Name _______________________
Life Science
4 Quarter Review Sheet
th
I. Vocabulary
1. metamorphosis – a change in body form that an organism undergoes as it changes
during development. One form does not resemble the next form. Metamorphosis allows
organisms to specialize; each form is specialized to perform a certain function.
There are two types of metamorphosis:
 Complete metamorphosis – each stage is completely different:
Egg, larva, pupa, adult
 Incomplete metamorphosis – the second stage resembles the final
stage:
Egg, nymph, adult
2. life cycle – a series of events or stages that happen regularly in a definite order. Each
different organism has its own particular life cycle.
 All organisms go through these stages: birth, growth, reproduction,
death
 Humans go through these stages: birth, infancy, childhood,
adolescence, adulthood, death
3. life span – how long an organism can be expected to live. The average life span of a
human is 75 to 80 years.
4. reproduction – the making of offspring. There are several types of reproduction:
 Budding – a bud forms on an animal and breaks off, forming a new
organism. The new organism is a clone of the parent organism
 Regeneration – a new organism is produced from part of an original
organism. For example, if cut in half, each half would develop into a
new compete organism. The new organism is a clone of the parent
organism.
 Fertilization – the joining of an egg cell from a female and a sperm cell
from a male. The new organism is NOT a clone of the parent
organism, it receives half of its genes from the female parent and half
from the male parent.
5. embryo – the developing animal that is produced by fertilization.
6. heredity – the passing on of traits from parents to offspring.
7. gene – contained on chromosomes, these are pieces of DNA that determine traits of
organisms
7. allele - one member of a pair or series of genes that occupy a specific position on a
specific chromosome. An allele may be recessive or dominant. Recessive alleles are
signified by lowercase letter and must be paired with another recessive allele in order for
the recessive trait to be expressed. Dominant alleles are signified by an uppercase letter.
8. camouflage – blending into surroundings due to color.
9. mimicry – occurs when one organism imitates another in order to avoid predators. An
example is the Viceroy butterfly; it mimics the Monarch butterfly because predators
avoid the Monarch due to its bad taste..
10. adaptations – traits that help organism survive. Examples include a giraffe’s long
neck or a polar bear’s white fur. Both camouflage and mimicry are types of adaptations.
11. inherited behavior – inborn behavior that does not have to be learned by an organism.
There are two types of inherited behavior:
 Reflex – a simple, automatic behavior. An example is scratching an
itch
 Instinct – a complex set of behaviors such as building a nest, spinning
a web, migrating, and hibernating.
12. learned behavior – behaviors that are not inborn; animals must learn how to do them.
Examples include finding food and going through a maze.
13. mutation – a change in the genetic code that can affect a chromosome or part of a
chromosome. Mutations allow for adaptations to develop, but can also cause genetic
disorders, such as Down Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis.
14. genotype – the genetic code for a trait. For example, bb is the genotype for blue eyes
15. phenotype – the physical expression of a genetic code. For example, the phenotype
for the genetic code Bb is brown eyes. The phenotype for a recessive trait can only be
expressed if both alleles are recessive; for example, the phenotype blue eyes can only be
expressed if the genotype is bb.
16. hypothesis – what you predict will occur in an experiment
17. data – information you collect while conducting an experiment
18. bibliography – a list of all resources used when conducting research or writing a
paper
19. Gregor Mendel – the “founder of genetics”, he was an Austrian monk who first
proposed the idea of dominant and recessive traits.
II. Concepts
1. Compare and contrast the three types of reproduction: budding, regeneration,
and fertilization. (See chart on page B 61)
Budding, regeneration, and fertilization are all ways that animals reproduce.
Budding and regeneration only require one parent and produce clones. Fertilization
requires two parents, one male and one female, and does not produce a clone.
2. Discuss the peppered moths’ adaptations in England in the 1800’s. What does
this say about camouflage and adaptations?
Before the Industrial Revolution, light colored moths were more common in
England than dark colored moths. This is because the light colored moths were
camouflaged against light color trees. The dark colored moths stood out against the light
colored trees, but the light colored moths blended in with the trees and so predators did
not see them as often. After the Industrial Revolution, pollution from factories covered
the trees with soot that made the bark dark. This caused the light colored moths to stand
out and the dark colored moths to be camouflaged. The dark colored moths were now
more common than the light colored moths.
3. How did Gregor Mendel determine that there existed recessive and dominant
traits?
Gregor Mendel bred a tall pea plant with a short pea plant, in hopes that the
offspring would be medium pea plants. Instead, only tall pea plants were among the
offspring. He determined that this was because the trait for a plant being tall was
dominant and the trait for a plant being short was recessive. In other words, the plant
offspring received one dominant (T) and one recessive (t) allele for height, making its
genotype Tt. The dominant allele “overpowers” the recessive allele, causing the
phenotype to be tall.
4. How does an organism inherit traits?
An organism inherits traits at the time of fertilization. Offspring receive half of
their chromosomes from their female parent and half from their male parent. These
chromosomes contain alleles, which are codes for single traits, such as eye color or hair
color.
5. How is an organism’s sex determined?
Chromosomes it receives from its mother and father determine an organism’s sex.
Females have an XX chromosome pair and males have an XY chromosome pair. Female
parents contribute an X chromosome and male parents can contribute either an X or a Y
chromosome. If the male parent contributes and X chromosome, the offspring will be
female. If the male parent contributes a Y chromosome, the offspring will be male.