How old is life on earth? What is the general progression for evolution of life on Earth?
Define the seven characteristics of life with examples for each. Distinguish between the three
Domains of life. Why do we classify life into these three domains? Is a virus alive?
How is a computer virus a good analogy for an actual virus? Where does this analogy breakdown
(that is, how is a computer virus an inadequate analogy for a virus?) In general, what are viruses and how do they spread? List a dozen viral diseases that infect humans. Describe viral structure.
Distinguish among and describe the lytic and lysogenic cycle of viral replication.
Write a paragraph describing how you “catch a cold” at the cellular/molecular level – using the following 8 terms in your explanation: DNA replication, lysis, messenger RNA, ribosome, transcription, translation, viral DNA, viral protein. Explain RNA virus’ evolutionary advantage.
Contrast the biological classification schemes devised by Linnaeus, 1735; Haeckel, 1866; Chatton,
1925; Copeland, 1938; Whittaker, 1969; Woesse, 1977 and 1990.
How has classification changed from Carl Linnaeus to Carl Woesse?
What is binomial nomenclature? What is the goal of modern biological classification.
Sketch a plant cell as a dynamic system of membranes including the nucleus, rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, vesicles, Golgi, lysosomes, water vacuole, mitochondria, chloroplast.
Sketch a typical bacterial cell, label 9 different structures and state their function.
Distinguish among bacteria based on morphology, response to Gram stain, and metabolism.
Explain how bacteria reproduce asexually and sexually.
What percentage of our biodiversity is comprised of archaebacteria? Do Archaebacteria share more in common with Bacteria or with Eukaria? Distinguish among the three metabolic modes of
Archaea.
How is eukaryotic genetic material (DNA) different from that of bacteria and archaebacteria.
Summarize the gist of and evidence for the endosymbiotic theory. What evidence leads us to think that the endomembrane system formed from infolding of the plasma membrane?
Define protist and list their unifying characteristics. Where are they and how do they feed?
Do animals share more recent common ancestry with fungi or with plants? List the characteristics common to all fungi. Describe the five monophyletic phyla of fungi (A, B, C, G, Z).
Develop a concept map or diagram that presents your understanding of plant diversity.
Develop a concept map or diagram that presents your understanding of animal diversity.
At the CellsAlive site, learn as much as you can about cell structure and function from the Bacterial,
Plant and Animal Cell Models.
Just watch this amazing depiction of the dynamic workings of molecules and organelles in a eukaryotic cell!
Develop a table that presets several key distinctions among the four classes of biomolecules.
What is the “fluid mosaic model”? Diagram a small section of the cell membrane, and label key structures and state their function.
Explain with key examples, the basic mechanisms by which materials are moved across the cell membrane via passive and active transport.
How do cells communicate with other cells (in a multicellular organism)? Explain the analogy of post-it notes, email, and Facebook updates as analogies for three levels of cell-cell communication.
What is ATP and what is its role in giving life the “order” or organization that it needs? What are the two Laws of Thermodynamics and how do these relate to “how life works”? Is biological evolution contrary to the 2 nd Law of Thermodynamics?
Try to follow Mr. Anderson enough to state a definition of “coupled reaction.” This podcast gets into photosynthesis, but before that, shows ATP. Describe the molecular structure of ATP and what it does to store and release energy.
What are enzymes? Using the catalase (enzyme) and hydrogen peroxide (substrate) as an example, explain how enzymes work. What are cofactors and coenzymes and what do they do? Contrast the two general mechanisms for turning enzymes off: Competitive Inhibition and Allosteric Inhibition.
Write your best two definitions that contrast autotroph and heterotroph .
Compare and contrast photosynthesis with chemosynthesis .
Compare and contrast cellular respiration with fermentation .
Write the chemical equation and general explanation of photosynthesis.
Write the chemical equation and general explanation of cellular respiration.

What is the “cell cycle”? Compare and contrast mitosis and meiosis with a Venn diagram.
From the time-lapse video presented, explain what happens during mitosis and cytokinesis.
Diagram the cell cycle and distinguish among the G1, G0, S, and G2 phases of interphase.
