Unit 1 Flashcards
Q: What is biology?
A: Biology is the study of life.
Q: What are the levels of organization in life?
A: Atoms molecules cells organisms populations communities ecosystems biosphere.
Q: What is an emergent property?
A: A characteristic of a system that does not appear in any of its component parts.
Q: Define energy in a biological context.
A: Energy is the capacity to do work.
Q: What is a nutrient?
A: A type of atom or molecule essential for growth and survival that an organism cannot make itself.
Q: What is the difference between producers and consumers?
A: Producers make their own food using environmental resources
Q: What is homeostasis?
A: The process by which an organism maintains internal conditions within tolerable ranges.
Q: What is DNA?
A: DNA is the molecule of life that guides growth
Q: What is a trait in biological terms?
A: A trait is a characteristic or feature that is inherited through DNA.
Q: What is natural selection?
A: The process by which individuals with adaptive traits tend to survive and reproduce more than others.
Q: What is a species?
A: A species is a kind of organism whose members can interbreed successfully and share heritable traits.
Q: What is the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells?
A: Prokaryotic cells lack a nucleus while eukaryotic cells have a nucleus and are often multicellular.
Q: What are the three domains of life?
A: Bacteria Archaea and Eukarya.
Q: What is a mutation in biological terms?
A: A mutation is a small-scale change in DNA that is the original source of new traits.
Q: Define adaptive trait.
A: An adaptive trait is a heritable characteristic that improves an individual’s chances of survival and reproduction.
Q: What is critical thinking in science?
A: Critical thinking involves judging the quality of information before accepting it as fact.
Q: What is the scientific method?
A: A systematic approach to research that includes making observations forming a hypothesis conducting experiments and drawing conclusions.
Q: Define hypothesis.
A: A hypothesis is a testable explanation for a natural phenomenon.
Q: What is a control group in an experiment?
A: The control group is the group in an experiment that is not exposed to the experimental variable.
Q: What is the importance of a variable in an experiment?
A: A variable is a single characteristic that differs in the experimental group and is tested to determine its effect.
Q: What is an atom?
A: The smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of an element.
Q: What are the three subatomic particles in an atom?
A: Protons (positive) neutrons (neutral) and electrons (negative).
Q: What is the atomic number of an element?
A: The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.
Q: What is an ion?
A: An atom or molecule that has gained or lost one or more electrons giving it a positive or negative charge.
Q: What are isotopes?
A: Atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons.
Q: What is an ionic bond?
A: A type of bond where one atom transfers an electron to another atom resulting in attraction between oppositely charged ions.
Q: What is a covalent bond?
A: A chemical bond formed when two atoms share a pair of electrons.
Q: What is a polar covalent bond?
A: A covalent bond in which the electrons are shared unequally resulting in a molecule with slight charges.
Q: What is a hydrogen bond?
A: A weak attraction between a slightly positive hydrogen atom and a slightly negative atom often oxygen or nitrogen.
Q: What is the solvent property of water?
A: Water’s ability to dissolve many substances making it an essential medium for biological reactions.
Q: What is pH a measure of?
A: The concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in a solution.
Q: What is an acid?
A: A substance that donates hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water.
Q: What is a base?
A: A substance that accepts hydrogen ions (H+) or releases hydroxide ions (OH-) in solution.
Q: What is the pH scale range?
A: 0 (acidic) to 14 (basic) with 7 being neutral.
Q: What is a buffer?
A: A set of chemicals that stabilize pH by absorbing or releasing H+ ions as needed.
Q: What are the four major classes of biological macromolecules?
A: Carbohydrates lipids proteins and nucleic acids.
Q: What is a carbohydrate?
A: A molecule made of carbon hydrogen and oxygen that serves as a source of energy and structural material.
Q: What is a monosaccharide?
A: The simplest form of carbohydrate consisting of one sugar unit (e.g. glucose).
Q: What is a disaccharide?
A: A carbohydrate made up of two sugar units (e.g. sucrose).
Q: What is a polysaccharide?
A: A complex carbohydrate consisting of hundreds to thousands of sugar units (e.g. starch cellulose).
Q: What is a lipid?
A: A nonpolar molecule that does not dissolve in water including fats oils and waxes.
Q: What is a fatty acid?
A: A long hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group (COOH) at one end.
Q: What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids?
A: Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between carbon atoms while unsaturated fatty acids have one or more double bonds creating “kinks” in the chain.
Q: What is a triglyceride?
A: A lipid composed of one glycerol molecule and three fatty acid chains commonly used for energy storage.
Q: What are phospholipids?
A: Molecules with two fatty acid tails and a phosphate group important in cell membrane structure.
Q: What is a steroid?
A: A lipid molecule with four carbon rings such as cholesterol.
