4_GBI_All_LectObj_f

Below is a list of the lecture objectives covered during the semester. As you are preparing for the final exam, make sure that you review each of the items listed that was covered in class. (Items covered may vary from semester to semester.) In order to excel on the exam, you should be able to discuss the concepts covered, and be able to match all selected key terms with their definition. (Separate list for the key terms.) Good luck!

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1. Biology Introduction

1. Explain how life is organized and list the various structural levels of biological organization.
2. List and differentiate between the various characteristics found in living things.
3. Explain how living things are classified.
4. Name and differentiate between the five kingdoms of life.
5. Understand that evolution is the core theme in biology (the "unifying thread" of all biological concepts).
6. Discuss ecosystems and the biosphere.
7. Discuss the tropical rainforests, and human population growth.
8. Define selected key terms.

2. Science

9. Differentiate between science, non-science, and pseudoscience.
10. Explain the underlying assumptions and the limitations of science, and understand that scientific 'fact' may change with changing scientific knowledge.
11. List the steps in the scientific method.
12. Explain the purpose of a controlled experiment, and understand the difference between a control group and a test group.
13. Differentiate between a scientific hypothesis, a scientific theory, and a scientific law.
14. Discuss scientific publications.
15. List the reference units for scientific mass, length, volume and temperature measurements (the SI-system "metric" reference units), list and understand the SI-system prefixes, and know some standard temperature points in the three temperature scales (Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvin).
16. Know how to use a microscope including the meaning of the term parfocal, know the various microscope parts, understand depth of focus / field of vision and understand how to calculate the total magnification.
17. Define selected key terms.

3a. Inorganic Chemistry

• 15. Explain the difference between an element and an atom.
• 16. Explain the difference between an atom and an ion.
• 17. Name and describe the subatomic particles of an atom, indicating which one accounts for the occurrence of isotopes.
• 18. Describe and discuss the energy levels (electron shells) of an atom, including the orbitals of the first two levels.
• 19. Draw a simplified atomic structure of any atom with an atomic number less than 20.
• 20. Name and describe the most common bonds in biological molecules.
• 21. Draw representative atomic structures for ionic and covalent molecules, and distinguish between ionic and covalent bonds.

3b. Water

• 22. Discuss why water is important.
• 23. List and describe the unique properties of water that makes the molecule indispensable to living systems.
• 24. Explain the difference between an acid, a base, a salt and a buffer, and recognize that it is important that pH remains within natural limits (explain how these properties are related to hydrogen bonding).
• 25. List potential damage caused by acid precipitation, and recognize that changes in natural pH impacts natural ecosystems.

3c. Organic Chemistry

• 26. Recognize the difference between inorganic and organic molecules, and understand the importance of four valence electrons in a carbon atom.
• 27. List the major functional groups found in organic molecules.
• 28. List and describe the structure and function of the four major groups of organic molecules.
• 29. List the major groups of molecules within each of the four major groups of organic molecules, and give examples of each.
• 30. Recognize the importance of structure in organic molecules (e.g., molecular formula vs. structural formulas, importance of functional groups, importance of hydrogen bonds, primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures of proteins, and helical structure of DNA)

4. Cell Structures

• 31. List and differentiate between the various organelles in eukaryotic cells.
• 32. Contrast the general features of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
• 33. Describe the essential structure and function of the cell membrane.
• 34. Know the forces that cause water and solutes to move across membranes passively (that is, from a higher to a lower concentration without expending energy).
• 35. Know the mechanism by which substances are moved across membranes against a concentration gradient (that is, from a lower to a higher concentration).
• 36. Contrast between hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions, and recognize that animal cells -- unless they are adapted to hypertonic or hypotonic environments, are dependent on relatively constant (isotonic) environments.
• 37. Recognize the interconnections among membranous organelles of the endomembrane system.

