BIOLOGY BC2003 BIODIVERSITY LABORATORY
Recitation Exam Review, Fall 2004
In order to prepare for the recitation final exam on Friday, December 10, or Monday, December 13,
you are encouraged to study the following (listed in order of importance):
1) recitation notes
2) lab handouts and completed worksheets
3) reading from Cambpell that is directly related to what was studied in recitation and/or lab
The exam will be cumulative, covering the entire semester’s material. The majority of the exam will
be multiple choice (using bubble sheets, so be sure to bring a number 2 pencil (and eraser) to the
exam).
Don’t forget that questions are listed on the title page for each lab exercise and that your weekly
quizzes have good review questions. Some additional review questions from recitation material are
given for each lab exercise below. Please note that these questions, while a good place to start, do not
cover everything that will be on the exam.
WK
TOPIC
1
Animal form and function
(earthworm, planaria, clam, brachiopod, pluteus, metridium, crayfish)
What is biodiversity?
What features do living organisms share? Why aren’t viruses “alive”?
The two major nutritional modes are autotrophic and heterotrophic. What do each of these
terms mean? What are the two kinds of autotrophs? the two kinds of heterotrophs?
Name examples of each.
What is the purpose of classification? What was/is the basis of classifying organisms into the
five kingdoms? What is the basis of classifying organisms into the three domains? How
does the three domain system differ from the five kingdom system? What are its
advantages and disadvantages? Which specific gene is used as the basis of comparisons
for the three domain system and why?
What characteristics are shared by members of the animal kingdom?
For animals, review phylogenetic relationships, the relationship between form and function,
and the relationship between form/function and the organism’s environment/lifestyle.
Keep in mind the following features you studied in lab: symmetry, tissues, tissue layers,
cleavage pattern, blastopore fate, determinate/indeterminate development, and the coelom.
2
Ingestion, digestion, excretion
(fetal pig dissection, esophagus, intestine slides)
What is the basis for the animal phylogeny we reviewed in recitation? Now that you have
completed the cladistics lab, does the phylogeny make more sense? How was it
constructed?
What is a tissue? What are the four types of tissues found in most vertebrates? How does the
structure of each vary with its function?
What do epithelial tissues have in common? How are epithelial cells subdivided? simple vs.
stratified; cuboidal vs. columnar vs. squamous; glandular vs. non-glandular?
What do connective tissues have in common? Name several examples of connective tissues.
What is the functional unit of nervous tissue?
What are the three kinds of muscle tissue? What features are shared by all muscle tissues?
What features are shared by two kinds of muscle tissue? What features are unique to one
kind of muscle tissue?
Define sarcomere, myofibril, myosin, actin, and striated.
What four features are shared by all chordates? What features are shared by mammals?
What are the functions of the digestive system? Do all organisms have a digestive system?
What are the diets of the earthworm, crayfish, and pig and how do they relate to the
structure of their digestive systems?
3
Mammalian circulation
(fetal pig dissection, cow heart, ECG analysis, muscle slides)
What are the similarities and differences among skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle tissues?
How do the structure of the epithelial tissues lining the esophagus and intestine relate to their
functions?
Define artery. Define vein. What are the three layers of tunica found in blood vessels? Why
are valves found only in veins? What are vericose veins and how do they form?
What is atheroclerosis? What is an aneurysm?
What are the functions of the circulatory system? What are its three basic components?
Compare and contrast the circulatory systems of the crayfish and earthworm… and of the fish
and mammal
Trace the pathway that blood travels from the vena cava through the entire circulatory system.
What are the twoways that blood bypasses the non-functional lungs in mammalian fetal
circulation? Why aren’t the lungs functional in a mammalian fetus? What three vessels
are found in the umbilical cord? Does the umbilical cord carry fetal or maternal blood?
What is its origin?
How does the fetus get nutrients, exchange gas, and eliminate wastes?
Define systole. Define diastole. Why do the atria have thinner walls than ventricles? Why
does the left ventricle have a thicker wall than the right ventricle?
Define membrane potential. What is the normal resting potential of a mammalian cell? How
is it different when that cell has ben depolarized?
The three functional classes of cardiac cells are myocardial (contractile), pacemaker (nodal),
and conductng. What are functions of each?
Where does the electrical signal in an ECG come from on subcellular and cellular levels?
4
Muscular and skeletal systems
(compare human, bat, pigeon, cat bones, EMG)
If there is a trait shared by two organisms, how can you decide if that triat is homologous or
analogous? What are the similarities and differences among convergent evolution,
divergent evolution, and parallel evolution?
Understand the structure of muscles from the entire muscle down to the sarcomere, for a
skeletal muscle.
Trace the signal transduction pathway leading from a neurotransmitter being released from a
motor neuron to contraciton of a skeletal muscle cell (neutrotransmitter triggers action
potential in plasma membrane of the muscle cell, excitation spreads to the transverse
tubutes, which are invaginations of the plasma membrane throughout the muscle cell, the
depolarization is transferred to the scarcoplasmic reticulum, etc….)
Define neurotranmitter, action potential, transverse tubules, sarcoplasmic reticulum,
tropomyosin, and tropnin. What is the role of calcium ions and where do the calcium ions
come from (locally)?
