Midterm Study Material Flashcards
Define “organism”
An organism is any living thing. Life is characterized by REPRODUCTION, GROWTH, METABOLISM, ADAPTATION, HOMEOSTASIS, ORGANIZATION OF CELLS, RESPONDING TO STIMULUS.
List examples of biotic components of an ecosystem:
Predators, mutualists, pathogens, and competitors.
List examples of abiotic components of an ecosystem.
Water, rock, mineral, gas, light, moisture, temperature, salinity, and pH.
Outline the main components of cell theory.
- All living components of all ecosystems are made up of cells or a cell.
- All cells arise from other pre-existing cells.
- The cell is the basic unit of structure, function and organization in all living things.
Compare and contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells:
- Prokaryotic cells have cells walls, have no nuclear membrane (thus the DNA is found in nucleoid), no compartmentalizing, only unicellular organisms, smaller (1- 10um.)
- Eukaryotic cells sometimes have cell walls (some just have a membrane), have a nucleus, are compartmentalized, unicellular; colonial; multicellular, larger (10-100um.)
Compare and contrast multicellular, unicellular, and colonial organisms.
- Unicellular = each cell is an organism that must perform all the functions of life.
- Colonial = some division of labor among cells. -Multicellular = subunits of a multicellular organism (collectives of diverse, specialized cells.
Describe the cell (plasma) membrane:
Cell membranes are membranes bounding the surface of all cells formed of a fluid lipid bylayer in which protiens carrying out the functions of enzymes, ion pumps, transport proteins and receptors are embedded. It regulates the entry and exit of most solutes and ions. Few substances being able to difuse through the lipid bylayer.
Describe the cytoplasm and its function:
Cytoplasm are the contents of the cell bounded by the plasma membrane; in eukaryotes, it’s the portion exclusive of the nucleus.
What is a hypothesis?
A hypothesis is a tentative answer to a well framed question to account for a set of observations.
Explain the difference between a hypothesis and a theory:
A hypothesis is a suggested explanation for an event or observation.
A theory is a generally accepted explanation for a phenomena or set of observations.
Explain the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable:
The independent variable is the variable the researcher makes different between groups deliberately.
The dependant variable is the variable the researcher predicts will be affected and measures to determine the effect. Also called response variable
Explain what it means to conduct a controlled experiment and describe the difference between the treatment group and the control group.
A controlled experiment in which an experimental group is compared with a control group that varies only in the factor that is being tested. The experimental group receives treatment and the control group receives no treatment or a placebo.
Define the term, standardized variable, and explain why it is necessary to standardize variables in a controlled experiment.
Standardized variables are kept the same between all groups. It’s crucial to ID these before conducting the experiment.
Explain the importance of replication and statistical analysis in a scientific experiment.
Having a large sample size is important for accurate results. Statistical analysis is used to determine the probability that the results you got weren’t due to random chance, and provides a measure of how confident a researcher can be in their results.
Explain what it means for a hypothesis to be testable. Give an example of a hypothesis that could be tested and one that could NOT be tested.
For a hypothesis to be testable, there must be a way to determine if the hypothesis is false.
A hypothesis that can be tested is:
“I hypothesize that students with perfect attendance will achieve higher grades than students who regularly skip class.”
A hypothesis that is not testable is:
“Natural disasters are punishment for humanity’s wrong doings.”
