Category: My Classroom Material

Introduction Notes

Introduction

All Materials © Cmassengale

Study of Life  

  • First life forms arose on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago  
  • Single-celled, microscopic organisms (living thing) appeared first & floated alone in seas  
  • Over 40 million species (types of organisms) exist with only about 2 million identified 
  • Many organisms are unidentified & new species are still discovered  
  • Biology is the study of all living things and how they interact with each other & their environment  
  • Over long periods of time, species changed or evolved so that new species arose from earlier organisms & came to inhabit almost every part of the earth (bacteria living in thermal vents, parasites living inside another organism, etc.)  
  • Organisms must adapt to their specific environment to survive & reproduce

 

Unifying Themes of Biology 

 The six unifying themes include:  

  1. Cell Structure & Function
  2. Stability & Homeostasis
  3. Reproduction & Inheritance
  4. Evolution
  5. Interdependence of Organisms
  6. Matter, Energy, & Organization

Cell Structure & Function  

  • Cell is the basic unit of structure & function  
  • All organisms are made of one or more cells; Unicellular (one celled) or Multicellular (Composed of more than one cell)  


UNICELLULAR AMOEBA

  • Cells are small but highly organized; they contain specialized structures that carry out the jobs of a cell called organelles  


CELLULAR ORGANELLES

  • There are many different kinds of cells, but all cells have similarities
  • All cells are surrounded by a cell membrane, contain cytoplasm, and have DNA (the genetic information for making new cells or cell structures)  
  • New cells made by unicellular organisms are identical (clones) to the parent cell that produced them – asexual reproduction  
  • Multicellular organisms begin life as one fertilized cell (sexual reproduction), but the cells multiplied and underwent differentiation (changed structure & function) to become many different kinds of cells  

Stability & Homeostasis  

  • All organisms maintain stable internal conditions such as body temperature & water content
  • Stable level of internal conditions called homeostasis  

Reproduction & Inheritance  

  • All organisms reproduce new organisms like themselves by transmitting hereditary material to their offspring  
  • DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is a large molecule containing the hereditary material of the cell


DNA MODEL

  • In unicellular organisms like bacteria, DNA exists as a single loop or chromosome in the cytoplasm  


BACTERIA

  • In multicellular organisms, DNA is enclosed in a membrane known as the nucleus 
  • Genes are short segments of DNA the carry the instructions for a single trait of an organism  
  • DNA of a cell contains all of the genes (instructions) it will ever need  
  •  All body cells have a complete set of DNA (genome), but different types of cells use certain genes from the set; example: Muscle cells have the genes to make thyroxine, but they don’t use these genes  
  • In sexual reproduction, an egg (ovum) is fertilized by a sperm to form a zygote so the new organism is made of cells with hereditary information from both parents  
  • In asexual reproduction, cells copy their DNA & split so all new cells are identical  

Evolution  

  • Populations of organisms change over time or evolve (Theory of Evolution)  


DARWIN – THEORY OF EVOLUTION

  • Natural selection or “survival of the fittest” is the process that drives evolution  
  • Organisms with favorable traits are better able to survive & reproduce  
  • The survival of organisms with favorable traits causes a gradual change in populations of organisms over many generations  
  • Evolution by natural selection is driven by competition for resources such as food, habitat, mates  

Interdependence of Organisms  

  • Ecology is the study of the interaction of organisms with each other and their environment  
  • Sunlight is the ultimate energy for all organisms  
  • Energy from the sun is passed from one organism to another; producers (plants) to herbivore (plant eater) to carnivore (meat eater) to decomposers (break down dead organisms)  


ENERGY FLOW IN A FOOD CHAIN

  • Abiotic (nonliving factors) such as air, water, energy, soil, temperature, & minerals are also needed for survival  
  • Biotic factors include all living things on earth (plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms)  
  • Biosphere supports life & includes the biotic (all organisms) & the abiotic (all nonliving factors) on earth  
  • Organisms respond to their environment by:
    * Fleeing
    * Adapting
    * Dying
  • Most organisms can survive a temporary change, but permanent change can lead to extinction (dinosaurs)  
  • Thousands of species are listed endangered (population so small could become extinct)  
  • Human interference is the main cause for endangerment & extinction
    * Pollution of land, air, and water
    *Hunting for sport, food, and commercial products also threatens the survival of many organisms
    * Clear-cutting rain forests
    * Diverting rivers & lakes
    * Draining wetlands (everglades)
    *Global Warming  
  •   Endangered organisms can be protected & returned to larger population size (American Bison almost wiped out –60 million to 250 in 90 years- now several thousand herds)  


AMERICAN BISON

  • Species is a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can interbreed & produce fertile offspring  
  •  Extinction of any species upsets the balance of nature (Almost extinct Pacific Yew tree found to contain chemical used to treat cancer)  


