Chapter 1: Introduction to Biology
Scholastic Biology Midterm Exam
You should be able to:
1.
Define biology and describe 5 things a biologist does.
2.
List, describe and give examples of 8 characteristics of living organisms.
3.
Explain the characteristics of science including ideas such as expanding scientific knowledge, evidence and theories, and peer review .
4.
Compare something that is scientific with pseudoscience.
5.
Describe the importance of the International or Metric system of measurement.
6.
List the steps of the Scientific method.
7.
Describe the difference between an observation and inference.
8.
Explain the difference between independent variable and independent variable and be able to identify each.
Go over the vocabulary, the Study guide and assessment for this chapter found on Pp. 24-26.
Chapter 2: Principles of Ecology
You should be able to:
1.
Describe how abiotic and biotic factors interact in complex ways in a community and ecosystem.
2.
Describe the levels of biological organization: organism, population, biological community, ecosystem, biome, and biosphere.
3.
Differentiate between habitat and niche.
4.
Explain the interaction within a community and identify examples of symbiotic relationships such as mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.
5.
Describe the flow of energy through an ecosystem.
6.
Differentiate between autotroph and heterotroph.
7.
Describe and give examples of a food chain, food web, and food pyramid.

8.
Explain how nutrients are cycles through the ecosystem by biochemical processes such as the water cycle, carbon cycle, oxygen cycle, nitrogen cycle, and phosphorus cycle.
Go over the vocabulary, the Study Guide and Assessment found on Pp. 52-53.
Chapter 3: Communities, Biomes, and Ecosystems
You should be able to:
1.
Explain what limiting factors are, and describe how abiotic and biotic factors affect a species.
2.
Explain and identify graphs of “Range of Tolerance”.
3.
Describe and give examples of succession.
4.
Explain how land ecosystems are grouped.
5.
Describe how latitude and climate effect land biomes.
6.
Identify the major land biomes: tundra, boreal forest, temperate forest, temperate woodland and shrubland, temperate grasslands, desert, tropical savannah, tropical seasonal forests, tropical rain forest, mountains, and polar.
7.
Explain how aquatic ecosystems are grouped.
8.
Describe how water is distributed on the Earth.
9.
Describe the freshwater ecosystems of rivers, streams, and lakes.
10.
Explain what transitional aquatic ecosystems are and why they are important.
11.
Describe the features of the marine ecosystems.
12.
Identify estuaries and coral reefs as ecosystems with the most diversity.
Go over the vocabulary and use the Study guide and assessment found on Pp. 84-87
Chapter 6: Chemistry in Biology
You should be able to:
1.
Explain that atoms are the building blocks of all matter, and the foundation of biological chemistry.
2.
Differentiate among atoms, molecules, and compounds.
3.
Give the symbols and atomic number of the 1 st 12 elements on the periodic table.

4.
Describe the structure of an atom: identifying protons, neutrons, and electrons.
5.
Define isotopes and explain their importance in studying biology.
6.
Identify the different types of chemical bonds; ionic, covalent, hydrogen, Vander Waal .
7.
Explain why chemical reactions are necessary for life.
8.
Explain a chemical reaction and why must they be balanced.
9.
Explain activation energy and how enzymes affect chemical reactions.
10.
Explain the “Lock and Key” hypothesis.
11.
Describe the properties of water.
12.
Identify the parts of a solution.
13.
Name the two types of mixtures.
14.
Explain what is meant by pH. Identify acid, base, and neutral solutions.
15.
Name the 4 important macromolecules found in living things.
16.
Identify the building blocks and roles of Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, and Nucleic Acids.
Go over vocabulary, and the Study Guide and Assessment found on Pp. 174-177