Themes in
Biology
Scientific
Process
Chemistry
Water,
Carbon,
and pH
100
100
100
100
100
200
200
200
200
200
300
300
300
300
300
400
400
400
400
400
500
500
500
500
500
Cell
Structure
Themes in Biology
100
Q: What is the lowest level of biological organization
that can be considered alive?
A: Cells
Themes in Biology
200
Q: Briefly describe the difference between emergent
properties and reductionism.
A: Emergent properties are characteristics you
can only see when you look at a collection of parts
working together. Reductionism is the opposite –
a method of study that involves breaking a system
into its parts and studying them individually.
Themes in Biology
300
Q: Give an example of a structure that is correlated
with its function.
A: Many possible examples.
Themes in Biology
400
Q: Name 1 similarity and 1 difference between
prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
A: Similarities: Both have a cell membrane and
DNA, Differences: Size (prokaryotic are much
smaller), eukaryotic have membrane-bound
organelles and prokaryotic don’t
Themes in Biology
500
Q: Name the 3 things that are necessary for natural
selection to occur in a population.
A: Variation between individuals, Some
variation is heritable, Differential survival
and reproduction
Scientific Process
100
Q: If I wanted to know whether lifting weights at the
gym lowered my risk of osteoporosis, what could be
my correctly formatted hypothesis?
A: Something like “Weightlifting exercises
reduce the risk of osteoporosis.”
Scientific Process
200
Q: If I did an experiment to test whether eating
yogurt decreased the frequency of stomachaches in
children, what would be my dependent variable?
A: The number of stomachaches that the
children had
Scientific Process
300
Q: If I did an experiment to test whether reading
more books increased peoples’ scores on the
COMPASS test, what would be my independent
variable?
A: The amount of reading.
Scientific Process
400
Q: What is the difference between a control group
(also called control treatment) and controlled
variables?
A: The control group is a group that doesn’t get the
treatment, or gets a placebo treatment. Controlled
variables are things that are the same about all
participants in the experiment (often age, gender,
location, etc.)
Scientific Process
500
Q: Which of these is a correctly formatted prediction?
A. If eating blueberries prevents cancer, then fewer people will
get cancer.
B. Eating blueberries prevents cancer.
C. If eating blueberries prevents cancer, then cancer will be
prevented.
D. If eating blueberries prevents cancer, then people who eat
the most blueberries will have the lowest rates of cancer.
E. If eating blueberries prevents cancer, then not eating
blueberries causes cancer.
A: D. Lipids
Chemistry
100
Q: If a molecule has an atomic number of 7 and a
mass number of 15, how many neutrons does it have?
A: 8 neutrons
Chemistry
200
Q: Which of the following are nonpolar molecules?
A. CO2
B. CH4
C. H2O
D. NO3
A: B and D
Chemistry
300
Q: Which of these pairs of atoms would most likely
form a covalent bond?
A.
B.
C.
A: C. (both of these atoms need 2 more electrons)
Chemistry
400
Q: In MgCl2, Magnesium has atomic number
12, and Chlorine has atomic number 17. Is the
bond between Mg and Cl covalent or ionic?
A: Ionic (Mg gives up 2 electrons and
each of the 2 Cl gains one)
Chemistry
500
Q: Classify each of the following as an atom, ion,
compound, molecule, or more than one of these.
A. H2O
B. 14C
C. MgCl2
A is a molecule and compound, B is an atom,
C is a compound
Water, Carbon, and pH
100
Q: What causes water to be cohesive?
A: Water molecules stick to one another
through hydrogen bonds.
Water, Carbon, and pH
200
Q: Solution A has [H+] of 2 mol/L and [OH-] of 0.5 mol/L.
Solution B has [H+] of 0.3 mol/L and [OH-] of 1 mol/L.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Solution A is more acidic than solution B and has lower pH
Solution A is more acidic than solution B and has higher pH
Solution A is more basic than solution B and has lower pH
Solution A is more basic than solution B and has higher pH
A is correct.
Water, Carbon, and pH
300
Q: What happens to the hydrogen bonds in water as it
gets warmer?
A. They are more likely to break (there are fewer)
B. They are more likely to form (there are more)
A is correct – since the water molecules are
moving faster, it is harder for them to stick
to one another.
Water, Carbon, and pH
400
Q: What causes ice to float on top of liquid
water?
A: When water freezes, the molecules form
hydrogen bonds that keep them farther
apart, so ice is less dense than water.
Water, Carbon, and pH
500
Q: Why do we say that life is carbon based
even though living things are made mostly of
water?
A: Carbon forms many different kinds of
molecules, which make many different kinds
of living things possible.
Cell Structure
100
Name one organelle that is found in
prokaryotic cells.
A: Ribosomes
Cell Structure
200
Which of these is a function of the rough
endoplasmic reticulum (ER)?
a.Synthesize lipids
b.Detoxify poisons
c.Modify proteins
d.Read mRNA transcripts and connect new
polypeptides together from amino acids
C. Modify proteins (then ship them to
the golgi apparatus)
Cell Structure
300
What is a glycoprotein, and what do they do?
A protein in the cell membrane that is
connected to a carbohydrate chain. It helps
with cell recognition (e.g. blood type)
Cell Structure
400
Which type of cell junction is found only in
plants?
a. Gap junction
b. Plasmodesmata
c. Desmosome
d. Tight junction
e. Scanning tunneling junction
b. Plasmodesmata (a, c, and d are in animals,
and e is made up)
Cell Structure
500
Name one function of each of these types of
fibers that make up the cytoskeleton (you
can’t name the same function for all 3):
a. Microtubules
b. Intermediate filaments
c. Microfilaments
Microtubules provide “monorail” tracks for vesicles to
move on, and they pull chromosomes apart during cell
division. Intermediate filaments shape the cell and are
more permanent than the other two. Microfilaments
allow muscles to stretch and contract.