Midterm Assessment Study Guide
Honors Biology
Biochemistry
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Define matter, an element, and a trace element.
Describe the structure of an atom.
Define the atomic number and mass number of an atom. Be able to determine atomic mass given
information about number of subatomic particles
Define an isotope and explain what makes some isotopes radioactive and uses in biology of radioactive
isotopes.
Explain how the electron configuration of an atom influences its chemical behavior.
Distinguish between ionic bonds, nonpolar covalent bonds, polar covalent bonds, and hydrogen bonds,
noting their relative strengths and how they form.
Describe the special properties of water that make it vital to living systems. Explain how these properties
are related to hydrogen bonding.
Define and distinguish between cohesion, adhesion, and surface tension.
Define a solute, a solvent, and a solution.
Explain how acids and bases directly or indirectly affect the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution.
Describe the pH scale and relative strengths of acids/bases and amounts of H+/OH- based on the pH values
Explain how buffers function.
Describe the structure of carbon
Distinguish between organic and inorganic molecules
Determine if a structural formula is correct based on the number of covalent bonds formed by carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen
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List the four main classes of macromolecules,
explain the relationship between monomers and polymers
compare the processes of dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis.
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Describe the structures, functions, properties, and types of carbohydrate molecules common in the human
diet
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Describe the structures, functions, properties, and types of lipid molecules.
21. Describe the structures, functions, properties, and types of proteins.
22. Recognize the structural formulas for fats, monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, amino acids,
polypeptides
Cells
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Explain why there are upper and lower limits to cell size.
Distinguish between the structures found in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Compare the structures of plant and animal cells.
Describe the structure and functions of the nucleus, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi
apparatus, vesicles, lysosomes, and vacuoles.
Compare the structures and functions of chloroplasts and mitochondria.
Describe the evidence that suggests that mitochondria and chloroplasts evolved by endosymbiosis.
Describe the structure of microtubules as well as its function
Relate the structure of cilia and flagella to their functions.
Relate the structure of plant cell walls to its functions.
Describe the three fundamental features of all organisms. (what do all cells contain)
Describe the fluid mosaic structure of cell membranes.
Describe the diverse functions of membrane proteins.
Relate the structure of phospholipid molecules to the structure and properties of cell membranes.
Define diffusion and describe the process of passive transport.
Explain how osmosis can be defined as the diffusion of water across a membrane.
Distinguish between hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic solutions.
Explain how animal and plants cells change when placed into hypertonic or hypotonic solutions.
18. Explain how transport proteins are involved in facilitated diffusion.
19. Compare the processes of facilitated diffusion and active transport.
20. Distinguish between exocytosis, endocytosis, phagocytosis, pinocytosis, and receptor-mediated endocytosis.
Enzymes/energy
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Define Metabolism
Describe the structure of ATP
Explain how ATP functions as an energy shuttle.
Explain how enzymes speed up chemical reactions.
Distinguish between enzymes and catalysts
Describe the structure of an enzyme-substrate interaction.
Explain how the cellular environment affects enzyme activity. (pH, temp)
Explain what are cofactors and coenzymes.
Digestion
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List the organs that food passes through as it goes through the alimentary canal.
Describe what happens within the oral cavity, including any enzymes and what they digest
Explain how how food is directed away from the trachea during swallowing.
Describe the process that moves food through the esophagus (and also through the intestines)
Relate the structure of the stomach to its functions. Describe the functions of the secretions (all of them) of the
stomach. Finally, explain why the stomach does not digest itself.
Describe the environment (in terms of pH) of the stomach and small intestines. What molecules are
responsible.
What enzymes are produced by the pancreas, what these digest, and where they have their effect.
Describe the 2 main functions of the small intestine.
Explain how the structure of the small intestine promotes nutrient absorption.
Describe the functions of the colon and rectum.
Describe how certain animals can digest cellulose.
Cellular Respiration/photosynthesis
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Compare the processes and locations (organelles) of cellular respiration and photosynthesis.
Provide the overall chemical equation for cellular respiration.
Describe the role of NAD+ and FAD in cellular respiration.
List the cellular regions where glycolysis, the Krebs, and oxidative phosphorylation (electron transport chain)
occur. Place these into their correct order (sequence)
Compare the reactants, products, and energy yield of the three stages of cellular respiration.
Compare the reactants, products, and energy yield of alcohol and lactic acid fermentation. Distinguish
between strict anaerobes and facultative anaerobes.
Describe the structure of chloroplasts and their location in a leaf.
Identify the wavelengths of light that are most efficient for photosynthesis
Compare the reactants and products of the light reactions and the Calvin cycle.
Describe functions and location photosynthetic pigments.
Explain how the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis (use of concentration gradients and ATP synthase)
generate ATP, NADPH, and oxygen in the light reactions.
Compare the production of ATP in photosysnthesis and cellular respiration.
Describe the function of NADPH in photosynthesis
Describe the reactants and products of the Calvin cycle. Explain why this cycle is dependent upon the light
reactions.
Identify the overall equation for photosynthesis
Cell Cycle
Stages of the cell cycle and events that occur in each stage (G1, G2, S, M, G0)
Know the order of each stage of mitosis and what is occurring in the cell during each stage
Know the order of each stage of meiosis and what is occurring in the cell during each stage
Monomers of nucleic acids/ components of nucleotides
Anti-parallel nature of DNA
Details of the structure of DNA
DNA replication: enzymes (DNA polymerase, helicase, ligase) leading vs. lagging strands
Compare/contrast DNA and RNA
a. Type of sugar
b. Nitrogen bases
c. Types of shapes the molecules form
9. Base pairing rules
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Protein synthesis
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Roles of DNA, tRNA, mRNA, ribosomes (rRNA) in protein synthesis
Location where transcription and translation occur and details of what is happening in each
Use of mRNA codon chart to determine amino acid sequence
Mutations: how they may/may not affect the amino acid sequence of protein
RNA processing following transcription