5. Energy

• 38. Recognize that two laws of thermodynamics guide the nature of energy transformations.
• 39. Compare the energy transformations / reactions involved in photosynthesis and cellular respiration, showing how these processes are related.
• 40. Distinguish between endergonic vs. exergonic reactions.
• 41. Explain the need for enzymes in the maintenance of living things (recognize that enzymes catalyze biological reactions by lowering the energy of activation).
• 42. Describe what happens when an enzyme and substrate combine.
• 43. Explain the role of coenzymes and vitamins in enzyme operation.
• 44. Describe the influences of environmental factors, such as temperature, pH and concentration, on enzymes.
• 45. Understand the mechanisms of enzyme competition and inhibition.
• 46. Describe how ATP functions as a universal energy shuttle, carrying energy in usable chunks from large storage molecules to places in cells where work needs to be done.

6 & 7. Metabolic Pathways

• 47. Associate the major parts of photosynthesis with the structure of the chloroplast.
• 48. List the raw materials and products of photosynthesis, and describe the processes involved in the tw• major parts of photosynthesis.
• 49. Associate the major parts of cellular respiration with the structure of the mitochondrion.
• 50. List the raw materials and products of cellular respiration, and describe the processes involved in the three major parts of cellular respiration.
• 51. Describe the process involved in the alternative pathway known as fermentation.
• 52. Follow a molecule through the steps of interconversion of fats, protein, and carbohydrates.
• 53. Recognize that starvation resulting in protein being used as a source of energy usually is fatal.
• 54. Recognize that photosynthesis and cellular respiration are linked in a chemical cycle.

8. Mitosis

• 55. List the purposes of cell division.
• 56. Describe a chromosome.
• 57. Recognize that through the process of mitosis two new daughter cells form with a complete set of chromosomes identical to the chromosome set of the original mother (parental) cell.
• 58. State the processes that occur during interphase.
• 59. Understand what is meant by cell cycle and be able to visualize where mitosis fits into the cell cycle.
• 60. Differentiate between karyokinesis and cytokinesis.
• 61. Name the four (4) stages of mitosis, and explain what is happening during each stage.

9. Meiosis

• 62. Describe binary fission in bacteria, and distinguish this process from cell division in eukaryotes.
• 63. Explain why sexually reproducing organisms must form cells with haploid number of chromosomes.
• 64. Describe the stages in meiosis I.
• 65. Describe the stages in meiosis II.
• 66. Compare mitosis and meiosis; cite similarities and differences.
• 67. Recognize the effect that meiosis has on chromosome number.
• 68. Compare sex cell production in males and sex cell production in females; cite similarities and differences.
• 69. Explain how nondisjunction (e.g., trisomy) results from errors in the meiotic process.
• 70. Explain how genetic variation is generated.

10a. Genetics

• 71. Differentiate between genotype and phenotype.
• 72. Work single-factor (monohybrid) genetic problems dealing with traits that show dominance and recessiveness.
• 73. Explain the Principle of Segregation.
• 74. Explain the Principle of Independent Assortment.
• 75. Be able to design a Punnett square to predict reproductive outcomes from different parents.
• 76. Explain how environmental conditions influence an organism’s phenotype.

11. DNA & the Protein Synthesis

• 77. Recognize the structure of DNA and RNA
• 78. Distinguish between DNA, chromatin, and chromosome.
• 79. Explain the DNA replication process.
• 80. Explain the DNA transcription process.
• 81. Explain the process of translation
• 82. Give examples of mutagenic agents and how they might affect DNA.

12, 13, & 14. Evolution

• 83. Explain Lamarck's theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics.
• 84. Explain Darwin's theory of natural selection.
• 85. Differentiate between artificial and natural selection.
• 86. Review the evidence in support of the theory of evolution.
• 87. Define a biological species and explain why it is difficult to define species.
• 88. Explain and provide examples of various barriers that reproductively isolate populations, potentially leading to speciation.
• 89. Explain the concept of spontaneous generation.
• 90. Explain the endosymbiotic theory and how it applies to cell evolution.
• 91. Describe the chemical, biological, and cultural timetable.
• 92. Describe different mechanisms that contribute to genetic variation.
• 93. Explain why evolution cannot occur without genetic variation.
• 93. Trace the course of human evolution as we have diverged from other primates.

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