Biology Test 1 and 2

Biology - Test 1 and 2

• Biology is the study of life.
• Living things share seven characteristics: maintain stable internal conditions (homeostasis), evolve over generations, made of cells, use energy (metabolize), respond to their environment, reproduce, and grow and change.
• Cells are the smallest unit of life.
• Two categories of cells are prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
• Prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound nucleus and membrane-bound organelles; examples include single-celled organisms.
• Eukaryotes have a membrane-bound nucleus and membrane-bound organelles; these are the cells in multicellular organisms.
• Multicellular organisms are made up of many cells.
• Levels of organization in multicellular organisms: cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organism.
• Organisms respond to stimuli, specific functional reactions. Phototropism is an example of growth in response to light.
• Homeostasis is the process by which living things maintain a stable internal environment.
• Metabolism includes all chemical reactions that take in and transform energy materials.
• Aspects of metabolism include nutrition, transport of substances, use of nutrients, and excretion of waste products.
• Two types of nutrition are autotrophs producing their own food and heterotrophs consuming foods.
• Cell respiration converts chemical energy from nutrients (like glucose) into usable energy, either aerobically (using oxygen) or anaerobically (without oxygen).
• Growth is an increase in size, and development is the process of becoming a mature adult.
• Cell differentiation is when a cell transforms from a less specialized state to a more specialized one.
• Reproduction is the process of creating offspring, either asexually (single parent, producing identical offspring) or sexually (two parents, with genetic mix).
• Evolution is a process of inherited characteristics in a population changing over generations.
• Genetic variation, natural selection, and adaptations are crucial factors in evolution.

Biology - Test 3

• Classification is the arrangement of organisms into groups based on similarities.
• Classification is important for organizing the vast diversity of life.
• Organisms are classified based on shared characteristics, starting with broadest categories (domains) and moving to progressively more specific ones (species).
• A system involving the scientific naming of species, using a two-part name for each.
• Lamarck's theory of evolution proposed that organisms could acquire traits during their lifetime and pass them to their offspring.
• Darwin and Wallace independently developed a theory of evolution based on descent with modification (creatures are born with traits that are passed down).
• The scientific method is a systematic approach for gaining knowledge. Observation, question, hypothesis, prediction (experiment). Data analysis, conclusion and communicating results.
• Spontaneous generation, the idea that living things can arise from nonliving matter, was refuted by experiments, such as Redi's.
• Redi's experiments demonstrated that maggots do not spontaneously arise from decaying meat.

Biology - Test 4 (Cell Structure)

• Organelles are specialized structures in cells that perform specific functions.
• Plasma membrane surrounds the cell, controls what enters/exits, and is made of a phospholipid bilayer.
• Cell walls provide support and protection in plant cells, some fungi, and bacteria.
• The cytoplasm is the fluid-like material within the cell membrane, cytosol contains dissolved substances and organelles, while the cytoskeleton provides support and paths within the cell.
• Different components of the cytoskeleton function include microtubules, microfilaments and intermediate filaments.
• Centrioles are cylinder-shaped structures found in animal cells that aid cell division, while cilia and flagella are hair-like structures for movement
• Other critical cell structures include the nucleus, which contains genetic material; ribosomes, which make proteins; endoplasmic reticulum (rough and smooth), which produces and transports materials; Golgi apparatus, which modifies and packages proteins for transport.
• Lysosomes function in waste disposal.
• Vacuoles store substances.
• Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing energy.
• Plastids like chloroplasts perform photosynthesis.

Biology - Test 4 (Chemistry-New Material)

• Chemistry is the study of matter.
• Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.
• Atoms are the basic units of matter.
• Protons have a positive charge, neutrons have no charge, and electrons have a negative charge.
• Elements are substances that cannot be broken down into simpler substances.
• Compounds are formed when two or more elements combine chemically.
• Molecules are formed when two or more atoms bond together.
• Polar molecules have uneven charge distributions, and nonpolar molecules have even charge distributions.