Mercer County Community College
Division of Science and Health Professions
BIO 101
Blinderman Fall 2009
Objectives Chapter 1: Themes in the Study of Life
1. Define the terms evolution and biology
2. Describe the characteristics of living things including regulation, energy processing, growth and
development, reproduction, response to environment, evolutionary adaptation, and order
3. Explore the hierarchy of the biosphere, ecosystems, communities, populations, organisms, organ
systems, organs, tissues, cells, organelles, molecules, and atoms
4. Contrast unicellular and multicellular life forms
5. Discuss evolution as a major theme in biology and the difference between shared and divergent
structures
6. Explain how emergent properties result from arrangement and interaction of parts within a system
7. Discuss the utility of reductionism and of systems biology in the study of life
8. Explore how organisms interact with their environments, exchanging matter and energy
9. Delve into the cycling of nutrients and flow of energy in ecosystem dynamics
10. Examine forms of stored energy including light, chemical, kinetic, and thermal
11. Discuss the relationship between structure and function as a major theme in biology
12. Discuss that cells are the most basic form of life as a major theme in biology
13. Examine characteristics of cells including the cell membrane, DNA, and cellular reproduction
14. Contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and provide examples of each
15. Distinguish between nucleotides, DNA, genes, chromosomes, and genome and explain how
DNA serves as the genetic code and hereditary material
16. Discuss feedback mechanisms as a major theme in biology and provide examples of positive and
negative feedback
17. Analyze evolution as the core theme in biology
18. Review the age of the earth and the history of life forms in billions of years
19. Define taxonomy and discuss its utility in classification of living things
20. Explain why “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” (Dobzhansky)
21. Review the characteristics and examples of the 3 domains of life including bacteria, Archaea, and
eukarya. Place organisms in the correct domain.
22. Discuss the concept of unity in the diversity of life
23. Explore natural selection as a mechanism of evolution and the concept of descent with
modification
24. Examine the work of Charles Darwin and the book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection (1859)
25. Describe in detail Darwin’s observations including random variation, more offspring produced
than can survive, competition, adaptation, reproductive fitness, heritable traits
26. Examine examples of adaptations in plants and animals and discuss the mammalian forelimb
27. Explore the Galapagos finch as an example of ancestral and descendent species
28. Compare two approaches in science – the discovery and hypothesis based science
29. Examine the utility of inductive and of deductive reasoning in science
30. Explain how hypothesis testing leads to evidence based science and why a valid hypothesis is
testable and falsifiable
31. Read the textbook example of mimicry in the king snake
32. Be able to construct an experiment using aspects of the scientific method including an
experimental variable, control treatment (group), controlled variables, dependent variable
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Mercer County Community College
Division of Science and Health Professions
BIO 101
Blinderman Fall 2009
33. Provide in an experiment and explanation of how data is to be obtained
34. Discuss the limitations of science
35. Contrast between a hypothesis and a theory in science
Objectives Chapter 2: The Chemical Context of Life
Read about the link between formic acid in ants and the maintenance of the “Devils Gardens”
Contrast the following terms and concepts: matter, element, compound
Examine the elements essential to life including CHON
Provide an example of a trace element important in normal body functioning
Examine an atom and its subatomic particles – proton, neutron, electron
Discuss the use of radioactive isotopes
Examine an experiment (textbook) on the use of tritiated thymidine in determining optimal
temperature for cell growth
8. Distinguish between a structural and molecular formula
9. Compare and contrast covalent, ionic, hydrogen, and Van der Waal types of bonding. Provide
examples of each.
10. Explain the importance of molecular structure with respect to function and provide an example
11. Analyze a chemical reaction to determine reactants and products. Examine the chemical
reaction of photosynthesis
12. Discuss reaction reversibility and chemical equilibrium
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Objectives Chapter 3: Water and the Fitness of the Environment
1. Discuss the importance of water as a medium for life on Earth and with respect to cellular
content
2. Explain how water as a polar molecule forms hydrogen bonds
3. Describe in detail how the following properties of water support life: cohesion (and surface
tension), temperature moderation (including kinetic energy, heat, temperature, specific heat,
and calories), and water as a solvent
4. Discuss the ability of water to retain and release heat and the application to cells, lakes, and
oceans
5. Describe the effects of evaporative cooling
6. Explore water as a solvent including the definitions of solute, solvent, hydrophilic, hydrophobic,
and aqueous and colloidal solutions
7. Define pH, examine the pH scale, and provide examples of acids, bases, and neutral
substances
8. Provide an example of a reaction involving a buffer and explain why buffers are essential to
living organisms
9. Examine acid precipitation, its causes and effects
10. Describe the “greenhouse effect” and its association with global warming, rising sea levels,
reduction of ozone, ecosystem changes, disease, and acidification of the ocean (including
effects on coral reefs)
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Mercer County Community College
Division of Science and Health Professions
BIO 101
Blinderman Fall 2009
Objectives Chapter 4: Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life
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Examine the ability of carbon to form complex and diverse molecules
Contrast organic with inorganic molecules
Discuss Stanley Miller’s experiment on the synthesis of organic molecules
Provide examples of organic molecules
Analyze the bonding of carbon atoms with hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms
View varying carbon chain lengths of molecules
Provide a definition and examples of hydrocarbons
Define isomer and provide examples of isomers
Recognize 7 functional groups of organic molecules including hydroxyl, carbonyl,
carboxyl, amino, sulfhydral, phosphate, methyl
10. Examine the structure and function of the ATP molecule
Objectives Chapter 5: Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules
1. Identify the 4 classes of large biomolecules
2. Distinguish between a monomer and a polymer
3. Describe the synthesis and breakdown of polymers using the terms enzyme,
condensation, dehydration, hydrolysis
4. Outline the classification of carbohydrates including simple sugars, disaccharides,
starches, monomers, polymers
5. Discuss the importance of glucose, starch, cellulose, glycogen, and chitin in living
organisms
6. Describe categories of lipids including fats (saturated, unsaturated, partially
hydrogenated, and triglycerides), steroids (including cholesterol) and phosopholipid
7. Explain the importance of phosopholipid structure to cell membranes
8. Provide examples of the functions of various proteins
9. Discuss the function and characteristics of enzymes
10. Explain how amino acids join to form polypeptides and the relationship between genetic
code and primary structure
11. Examine the structure of the 20 amino acids
12. Examine the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures of proteins and
provide sickle cell disease as an example of structure and function relationship
13. Explain why protein denaturation affects protein function and how denaturation can
occur
14. Define: DNA, RNA, nucleotide, polynucleotide, gene
15. Analyze nucleotide structure to identify nitrogenous base, pentose sugar, and
phosphate group
16. Explore the linkage between sugar and phosphate in a DNA strand to form a backbone
17. Explore the hydrogen bonding between complementary DNA bases A:T and G:C
18. Distinguish between purine and pyrimidine nucleotide bases
19. Examine the DNA double helix and the cell’s ability to replicate the nucleotide sequence
20. Discuss the use of DNA sequence in the elucidation of evolutionary relatedness
between living things
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