Exam 5 Review Sheet
AP Biology
Exam 5 will cover:
Chapter 5 – Nucleic Acids to the end
Chapter 6 – Intro to 6.2
Make sure you look at ALL the questions in all chapters as well as bold words,
headings and figures, the PowerPoint, and this review sheet.
**I posted a macromolecule review chart online.
52. Make sure you are able to explain the central dogma starting with a gene. You must
include items like transcription, translation, mRNA, tRNA, ribosome, rRNA, nuclear
pore, RNA polymerase, amino acids, nucleus, etc…
66. Describe the structure of a nucleotide.
67. How many different nucleotides are there that will build RNA and DNA? Be able to
draw them all the way we discussed in class. For example, I could ask you to draw
dAMP or AMP or dCTP etc… or I could ask you to draw an RNA nucleotide containing
a purine base, etc…
68. How do the purines differ structurally from the pyrimidines in general? Know the
names of the bases and to which group they belong, purine or pyrimidine.
69. Draw the ester, diester, phosphoester and phosphdiester functional group.
70. Explain how two nucleotides can be connected together to form a dinucleotide and so
on. You should be able to draw this. What type of linkage is formed? Why do we give it
this name?
71. Compare and contrast a DNA nucleotide to an RNA nucleotide (how are they the
same/different?).
72. What is the overall charge of DNA and why?
73. Describe the entire nucleus/library analogy – library, book, paper, ink, page,
photocopy,...
74. Describe the backbone of DNA. What do we call the backbone?
75. Make sure you can explain the technique of chromatography as well as the
experiment done by Erwin Chargaff. What was the conclusion of Chargaff’s study? How
did this help Watson and Crick solve the structure of DNA?
76. What is the function of DNA? Genes code for ___________________.
78. How would you define a lipid?
79. How are lipids chemically different from the other three classes of macromolecules?
80. Identify the four types of lipids discussed in class. Be able to draw each type as we
discussed in class.
81. How do unsaturated and saturated fatty acids differ structurally? How does this
change how they behave relative to each other? How do trans fats differ from cis fats?
Make sure you can draw a trans or cis fatty acid. Which are found in plants, cis or trans?
81.5. Make sure you can explain how soap is made and how soap works, and the
similarities between soap and phospholipids.
82. Where does one find unsaturated fats in nature? What about saturated fats?
83. What does the term “hydrogenated vegetable oil” refer to? Give an example of
hydrogenated vegetable oil that you might find in the supermarket.
84. Describe why saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature while unsaturated
fats tend to be liquid.
85. Identify the functions of triglycerides in nature. Where are they found (what type of
cell and what location in humans)? What is the name given to the two general types of fat
in humans? Which is more prevalent in males? Females?
86. Compare and contrast a phospholipid to a triglyceride (What is similar and what is
different?).
87. Describe the function of phospholipids in nature.
88. Why do phospholipids tend to always have one kinked fatty acid (one kinked tail)? Is
this kink cis or trans? Explain why.
89. Define the term amphiphilic.
90. How does the term amphiphilic relate to phospholipids and why is this an important
property of these molecules? What other molecules have we discussed that are
amphiphilic?
91. Be able to draw the two structures discussed in class that will result if you take moles
of phospholipids and add them to water. Know the names of the two resulting structures.
Which of these structures would be similar to a cell membrane?
91.5. Explain why phospholipids assume the above described structures in aqueous
solution…hint…water cage and random motion should be in the explanation.
91.7 Be able to draw a simple cell membrane containing phospholipids and cholesterol.
92. Describe the general function of cell membranes in the cell.
93. Describe the structure and function of waxes in nature. Identify at least two places
where you would find them, one in plants and one in animals.
94. Describe the general structure of a steroid and give at least four examples in humans.
95. One example of a steroid is cholesterol. Describe the two functions of cholesterol in
our cells that we spoke about in class, and indicate how the structure of this molecule
determines its function.
95.25. In what organ do you synthesize cholesterol and in what organelle?
95.5 Explain in detail how cholesterol maintains the integrity of the cell membrane
throughout a wide range of temperatures.
96. What is a hormone? What type of molecules act as hormones in the body?
98. We learned that steroids can act as hormones (so now you know that protein amino
acid based molecules and steroids can act as hormones - signaling molecules that allow
cells to “talk” to each other that are not typically located near each other). Indicate the
two types of steroid hormones we discussed in class and describe their function in the
body.
98.5. Discuss the function of the corticoids. Where are they synthesized? Why are they
called glucocorticoids and mineralcorticoids?
99. Why does one not need to ingest cholesterol to survive?
99.5 Why are the androgens like testosterone also called anabolic steroids, while the
other steroid hormones are not?
99.7. Compare anabolic reactions to catabolic reactions and give examples of each.
100. How is cholesterol linked to the steroid hormones?
101. Describe Chargaff’s experiments and why the results were critical in determining
the three-dimensional structure of DNA.
