Biology A Three Trimesters Review
Items to Review:
All Chapters/sections covered
Concept Check questions
Handouts
Labs and projects
Notes
Online activities
Chapter 2: Scientific Method
1. Describe the steps of the scientific method.
2. What is a hypothesis?
3. What is a control or control group?
4. What is an independent variable? Dependent variable?
Chapter 4: Chemistry of Life
1. What are the three particles that make up an atom? Location? Charge?
2. How do you determine an atom’s mass number? Atomic mass?
3. What is the difference between mass number and atomic mass?
4. How do you determine the atomic number of an element? Which subatomic
particle is always equal to the atomic number?
5. What is an isotope? Give an example of two atoms that are isotopes.
6. What is an ion? Give an example of an ion.
7. What is a covalent bond? What is an ionic bond? What happens to electrons in
each of these types of bonds?
8. Water breaks down into what two ions?
9. What is a hydrogen bond? Are electrons transferred or shared?
10. List and explain water’s 5 life-supporting properties.
11. What does the pH scale measure? What is the range of pH measurements?
12. What is an acid? What is a base? List some examples.
13. What is a neutral substance? Give examples of neutral substances.
14. What is a buffer? Why are buffers important in the body?
15. Fill in the chart below. Use a periodic table when needed.
Element
Nitrogen
Symbol
&
Charge
N
Ca+2
O-2
Atomic
Number
Mass
Number
1
1
1
1
2
Number
of
Protons
Number
of
Neutrons
8
Number
of
Electrons
0
0
41
7
Neutral
atom, ion,
Isotope
Chapter 5: Molecules of life
1. What characteristic of carbon makes it an important biological element?
2. Explain the difference between organic and inorganic molecules.
3. Define the words hydrophobic and hydrophilic.
4. Explain the relationship between monomers and polymers.
5. Describe the processes of dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis.
6. What three macromolecules were studied in this chapter? Their functions?
7. Identify their important monomers and polymers.
8. Identify the three main types of polysaccharides, their characteristics, where they
come from and what they are used for.
9. What makes a fat saturated or unsaturated?
10. How many water molecules are produced in the production of a triglyceride?
11. What makes one amino acid different from another?
12. What do we call a long chain of amino acids linked together (other than a
protein)?
13. What is denaturation? What happens to the function of the protein?
14. What is an enzyme? What is another name for an enzyme?
15. Describe how an enzyme works using the terms: substrate, active site, enzyme,
activation energy and products.
Chapter 6: Cells
1. Review parts of a microscope.
2. Be able to identify, describe and give examples of the 5 characteristics of life.
3. Compare and contrast the two major classes of cells. Make sure you can identify
three characteristics of each class. Refer to Figures 6.4-6.6 to help.
4. Compare and contrast animal and plant cells in terms of organelles and structures
that are specific to each type and their function.
Chapters 6, 32, and 28: Molecular Movement, Excretory System, Nervous System
1. What is the basic unit of a plasma membrane? What properties allow this unit to
form membranes?
2. Describe the four main functions of specific proteins embedded in the cell
membrane.
3. What are two differences between passive transport and active transport?
4. Compare and contrast diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion and active transport
in terms of:
a. Direction(s) particles move
b. Necessary components (semi-permeable membrane, proteins, etc)
c. Energy
5. Describe how particles move at equilibrium.
6. Define hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic solutions.
7. Be able to explain how water or solutes would move if a cell were placed into any
of the above (hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic) environments.
8. Be able to explain how large molecules are brought into a cell and removed using
the process of endo- and exo- cytosis.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
What is negative feedback?
Be able to identify the organs/structures of the excretory system.
What is a nephron? Its function?
Describe the 4 steps of blood processing/urine production.
What is kidney dialysis?
Identify and describe the two subsystems of the nervous system.
What are the three functions of the nervous system?
Be able to label a basic motor neuron. Include dendrites, cell body, nucleus, axon, knobs,
myelin sheath, and nodes.
17. What is the difference between a synapse and a synaptic cleft?
18. Describe how nerves signals cross the synaptic cleft using chemical cues.
Chapter 29.1 and 29.2 Digestion
1. Know the major organs of the digestive system and their function.
2. What are the two types of digestion?
3. What substances are secreted into the small intestine?
4. What gets absorbed by the small intestine? Large intestines?