reaction
Hydrolysis reaction
Define altruism. How might this be evolutionarily advantagous?
self-sacrificing behavior for the good of another member of the society
can be explained by kin selection (even if its not the individual that survives, their genetics will still be passed to the next generation)
What are the levels of ecological organization?
What is the difference between a population and a community?
Organism
Species
Population
Community
Ecosystem
A population is all the organism of the same species within a specific area. A community is all of the populations present in a specific area.
Define and explain an exchange pool
Location in a biogeochemical cycle from which organisms generally take a specific chemical, rapidly exchanging between living organisms (biotic) and non-living components (abiotic) within an ecosystem, often contrasting with a larger, slower-moving "reservoir pool"
Identify and describe the seven characteristics of life
Organized, acquire energy and materials, reproduce, respond to stimuli, maintain homeostasis, grow and develop, and adapt evolutionarily
Describe the four levels of organization for proteins
What is an example of a protein that requires the highest level of organization?
What happens to this organization when proteins undergo extreme conditions?
primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary
hemoglobin requires a quaternary structure
the structure is destroyed, and the protein cannot function
Describe the difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning
give an example of each
operant conditioning: strengthen a stimulus-response (example: giving a dog a treat for sitting)
classical conditioning: associating two unrelated stimuli through association (example: pavlov's dog)
Which countries (in terms of more developed or less developed) experience higher birth rates and which experience lower? Why might this be?
More developed countries tend to have lower birth rates due to education for women and access to birth control, while less developed countries often have higher birth rates due to less access to health care and family planning
Living organisms, dead organisms, and coal are considered a reservoir for what element?
carbon
Identify a null and alternative hypothesis, the variables, the control group, and if this is blind/double-blind:
The study participants were divided into three equal groups to determine the effectiveness of antibiotic A vs B in treating ulcers. One group was given a placebo pill, one was given pill A, and one was given B. The endoscopy examiner does not know the pill/group assigned to the participant.
Alternative hypothesis: Pill A will be more effective than pill B.
Independent variable: which pill the participant recieves
Dependent variable: measure of effectiveness of pill
Double-blind
A). Which type of bond formation is responsible for the properties of water?
B). There are six properties of water that occur because of these bonds. What are they?
A). Hydrogen
B). 1. High heat capacity (doesn't change temp easy)
2. High heat of vaporization (cooling through evaporation)
3. Can dissolve many molecules (solvent)
4. Cohesion (molecules cling to each other)
5. Adhesion (water can cling to other surfaces)
6. High Surface Tension (Liquid surface clings together when exposed to air)
Explain the experiment with the coastal and inland garter snakes. What was the result of the experiment? Was the behavior genetic or not genetic?
Coastal garter snakes ate slugs and inland did not, eggs of both were hatched in a lab, coastal baby snakes flicked their tongues more at slug juice than inland snakes, the behavior is genetic and not learned.
Explain the three types of survivorship curves and make an example of a species that correlates to one of the curves.
Type I: Most individuals survive well past the midpoint and die at the end of their lifespan (humans)
Type II: Survivorship decreases at a constant rate throughout the animal's life (songbird)
Type III: Most individual's die young (oyster)
Walk through the various steps in the nitrogen cycle, including as many steps as you can remember.
How do humans affect this cycle?
Most nitrogen is found in the atmosphere as N2 (unavailable to organisms)
bacteria and plants fix nitrogen into usable (organic) form
lightning may also fix nitrogen in the atmosphere
animals get nitrogen by consuming plants or other animals
humans increase the rate of nitrogen (mainly through agriculture)