PACIFIC YEW TREE

Matter, Energy, & Organization  

  • Organisms are highly organized, maintain internal order, & require a constant energy supply
  • Plants & unicellular organisms with chlorophyll capture sunlight through photosynthesis & store it in food to be used by other organisms  
  • Autotrophs or producers use sunlight, water, & carbon dioxide to make glucose (energy rich sugar) & oxygen – photosynthesis  

  • Heterotrophs (consumers) feed on producers or other consumers to get energy & release carbon dioxide  

   Biology affects life in many ways  

  • Biotechnology uses organisms to make products needed by people (human insulin made by bacteria)
  •   Fossils fuels (coal, oil, & natural gas) provide energy & materials such as nylon & polyester  


OIL DRILLING

  • Animal products such as wool, silk, and leather make clothing  
  •  Wood provides energy & shelter for us, but endangers other animals (spotted owl) when forests are cut  
  • New medicines, better water treatment & garbage disposal improves our health
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Chapter 17 AP Objectives

 

Chapter 17    From Gene to Protein
Objectives
The Connection Between Genes and Proteins
1. Explain why dwarf peas have shorter stems than tall varieties.
2. Explain the reasoning that led Archibald Garrod to first suggest that genes dictate phenotypes through enzymes.
3. Describe Beadle and Tatum’s experiments with Neurospora and explain the contribution they made to our understanding of how genes control metabolism.
4. Distinguish between the “one geneÐone enzyme” hypothesis and the “one geneÐone polypeptide” hypothesis and explain why the original hypothesis was changed.
5. Explain how RNA differs from DNA.
6. Briefly explain how information flows from gene to protein.
7. Distinguish between transcription and translation.
8. Compare where transcription and translation occur in prokaryotes and in eukaryotes.
9. Define codon and explain the relationship between the linear sequence of codons on mRNA and the linear sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide.
10. Explain the early techniques used to identify what amino acids are specified by the triplets UUU, AAA, GGG, and CCC.
11. Explain why polypeptides begin with methionine when they are synthesized.
12. Explain what it means to say that the genetic code is redundant and unambiguous.
13. Explain the significance of the reading frame during translation.
14. Explain the evolutionary significance of a nearly universal genetic code.
The Synthesis and Processing of RNA
15. Explain how RNA polymerase recognizes where transcription should begin. Describe the promoter, the terminator, and the transcription unit.
16. Explain the general process of transcription, including the three major steps of initiation, elongation, and termination.
17. Explain how RNA is modified after transcription in eukaryotic cells.
18. Define and explain the role of ribozyme.
19. Describe the functional and evolutionary significance of introns.
The Synthesis of Protein
20. Describe the structure and functions of tRNA.
21. Explain the significance of wobble.
22. Explain how tRNA is joined to the appropriate amino acid.
23. Describe the structure and functions of ribosomes.
24. Describe the process of translation (including initiation, elongation, and termination) and explain which enzymes, protein factors, and energy sources are needed for each stage.
25. Describe the significance of polyribosomes.
26. Explain what determines the primary structure of a protein and describe how a polypeptide must be modified before it becomes fully functional.
27. Describe what determines whether a ribosome will be free in the cytosol or attached to the rough endoplasmic reticulum.
28. Describe two properties of RNA that allow it to perform so many different functions.
29. Compare protein synthesis in prokaryotes and in eukaryotes.
30. Define point mutations. Distinguish between base-pair substitutions and base-pair insertions. Give examples of each and note the significance of such changes.
31. Describe several examples of mutagens and explain how they cause mutations.
32. Describe the historical evolution of the concept of a gene.

 
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Chapter 1 AP Objectives

 

 

CHAPTER 1          INTRODUCTION: THEMES IN THE STUDY OF LIFE
OBJECTIVES
Exploring Life on Its Many Levels

1.  Briefly describe the unifying themes that characterize the biological sciences.

2.  Diagram the hierarchy of structural levels in biological organization.

3.  Explain how the properties of life emerge from complex organization.

4.  Describe the two major dynamic processes of any ecosystem.

5.  Distinguish between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

6.  Describe the basic structure and function of DNA.

7.  Describe the dilemma of reductionism.

8.  Discuss the goals and activities of systems biology. List three research developments that have advanced systems biology.

9.  Explain the importance of regulatory mechanisms in living things. Distinguish between positive and negative feedback.

Evolution, Unity, and Diversity

10. Distinguish among the three domains of life. List and distinguish among the three kingdoms of multicellular, eukaryotic life.

11. Explain the phrase “life’s dual nature of unity and diversity.”

12. Describe the observations and inferences that led Charles Darwin to his theory of evolution by natural selection.

13. Explain why diagrams of evolutionary relationships have a treelike form.

The Process of Science

14. Distinguish between discovery science and hypothesis-based science. Explain why both types of exploration contribute to our understanding of nature.

15. Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative data.

16. Distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning.

17. Explain why hypotheses must be testable and falsifiable but are not provable.

18. Describe what is meant by a controlled experiment.

19. Distinguish between the everyday meaning of the term theory and its meaning to scientists.

20. Explain how science is influenced by social and cultural factors.

21. Distinguish between science and technology. Explain how science and technology are interdependent.

 
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Chapter 18 – AP Objectives

 

Chapter 18    Genetics of Viruses & Bacteria
Objectives
The Genetics of Viruses
1. Recount the history leading up to the discovery of viruses. Include the contributions of Adolf Mayer, Dimitri Ivanowsky, Martinus Beijerinck, and Wendell Stanley.
2. List and describe the structural components of viruses.
3. Explain why viruses are obligate intracellular parasites.
4. Explain how a virus identifies its host cell.
5. Describe bacterial defenses against phages.
6. Distinguish between the lytic and lysogenic reproductive cycles, using phage lambda as an example.
7. Describe the reproductive cycle of an enveloped virus. Explain the reproductive cycle of the herpesvirus.
8. Describe the reproductive cycle of retroviruses.
9. List some characteristics that viruses share with living organisms and explain why viruses do not fit our usual definition of life.
10. Describe the evidence that viruses probably evolved from fragments of cellular nucleic acids.
11. Define and describe mobile genetic elements.
12. Explain how viral infections in animals cause disease.
13. Describe the best current medical defenses against viruses. Explain how AZT helps to fight HIV infections.
14. Describe the mechanisms by which new viral diseases emerge.
15. Distinguish between the horizontal and vertical routes of viral transmission in plants.
16. Describe viroids and prions.
17. Explain how a non-replicating protein can act as a transmissible pathogen.
The Genetics of Bacteria
18. Describe the structure of a bacterial chromosome.
19. Compare the sources of genetic variation in bacteria and humans.
20. Compare the processes of transformation, transduction, and conjugation.
21. Distinguish between generalized and specialized transduction.
22. Define an episome. Explain why a plasmid can be an episome.
23. Explain how the F plasmid controls conjugation in bacteria.
24. Describe the significance of R plasmids. Explain how the widespread use of antibiotics contributes to R plasmid-related disease.
25. Explain how transposable elements may cause recombination of bacterial DNA.
26. Distinguish between an insertion sequence and a transposon.
27. Describe the role of transposase in the process of transposition.
28. Briefly describe two main strategies that cells use to control metabolism.
29. Explain the adaptive advantage of genes grouped into an operon.
30. Using the trp operon as an example, explain the concept of an operon and the function of the operator, repressor, and corepressor.
31. Distinguish between structural and regulatory genes.
32. Describe how the lac operon functions and explain the role of the inducer, allolactose.
33. Explain how repressible and inducible enzymes differ and how those differences reflect differences in the pathways they control.
34. Distinguish between positive and negative control and give examples of each from the lac operon.
35. Explain how cyclic AMP and catabolite activator protein are affected by glucose concentration.
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Chapter 26 Early Earth & the Origin of Life

 

Chapter 26    Early Earth & the Origin of Life
Objectives
The Origin of Life
1. Describe the four stages of the hypothesis for the origin of life on Earth by chemical evolution.
2. Describe the contributions that A. I. Oparin, J.B.S. Haldane, and Stanley Miller made toward developing a model for the abiotic synthesis of organic molecules. Describe the conditions and locations where most of these chemical reactions probably occurred on Earth.
3. Describe the evidence that suggests that RNA was the first genetic material. Explain the significance of the discovery of ribozymes.
4. Describe how natural selection may have worked in an early RNA world.
5. Describe how natural selection may have favored the proliferation of stable protobionts with self-replicating, catalytic RNA.
Introduction to the History of Life
6. Explain how the histories of Earth and life are inseparable.
7. Explain how index fossils can be used to determine the relative age of fossil-bearing rock strata. Explain how radiometric dating can be used to determine the absolute age of rock strata. Explain how magnetism can be used to date rock strata.
8. Describe the major events in Earth’s history from its origin until 2 billion years ago. In particular, note when Earth first formed, when life first evolved, and what forms of life existed in each eon.
9. Describe the mass extinctions of the Permian and Cretaceous periods. Discuss a hypothesis that accounts for each of these mass extinctions.
The Major Lineages of Life
10. Describe how chemiosmotic ATP production may have arisen.
11. Describe the timing and significance of the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis.
12. Explain the endosymbiotic theory for the evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Describe the evidence that supports this theory.
13. Explain how genetic annealing may have led to modern eukaryotic genomes.
14. Describe the timing of key events in the evolution of the first eukaryotes and later multicellular eukaryotes.
15. Explain how the snowball-Earth hypothesis explains why multicellular eukaryotes were so limited in size, diversity, and distribution until the late Proterozoic.
16. Describe the key evolutionary adaptations that arose as life colonized land.
17. Explain how continental drift explains Australia’s unique flora and fauna.
18. Explain why R. H. Whittaker’s five-kingdom system has been replaced by a new system with three domains.
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