Q: What is a protein?
A: A polymer made up of amino acids performing a variety of functions including enzymes structure transport and defense.
Q: What is an amino acid?
A: The building block of proteins consisting of an amino group carboxyl group hydrogen atom and an “R” group.
Q: What is a peptide bond?
A: A covalent bond formed between two amino acids during protein synthesis.
Q: What is the primary structure of a protein?
A: The sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain.
Q: What is the secondary structure of a protein?
A: The folding or coiling of the polypeptide chain into alpha helices or beta sheets stabilized by hydrogen bonds.
Q: What is the tertiary structure of a protein?
A: The three-dimensional shape formed by interactions among the side chains (R groups) of amino acids.
Q: What is the quaternary structure of a protein?
A: The association of two or more polypeptide chains into a functional protein complex.
Q: What is denaturation in proteins?
A: The process where a protein loses its three-dimensional shape due to heat pH changes or chemicals resulting in loss of function.
Q: What is DNA?
A: Deoxyribonucleic acid a double-stranded molecule that carries genetic information in cells.
Q: What is RNA?
A: Ribonucleic acid a single-stranded molecule that plays a role in protein synthesis.
Q: What is a nucleotide?
A: The building block of nucleic acids consisting of a sugar phosphate group and nitrogenous base.
Q: What is ATP?
A: Adenosine triphosphate the energy currency of the cell.
Q: What are the four bases in DNA?
A: Adenine guanine cytosine and thymine.
Q: What are the bases in RNA?
A: Adenine guanine cytosine and uracil.
Q: What is a hydrogen bond in DNA?
A: A weak bond that forms between complementary nitrogenous bases in the DNA double helix (A-T and C-G).
Q: What is a gene?
A: A segment of DNA that contains instructions for building a protein.
Q: What is the role of RNA in protein synthesis?
A: RNA helps translate the genetic code from DNA into proteins during transcription and translation.
Q: What is metabolism?
A: The sum of all chemical reactions that occur within an organism to maintain life.
Q: What is an enzyme?
A: A protein that speeds up chemical reactions in the cell without being consumed by the reaction.
Q: What is a substrate?
A: The molecule upon which an enzyme acts during a chemical reaction.
Q: What is activation energy?
A: The minimum amount of energy required to start a chemical reaction.
Q: What is a condensation reaction?
A: A reaction where two molecules combine to form a larger molecule with the loss of a water molecule.
Q: What is hydrolysis?
A: A reaction that breaks down a larger molecule into smaller units by adding water.
Q: What are the four main types of organic molecules?
A: Carbohydrates lipids proteins and nucleic acids.
Q: What is glycogen?
A: A polysaccharide used by animals to store energy in the liver and muscles.
Q: What is cellulose?
A: A polysaccharide that provides structural support in plant cell walls.
Q: What is chitin?
A: A nitrogen-containing polysaccharide that provides structure to arthropod exoskeletons and fungal cell walls.
Q: What is the function of fats?
A: Fats provide energy storage insulation and protection for organs.
Q: What is the difference between fats and oils?
A: Fats are solid at room temperature (saturated fats) while oils are liquid at room temperature (unsaturated fats).
Q: What is cholesterol?
A: A type of steroid that is found in cell membranes and is a precursor for the synthesis of hormones.
Q: What is the primary structure of a protein?
A: The unique sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain.
Q: What determines a protein’s function?
A: The protein’s three-dimensional structure (primary secondary tertiary and quaternary levels).
Q: What are nucleic acids?
A: Biomolecules that store and transmit genetic information including DNA and RNA.
Q: What is the role of nucleotides?
A: Nucleotides are the building blocks of nucleic acids and play roles in energy transfer (e.g. ATP).
Q: What is the importance of water in biological systems?
A: Water is essential for life acting as a solvent regulating temperature
Pg. 6
Energy input mainly from sunlight —-> Producers, plants and other self feeding organisms —-> consumers, animals, most fungi, many protists, bacteria —-> Nutrient Cycling(nutrients release by decomposition cycle back to producers) —-> Energy flows out of an ecosystem as heat
What is your body’s internal environment? pH?
pH 7.3 and 7.5
Condensation reaction
Two molecules, covalently bond and two a larger one.
Cleavage reaction
A molecule splits into two smaller ones
What is oxytocin?
a hormone that promotes social bonding, childbirth, and lactation, produced in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland.
Altruistic behavior
Behavior that enhances another individuals reproductive success at the altruists expense.
Imprinting
is a rapid, irreversible form of learning where an animal forms strong attachments during a critical early period, often to a parent.
Three most common elements in the human body
Hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon
Most abundant carbohydrate
Cellulose
Which molecule provides the most amount of energy
Lipids
