Name:
Study Guide for Mendelian Genetics and Evolution Final Exam
Exam Wednesday, December 14th
Complete on a separate sheet of paper or on note cards
1. What is the difference between a prokaryote and eukaryote? 
2. Write the general equation for photosynthesis. 
3. Convert 5,000uL to _________mL. Show your work! 
4. Convert 0.05L to ___________uL. Show your work! 
5. Define the terms: gene, allele, genotype, phenotype, heterozygous, homozygous, dominant & recessive.
Give an example of each.
6. a. Pretendi imaginarious has either dark blue feathers or white feathers. You think that just one gene
codes for this phenotype. You also think that this gene has just two alleles, The blue allele (B) and the
white allele (b). You suspect that the blue allele is dominant over the white allele. So, you do an
experiment. You cross blue feathered Pretendis which is homozygous dominant, BB, with white
feathered Pretendis that are homozygous recessive, bb. Use the Punnett Square to show the predicted
offspring of this cross if your ideas about this gene were correct:
b. What fraction of the offspring would be predicted to have blue feathers?
c. Next you cross offspring from the F1 generation with each other. Use the Punnett Square to show the
results of the cross:
d. What fraction of the offspring from the F2 cross would be predicted to have blue feathers?
e. What fraction of the offspring from the F2 cross would be predicted to have white feathers?
f. If the gene for blue feathers (B) was incompletely dominant over the
gene for white feathers, what would be the result of crossing two Bb Pretendis? What would the
phenotypes of the offspring be? What fraction of the offspring would have each phenotype?
7. a. You also notice that these Pretendis also have either a set of antennae or no antennae. You suspect
that the genes for antennae and feather color sort independently. You notice that antennae are dominant.
Use “A” to represent the dominant allele and “a” to represent the recessive allele. You start mating
Pretendis to study the genetics of these insects. You carefully select two individuals to mate. The male
Pretendi has blue feathers and is without antennae (BBaa). You mate him with a female who is white
feathered and has an antennae (bbAa). Use the Punnett Square below to predict the genotypes and
phenotypes of the offspring.
______________x ____________
b. What would the phenotypes of the offspring be? What fraction of the offspring would have each
phenotype?
8. In a cross between a white-eyed female fruit fly and red-eyed male, what fraction of the female offspring
will have white eyes? What fraction of the male offspring will have white eyes? White eyes are X-linked
and recessive. Use a Punnett Square to show your work.
9. Where are genes located in the cell of a eukaryote?
10. Explain the difference between a diploid cell and a haploid cell. Draw an example of each with 3 types
of chromosomes.
11. If a diploid number of chromosomes is 46, what is the haploid number?
12. What are gametes? What is a male gamete called? What is a female gamete called?
13. Define sexual reproduction.
14. Chromosomes that contain the same genes but possibly different alleles are ___________.
15. Identify and explain in all stages of Meiosis I and Meiosis II in order. Distinguish between homologous
chromosomes and sister chromatids.
16. What kinds of cells undergo Mitosis? When do cells undergo Mitosis? What kinds of cells undergo
Meiosis? What is the result of Mitosis? What is the result of Meiosis?
17. What are the stages of mitosis? How does this process compare to meiosis?
18. Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to variation in a population. Describe 3 ways that sexual
reproduction creates genetic variation in a population.
19. How is gender determined in humans? Explain the role of chromosomes and meiosis.
20. Roughly how much genetic material do you get from your mom and your dad?
21. Why may alleles that are lethal in a homozygous individual remain in the gene pool?
22. Below is a pedigree for an inherited lung disease. Provide the genotypes of each of the individuals
marked with lower case letters.
23. Explain the difference between a law and a theory.
24. What are some of the questions that science can’t answer?
25. What is evolution? Is evolution a law or a theory? Explain why.
26. Define the following terms: species, population, fitness, gene pool, homologous structures, vestigal
structures.
27. What is the smallest unit that can evolve?
28. What are the four ideas (discussed in class) that make up the theory of natural selection?
29. What is the evidence for evolution (Fossils, Biogeography, Comparative Anatomy, Comparative
Embriology & Biochemistry)? Give a brief explanation for how each type of evidence supports the law
of evolution and give an example of each (HINT: review your notes )
30. Create a table and cladogram for organisms given pictures showing ancestral and derived features.
B
A
E
F
C
D
G
Anc
e
31. What does a cladogram show? What is convergent evolution? Give an example from the cladogram
above.
32. What are the three domains of life? Describe each.
33. Name the four kingdoms of Eukarya discussed in class. Give an example organism for each kingdom.
34. Why is evolution important for modern scientists to understand?
35. What are the different possible mechanisms for evolution (Natural Selection & Artificial Selection,
Sexual Selection, Genetic Drift, Gene Flow, Mutation)? Define each and give an example for each. Be
able to identify which mechanism caused the evolution of a certain trait.
36. What is the only mechanism for evolution that creates new traits?
37. If a parent gets a tan, do they pass their tan onto their baby? Why not? What is the difference between
adapting to an environment and evolution?
38. What is genetic biodiversity? Why is genetic variation in a species important?
39. What is a molecular clock? How do scientists use molecular clocks and fossil evidence to determine
when organisms diverged evolutionarily from one another?
40. Put the following biological categories in order from biggest to smallest: Kingdom, Domain, Genus,
Order, Species, Phylum, Class, and Family. If two organisms share the same genus, are they more or less
similar than two organisms who share the same kingdom?
41. How do you name an organism scientifically? What is the correct way to write it?
42. Draw an overview of transcription and translation in a eukaryotic cell. Label the cell, the nucleus,
transcription, and translation.
For transcription include both DNA strands and mRNA. Correctly base pair the nucleotides in your drawing.
Label the RNA polymerase, free nucleotides, the DNA template strand, the direction of transcription, and the
orientation of the DNA and RNA strands.
For translation include the mRNA strand, a ribososme with all three peptide sites, a tRNA with an anticodon
that is paired correctly with the mRNA and an amino acid that would correspond to the codon shown. Label the
ribosome, mRNA, tRNA, polypeptide chain, codon and anticodon. Use your codon sheet for this.