Modern Biology
Term II, IV Study Guide
Chapter 14 EARLY EARTH
1. Compare spontaneous generation to biogenesis.
2. Describe how the half-life of unstable (radioactive) isotopes can be used to determine the age of fossils and rocks.
3. If 1.0 g of a radioactive isotope had a half-life of 1 billion years, how much of it would be left after each of the following
intervals of time: 1 billion years, 2 billion years, 3 billion years, and 4 billion years?
4. Describe the Urey/Miller experiment and the importance of its conclusions.
5. What properties do protocells share with cells? Describe why this has evolutionary significance.
6. What traits make archaebacteria likely relatives of Earth’s earliest organisms?
7. Why would the first cells most likely have been heterotrophic anaerobic prokaryotes?
8. Explain the theory of endosymbiosis. Describe why this has evolutionary significance.
9. Use the following terms to explain the evolution of cells: heterotrophic prokaryotes, archaea, harsh environmental
conditions, anaerobic, chemosynthesis, cyanobacteria, oxygen as a toxin, ozone, endosymbiosis, and eukaryotes.
Chapter 15 EVOLUTION
10. Explain Darwin’s use of the phrase descent with modification to describe the process of evolution.
11. Describe the difference between an “acquired characteristic” and an inherited characteristic.
12. Describe the four parts of reasoning in Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Use examples in your answer.
13. Give a brief explanation of how each of the following is evidence for evolution.

the fossil record (age and distribution of fossils and transitional species)

biogeography

anatomy and embryology (homologous, analogous, and vestigial structures)

biological molecules

the modern synthesis
14. Compare the meanings of the following terms:

convergent evolution and divergent evolution

natural selection and artificial selection
15. How does adaptive radiation fit into the previous question?
16. List five mechanisms of evolution and explain how each one works to create new species.
17. Use an example to describe coevolution.
Chapter 17 CLASSIFICATION
18. The Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus devised a system of grouping organisms into hierarchical categories according to
their form and _________. Each category represents a level of grouping from (smaller/larger), more general categories to
(smaller/larger), more specific categories. Linnaeus’s original system had seven levels. List them in order from the most
general to the most specific.
19. Define: binomial nomenclature.
20. What are the accepted conventions for writing a species name? Give an example.
21. Give a brief description of each of the three domains and each of the six kingdoms.
22. What is a dichotomous key, what is it used for and how does it work?
23. What is a phylogenetic tree and what information do scientists use to develop one?
Chapter 23 BACTERIA
24. What cellular characteristic is common to both domains: Archaea and Bacteria?
25. Archaeal groups include methanogens, halophiles and thermoacidophiles. What do these terms mean and describe the
evolutionary significance of being adapted to these environments.
26. Name and draw the shapes of the three kinds of bacteria.
27. Define the following terms: plasmid, endospore, obligate anaerobes, facultative anaerobes, obligate aerobes, bacterial
toxins, antibiotic resistance.
28. What measures should be taken to avoid bacterial contamination involving food.
Chapter 24 VIRUSES
29. Describe the lytic and lysogenic life cycles of a bacteriophage like T4.
30. Define: virus, retrovirus, bacteriophage, virulent, temperate virus.
31. Describe the link between viruses and cancer.
32. Some viral diseases have vaccines that are given once or twice during childhood, others must be given yearly; other viral
diseases don’t have a vaccine. Explain why this is so. Why is the development of an AIDS vaccine a difficult task?
33. What is the difference between an antibiotic and a vaccine?
Mrs. Loyd
cschmittloyd@waukeeschools.org
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Chapter 25 PROTISTS
37. Protists are classified according to how they resemble other kingdoms. Name the three groups of protists.
38. Make a complete list of the ways that protozoa move.
39. Identify how each of the following moves: paramecium, amoeba, Trypanosoma, Plasmodium.
40. Why do biologists theorize that ancient green algae gave rise to plants?
41. How can hikers avoid giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis? (p.520)
Chapter 26 FUNGI
42. List the functions of hyphae?
43. What are mycorrhizae and how do they benefit vascular plants?
44. Describe lichens: the symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (cyanobacteria or green alga).
Chapter 28 PLANTS
34. Explain how each of these challenges was met so plants could move onto land. Preventing water loss, Reproducing,
Absorbing and transporting materials.
35. Put the following phyla of plants into order from first evolved to last evolved: (algae), angiosperms, gymnosperms,
nonvascular, seedless vascular. How would the order differ if placed from least complex to most complex?
36. Describe Bryophyta (mosses) in terms of what makes them the most primitive plants.
37. What feature was next to evolve to create more complex plants? Name an example of these plants.
38. What feature sets the Gymnosperms and Angiosperms apart from the previous two types of plants?
39. Angiosperms are much more successful than gymnosperms (p. 575). What does this mean?
Chapter 29 PLANT STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
40. Define: xylem, phloem, vascular cambium, and cork cambium.
41. Root hairs greatly increase the surface area of the roots. What is the main task of root hairs?
42. Still looking at the same tree trunk, you notice that you can see alternating, concentric bands that reveal the age of the
tree. What are these bands called and how are they formed?
43. Describe how the structure of a leaf fits its function of photosynthesis.
44. How do guard cells work to open and close stomata? Why might stomata be closed on a hot, windy day?
45. Draw and label a diagram of a flower (p. 613). Add arrows to your diagram that show the difference between pollination
and fertilization. (part of figure 30-9, p. 617).
46. Know the structures and functions of seed parts.
INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS
List the most important characteristics of each and give
common examples of each.
Ch. 32 INTRODUCTION TO ANIMALS
1. Define: invertebrate, backbone, radial symmetry,
and bilateral symmetry.
Ch. 33 SPONGES, CNIDARIANS
2. Give common examples for each.
Ch. 34 FLATWORMS, ROUNDWORMS
Ch. 35 MOLLUSKS AND ANNELIDS
3. List the three classes of mollusks, their major
characteristics, and examples.
4. List the most important characteristics of annelids.
Give two examples.
Ch. 36 ARTHROPODS
5. List the characteristics and examples for the
subphylum: Crustacea.
6. List the characteristics and examples for the class
Arachnida
Ch. 37 INSECTS
7. Describe why Arthropods need to molt.
8. What is metamorphosis and give examples of
organisms that undergo complete and incomplete
metamorphosis.
Ch. 38 ECHINODERMS
Ch. 39 FISHES, Ch. 40 AMPHIBIANS, Ch. 41 REPTILES,
Ch. 42 BIRDS, Ch. 43 MAMMALS
9. List enough characteristics for each class so that
you can place unknown organisms in their proper
classes.
10. Describe any special adaptations that set the
classes apart from each other, for example, only
birds have feathers.
VERTEBRATE ANIMALS
List the most important characteristics of each and give
common examples of each.
Mrs. Loyd
cschmittloyd@waukeeschools.org
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