How does a cell know when it is time to divide? How does cyclin and cyclin dependent kinase regulate the cell cycle?
Why is mitosis important? Distinguish between diploid and haploid. What is a chromosome, how and why do cells make them? Describe and model events of the four mitotic phases. Contrast cytokinesis in animal and plant cells.
Beyond making sperm and egg, what is the function of meiosis? Sketch the human life cycle placing mitosis and meiosis and basic related terms in context. How does meiosis yield genetic variation?
What are the building blocks of DNA? Sketch and label the three parts of a nucleotide. Make a general sketch of DNA, labeling sugars, phosphates, and the N-base pairings. What is the significance of the H-bonds in this organic compound? As a genetic material, what advantages does
DNA have over RNA?
Review Mendel’s work with Mr Anderson, and paying close attention to the Laws of Segregation and Independent Assortment. Try to solve the six genetics problems offered in this podcast.
What are linked genes? Explain with an example.
What is polygenic inheritance? Explain with an example.
Explain the discovery of T.H. Morgan (a Nobel Prize winner from Kentucky!).
Write up the 16-term concept map presented in this podcast, and jot summary notes on all aspects
(history, chromosomes, structure, central dogma, genetic engineering).
Compare and contrast DNA and RNA in their structures and functions. Why must DNA replicate?
How does DNA copy itself? (Note how DNA polymerase works a leading and lagging strand.) Give a complete yet succinct description of transcription and translation. What’s the point of this?
Define bacterial transformation and explain the role of plasmids in genetic engineering.
Distinguish genotype and phenotype. Explain two different sources of errors in the DNA. Describe the condition and cause of sickle cell anemia. What are the general causes of mutations and the three way mutations can interact with the environment? What happens in “cell cycle” DNA errors?
Sketch and explain the central dogma of molecular biology.
Prepare the brief concept map on Genetic Diversity as presented by Mr. Anderson, including brief notes on Extinction, Response, and Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium.
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a principle stating that the genetic variation in a population will remain constant from one generation to the next in the absence of disturbing factors. What factors maintain this equilibrium? What is the point of this concept? What is genetic drift? Explain the
Bottleneck Effect and the Founder Effect.
What are the “p” and “q” values in the Hardy-Weinberg theorem? Explain the Hardy-Weinberg
Equation.
What is Charles’ Darwin’s great contribution to biology? Define biological evolution. What are the five factors that contribute to evolution? What is natural selection? Also define biological fitness and adaptations. What are the two sources of genetic variation? Why is variation important in evolution?
Explain natural selection with two or three different examples.
What is “fitness” in the biological perspective? Explain the peppered moth example of natural selection. Evaluate the evidence for evolution presented (homologous structures, biogeography).
Despite our modern understanding of spontaneous generation (that meat does not turn into flies or that we do not make bees by building a barn), how might life have evolved from the chemistry of primitive Earth? What are the leading hypotheses under study for both the place and process of life’s beginning? Sketch and label the apparatus in an explanation of the Miller-Urey Experiment.
Explain allopatric and sympatric speciation, contrasting each with examples. What are the prezygotic and postzygotic barriers to gene flow and what does this have to do with species and speciation? What is “polyploidy” in plants, and what does this have to do with speciation?
Regarding the rate of speciation, contrast Darwin’s gradualism with Eldridge & Gould’s punctuated equilibrium.
What is the significance of the “Tiktallik” discovered by Neil Shubin and his research team? Follow along with the explanation of continuity and change in homeostatic mechanisms, and think about how these can be interpreted as evidence for evolution.
What can science tell us about the origin of life? Draw upon evidence from geology, chemistry and biology as you answer this question.
Consider the interplay between evolution and environment in speciation and extinction. Follow the

example of stickleback evolution and rich comments about extinction.
Carefully consider and evaluate the evidence for evolution presented here (from biogeography, fossils, homologous structures, DNA & proteins, mathematical models).
Draw and generally explain the functioning of your nervous system at three levels: the central and peripheral nervous system, the neuron, and the nerve cell membrane. Sketch and explain the functioning at the synapse. via
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