102. Chargaff used a technique known in general terms as paper chromatography.
Describe how to do and the purpose of paper chromatography in general. For example, if
I gave you a solution containing a mixture of various food colorings, how might you
separate them? Explain how paper chromatography works.
103. Describe the three-dimensional structure of DNA.
104. Why is it important that the base pairs of DNA be held together by hydrogen bonds
as opposed to using covalent or ionic bonds?
105. One of the DNA strands is typically called the “complementary” strand. Why do you
think this strand was given this name?
106. What do I mean when I say that the strands of DNA are anti-parallel?
107. Be able to label the ends of the DNA strands (5’ and 3’) and be able to explain why
the ends are given these names.
108. Describe the function of DNA in organisms.
109. Explain the charge of DNA.
110. How does the structure of DNA compare to that of RNA? (Three major differences)
111. Identify the three types of RNA discussed in class and give their function.
112. Describe how the cell is able to make polypeptides using the information that is
encoded in the DNA. Be able to describe it both using the analogy and using the actual
terms. Be sure to include the following words: DNA, mRNA, tRNA, rRNA, protein,
RNA polymerase (why is this enzyme called RNA polymerase?), ribosome, polypeptide,
amino acids, library, paper, transcribe, translate, nuclear pores, nuclear membrane,
guards. You should be able to make a sketch of this process.
113. The process described above is known as “The Central Dogma” of molecular
biology. What does this mean? (google it)
114. Why is the nucleus NOT NOT NOT (just incase you didn’t see the first NOT) the
control center/brain of the cell?
115. We discussed the RNA world hypothesis in class. Describe why it is logical to
hypothesize that RNA was used by the most primitive of cells before the evolution of
DNA and protein. What specific evidence do we have that supports this? (I discussed two
major pieces of observational evidence) Why couldn’t protein have come first or DNA
have come first?
116. Why do you think protein and DNA exist today? Why aren’t organisms still solely
based on RNA? Use the term natural selection in your answer to these questions.
117. What is the name given to a stretch of DNA that codes (stores the information for)
for mRNA, tRNA or rRNA?
118. How are tRNA’s and rRNA’s made?
119. Describe the structure of the ribosome. What is it made of?
120. Where do the amino acids that our cells use to build polypeptides come from? Yes, I
know they are in the cytoplasm, but before that…
121. List each macromolecule class and identify where you would find each in a cell. The
next step is going to be to put these molecules together and build a cell. You should have
the basic location and function down before we start getting into details.
122. How many pieces of DNA (“books”) are found in a human nucleus? If you attached
all those pieces end to end, how long would the DNA be? Discuss the size of DNA in
terms of actual size and the MSG analogy. What do we call each piece (“book”)? How
many unique books are there? Explain.
123. Describe the Madison square garden analogy and be sure to include every
macromolecule class (the rope, the straight pin (a phospholipid), the baseball, the head of
a pin (a glucose molecule))
124. Explain why hydrophilic molecules like proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates,
nucleic acids, etc… are NOT able to move through a plasma membrane, while small
hydrophobic molecules can.
(Why do you think large hydrophobic molecules have trouble crossing?)
125. Why do think amino acid based hormones require a cell surface receptor protein to
tell the cell what to do (talk to the cell), while steroid hormones typically have protein
receptors inside the cell, in the cytoplasm?
126. Compare a phospholipid bilayer to a phospholipid monolayer. Which would make
up a cell membrane and why is this a logical choice (why would the other not work as a
cell membrane?).
CHAPTER 6
4. Describe the significance of the Dutch microscopist Anton van Leeuwenhoek (16321723) and the English Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703). Describe cell theory and identify the
three scientists accredited with this theory and their contributions.
5. Explain why hydrophilic molecules like proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleic
acids, Na+, other salts, etc… are NOT able to move through a plasma membrane, while
small hydrophobic molecules can. Why do you think large hydrophobic molecules have
trouble crossing?
6. What is a hormone? Give an example and include the origin of the hormone, the target
organ, and the affect on the body. Why does this hormone not target any other cells when
it is all over the body?
7. Explain why amino acid/polypeptide/protein hormones require a cell surface receptor
(embedded in the membrane) protein in order to send a signal to the cell (talk to the cell),
while steroid hormones typically have protein receptors inside the cell, soluble in the
cytoplasm?
8. Compare and contrast the three different types of microscopes we learned about. How
are they similar? How are they different? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
How are samples prepared for each? Magnifications? Resolutions? Know when to use
each if you were working in a lab.
9. Identify and describe the different types of light microscopes available. Explain how
the fluorescent microscope works – give a real life example.
10. What is the definition of resolution? What is a better resolution, 5um or 120nm?
Explain why.
10.5 Be able to calculate the magnification of a light microscope knowing the ocular and
objective magnifications.
17. How many microns in a millimeter? How many nanometers in a micron? How many
nanometers in a millimeter? Be able to convert. Draw a ruler indicating a meter as we did
in class and show the definitions of mm, um and nm using the picture by breaking the
distances up into a 1000 equal lengths each time.