Exam 1 Review – some helpful hints
The closed-book exam will consist of matching and multiple choice questions which draw from your
knowledge, intelligence and creativity. Know the material below and you will be in great shape for the
upcoming exam!
-----------------Understand the hierarchy of biological organization (in terms of complexity) from the Domain to the
Atom.
Understand the dynamics of the ecosystem.
What is informatics, taxonomy, genomics, evolution, natural selection?
What is a hypothesis and the process of scientific inquiry?
What is a valid (good) experiment?
What are the principal and trace elements necessary for life?
Understand atomic mass, atomic weight, atomic number, mass weight, mass number.
What is an ion, isotope, isomer. What is radioactive refer to (at the atomic level).
Understand general (from a biologists perspective) atomic theory.
Understand the concept of valence (as it applies to electrons) and reactivity.
Know Covalent, Ionic, Hydrogen -bonds.
Understand hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity.
What is chemical equilibrium in a reaction?
What makes water so special? What properties does water possess?
Know how to make a 1 Molar (M) solution of something (i.e. 1M Fructose).
What are the strongest acids and strongest bases?
What is a buffer solution?
Understand the concept of pH.
What is Organic Chemistry? What is it’s basis in study.
What makes Carbon so special?
What makes a hydrocarbon insoluble in an aqueous solvent?
Understand the different classes of isomers (in general, from a biologists perspective).
What are the different chemical functional groups? What effect do they exert on the molecule (polarity)?
Know what the general characteristics of a carbohydrate, protein, fat and a nucleic acid are. How are they
synthesized (what chemical reaction)? What is different about a fat (compared to a nucleic acid,
carbohydrate and protein)?
What is the difference between starch and cellulose?
What are the 1o, 2 o, 3 o, 4 o –structures of a protein?
What is hydrolysis/polymerization, renaturation/denaturation, stabilization/destabilization.
What is the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology?
What are the base pairing rules for Nucleic Acids? (Chargaff’s Rules) Apply them to make DNA from
DNA, or RNA from DNA.