Name: _________________________________________________________ Date: ___________________________ Period: _________
POSSIBLE Short Answer /Critical Thinking Questions
Fall Semester Final Exam
Introduction
1. List and describe briefly five external factors that must be present or provided to sustain life.
2. Define homeostasis.
3. Why is an understanding of the anatomical position important?
4. Use as many directional terms as you can to describe the relationship between your olecranon and
your palm.
5. At the clinic, Harry was told that blood would be drawn from his antecubital region. What body part
was Harry asked to hold out? Later, the nurse came in to give Harry a shot of penicillin in the area
just distal to his acromial region. Did Harry take off his shirt or drop his pants to receive the
injection? Before Harry left, the nurse noticed that Harry had a nasty bruise on his gluteal region.
What part of his body was black and blue?
6. Calcium levels in Mr. Gallariani’s blood are dropping to dangerously low levels. The hormone PTH is
released and soon blood calcium levels begin to rise. Shortly after, PTH release slows. Is this an
example of a positive or negative feedback mechanism? What is the initial stimulus? What is the
result?
Chemistry
7. Dehydration and hydrolysis are essentially opposite reactions. How are they related to the
synthesis and degradation (breakdown) of molecules?
8. Explain the importance of enzymes to the human body.
9. Some antibiotics act by binding to certain essential enzymes in the target bacteria. (a) How might
these antibiotics influence the chemical reactions controlled by the enzymes? (b) What is the
anticipated effect on the bacteria? On the person taking the antibiotic prescription?
10. After you eat a protein bar, which chemical reaction(s) (anabolism, catabolism, or both) must occur
for the amino acids in the protein bar to be converted into proteins in your body?
Cells
11. Explain why mitosis can be thought of as cellular immortality.
12. Comment on the role of the sodium-potassium pump in maintaining a cell’s resting membrane
potential.
13. Explain why limp celery becomes crisp and the skin of your fingertips wrinkles when placed in tap
water. (The principle is exactly the same.)
14. Two examples of chemotherapeutic drugs (drugs used to treat cancer) and their cellular actions
are listed below. Explain why each drug could be fatal to a cell.
a. Vincristine (Oncovin): damages the mitotic spindle
b. Doxorubicin (Adriamycin): binds to DNA and blocks mRNA synthesis
Tissues (Histology)
15. Describe the criteria used to classify epithelia.
16. Provide examples from the body that illustrate four of the major functions of connective tissue.
17. In what ways are adipose tissue and bone tissue similar? How are they different?
18. John has sustained a severe knee injury during football practice and is told that he has a torn knee
cartilage. Can he expect a quick, uneventful recovery? Explain your response.
19. The epidermis (epithelium of the cutaneous membrane of the skin) is a keratinized stratified
squamous epithelium. Explain why that epithelium is much better suited for protecting the body’s
external surface than a simple columnar epithelium would be.
Integumentary System
20. Explain the basis of skin color.
21. You go to the beach to swim on an extremely hot, sunny summer afternoon. Describe how your
integumentary system acts to preserve homeostasis during your outing.
22. Victims of third-degree burns demonstrate the loss of vital functions performed by the skin.
What are the TWO most important problems encountered clinically with such patients?
Explain each in terms of the absence of skin.
Skeletal System
23. Draw a typical long bone AND label the following structures: medullary cavity, proximal epiphysis,
periosteum, diaphysis, distal epiphysis, epiphyseal plate, spongy bone, compact bone, articular cartilage
24. Explain the negative feedback mechanism that regulates the concentration of blood calcium
ions.
25. Regarding bone factures: what are they, how are they classified, how does the body heal them, and
what might a doctor do to aid recovery?
26. Describe the six synovial joints and how they might be used in your favorite activity/sport.
27. Describe how bone develops and grows in length. How would one know they have finished
growing?
Muscular System
28. Muscle relaxing drugs are administered to a patient during major surgery. Which of the two
chemical (A or B) described below would be a good skeletal muscle relaxant and WHY?
 Chemical A binds to and blocks ACh receptors of muscle cells.
 Chemical B floods the muscle cells’ cytoplasm with calcium.
29. Describe how skeletal muscle contracts. Start at the neuromuscular junction.
30. Compare and contrast the three types of muscle found in the human body.
31. Explain the importance of calcium to muscle contraction. BE SPECIFIC.
32. Draw and label a sarcomere. Be able to explain the differences in appearance during
relaxation and contraction.
33. Where do muscles get their energy? (3 pathways: what are they, when are they used, how do they
generate ATP)
Nervous System
34. What would happen at a synapse if an agent was introduced that blocked the activity of chemically
gated Na+ channels? K+ channels?
35. What is the polarized membrane state? How is it maintained? (Note the roles of both passive and
active mechanisms.)
36. Mrs. Herrera suffered a stroke two weeks ago. Initially she was unable to move her right arm and
the right side of her face, but her paralysis has decreased markedly. However, she still has a great
deal of difficulty speaking. Mrs. Herrera’s speech consists of very few words. She struggles to
produce these words and they are distorted and separated by long pauses. Her comprehension of
written and spoken language is unaltered. She is fully aware of what happened to her and is tearful
much of the time. Which side of the brain and which particular area of the brain was affected by
Mrs. Herrera’s stroke?
37. How is depolarization an example of positive feedback?
38. If you were an anesthesiologist (a doctor who administers anesthetics, drugs that cause a lack of
sensation during surgery), how would you keep the nervous system inactive?