How do muscle cells physically contract? Where does the energy come from? Which protein
has mutliple conformational states depending on the amount of energy, actin or myosin?
What is an all-or-none contraction? What does motor unit recruitment mean? What is a motor
unit?
Where does the electrical signal in an EMG come from on subcellular and cellular levels?
5
Reproductive strategies in eukaryotes (Chlamydomonas, Oedogonium, Zygomycota,
Ascomycota, yeasts, Basidiomycota)
What are prokaryotes? How do they and their reproduction differ from eukaryotes?
Why is cellular reproduction more complicated in eukaryotes than in prokaryotes? Compare
and contract karyokinesis from cytokinesis.
Compare and contrast mitosis and meiosis. Where does genetic recombination occur? What
are the consequences of meiosis in terms of genetic diversity? Do these consequences
come just from genetic recombination of homologous chromosomes? If not, where else
do they come from?
Describe the development of human sperm, beginning with a spermatogonia. How many
sperm are produced from a primary spermatocyte? How long does sperm development
take?
Describe the development of a human egg, beginning with an oognonia. How many eggs are
produced from a single primary oocyte? Describe the timing of meiosis I and meiosis II.
Understand eukaryotic reproductive strategies: sexual vs. asexual, isogamy vs.
oogamy/anisogamy; hermaphrodite vs. separate male and female sexes.
Understand the similarities and differences among gametic meiosis, sporic meiosis, and zygotic
meiosis life cycles. Give examples of each. Be able to label life cycles of each.
Define heterokaryotic, karyogamy, and plasmogamy.
Describe how the three fungal phyla you studied can be distinguished by their reproductive
features: Ascomycota: sexual spores borne internally in sacs called asci; Zygomycota:
resistant zygosporanium as sexual stage; and Basidiomycota: sexual spores borne
externally on club-shaped structures called basidia.
6
Embryo germination experiment
(monocot vs dicot seeds, in vitro culturing experiment set up)
Draw a generalized gametic meiosis life cycle. Draw a generalized zygotic meiosis life cycle.
Understand the variations found in the fungal phyla studied in lab. Draw a generalized
sporic meiosis/alternation of generations life cycle.
What is the difference between a spore and a gamete (I guarantee this will be on the exam in
some form!!!)?
Describe the formation of an embryo sac and egg cell in an angiosperm. Describe the
formation of a sperm cell in an angiosperm. How many eggs are produced by one meiotic
event? How many sperm?
Define cotyledon, plumule, seed coat, radical, dicot, monocot, and endosperm.
7
Plant form and function (mosses, ferns, cycads, ginkos, conifers, angiosperms, flowers, and
fruit), collect seed germination data
Trace the evolutionary trends in the plant kingdom: mosses, ferns, gymnosperms, and
angiosperms.
What characteristics define members of the plant kingdom?
Define archegonia and antheridia.
What is the difference between a spore and a gamete (yes, I’ve repeated the question!)?
Understand the different groups of plants and their connections to the phyla: non-seed-bearing
vs. seed-bearing plants; non-flowering vs. flowering plants; monocots vs. dicots.
Compare and contrast the life cycles of the moss, fern, pine, and lily.
8
FALL BREAK—no labs
9
Physiology: transpiration
(stem and root cross sections, carnation experiment, leaf peels, potometer)
Why is transpiration refered to as a “necessary evil”?
Relate the structures within a generalized horizontally held leaf to their functions: pallisade and
spongy mesophyll, epidermis, cuticle, stomata, and vascular bundles (veins).
Define transpiration. What are its advantages and disadvantages?
What are the two kinds of conducting cells in xylem? Compare and contrast them. How does
their structure relate to their function? How do they relate to the dominance of
angiosperms in most ecosystems?
Define water potential and its 2-3 components. Does water move from more negative to less
negative water potential or the other way around? Why?
Explain the transpiration-cohesion theory of water transport in plants.
Why does Martha Stewart say you should cut the stems of flowers under water? Do you think
this will make a difference in the length of time the flower stays fresh-looking?
What factors affect transpiration?
What are guard cells and how do they function to regulate the aperture of the stomata? How
does the concept of water potential related to guard cell function?
Describe the two sensor systems for controlling stomatal aperture. Which one takes
precedence over the other and why?
10
Population genetics (PopGen modelling)
Define population genetics, population, gene population, microevolution, locus, allele,
recessive, dominant, heterozygous, homozygous, phenotype, geneotype, and the Central
Dogma.
What is the Hardy-Weinberg Model and why is it useful? What are the five assumptions for a
population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? What are the two major conclusions that can
be drawn from working through a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
You will need to work population genetcis problems on the exam. No calculators will be
allowed (the math won’t be too hard!).
11
THANKSGIVING—no labs
12
Cladistics (MacClade modelling)
13
Self-guided tour of AMNH
14
Recitation exam
Please answer these additional questions (thanks!):
1. What was your least favorite lab (or two) and why?
2. What was your FAVORTE lab (or two) and why?
3. Specific suggestion for improving recitation:
4. What did you like most about recitation?