Review sheet for taxonomy through biological molecules WARNING: I have tried to be complete, but I may have missed something. You are responsible for all the material discussed in class. This is only a guide. 1) Introduction to Biology: 2) Taxonomy: What is the definition of biology? What is life? Be able to define both terms. What are the different levels at which we can study biology (e.g., biosphere, ecosystem, etc.)? What is the scientific method? What is the difference between discovery and hypothesis based science? What is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning? What are some examples of each? Why is biology increasingly important in today's society (even if you don't like it!)? What is taxonomy? Know all the categories (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, etc.). Also know some of the unusual categories (Domain, Tribe) as well as the prefixes super, sub, infra. Be able to completely classify human being (see notes). Make sure you know how to correctly write a scientific name (yes, us biologists are very picky about this). How do you construct a taxonomic system (how do you sort two organisms into this system?) 3) Animals I (invertebrates) Porifera: Cnidaria: What are sponges? Where do they live? What size & shape are they? What do they eat? What are their major characteristics? What are choanocytes? amoebocytes? What are some uses for sponges? Where do they live?
What are their major characteristics? What kind of gut do they have? What is a polyp? Medusa? What are cnidocytes? What are cnidocytes used for? Do Cnidarians have muscles? Nerves? What kinds of cnidarians are there? Platyhelminthes: Nematodes: Annelida: Are any of them dangerous? What kind of symmetry do they have? Why are they called flatworms? Do they have distinct organs? Are any organ systems missing? What is shistosomiasis? Are there any parasites in the United States? What are tape worms? What do they look like? What are the main characteristics? What kind of muscles do they have? What other organs do they have? How common are nematodes? What are some parasites that are found in this group? What is a segmented worm? What kinds of animals are found in this group? What kinds of organs can be found in this group? Who was an expert in this group? What are leeches being used for once again?
Molluska: How many species are there? What is common to all mollusks? What is a foot? A mantle? A visceral mass? Do all of them have a shell? What is a radula? What are the most intelligent invertebrates? Are any of these deadly? Arthropoda: How many species are there? (Note that this is the single most successful group of animals on the planet!). What are the major characteristics of Arthropods? What are they major subphyla? Are any extinct? Know some examples of each of the subphyla. What use are insects? What harm can they do? Echinoderma: What are the major characteristics? What is a water vascular system? What kind of skeleton do they have? Where are they found? Which phylum are they most closely related to? 4) Animals II. (vertebrates (members of the phylum Chordata)) What are they major characteristics of vertebrates? Class Agnatha: (Note: not really considered a class anymore). What are they?
What do they look like? What are some major characteristics of this class? What does Agnatha refer to? Class Chondrichtyes: What are the major characteristics? What is their skeleton made out of? What's unique about their teeth. What do most (not all) sharks eat? What about rays and skates? Do they all lay eggs? What special senses do they have? Class Osteichtyes: How do these fish differ from the previous class? What is an air sac? What are some of the other important characteristics of this group? What are the two main groups of Osteichtyes? How are they different? Which group did terrestrial animals arise from? Which is the more successful group? Class Amphibia: What ties these animals to the water? What are the orders/groups in this class? What is metamorphosis? What are poison glands? Do they all lay eggs? What is so interesting about salamanders in our area?
Class Reptilia: What allowed these to finally make the break from water all together? What are the orders in this class? What does cold-blooded (ectothermic) mean? Class Dinosauria: When were these alive? What were some of the characteristics of this group? What is endothermy (i.e., being warm-blooded )? What behaviors do we think they exhibited? How advanced were they? What is the best explanation for their extinction? Class Aves: Where did they come from? Why do some people say dinosaurs never died out? What are some of the features found in birds? What adaptations do they have for flight? What kinds of birds are there? Class Mammalia: What are they main features of mammals? What feature are mammals named after? What about their teeth? What kind of birth do they have (except for three species)? What are the two subclasses? What about the mammals that lay eggs? What two infraclasses make up the subclass Theria? What is different about marsupials? What kind of placenta do they have?
5) Plant diversity: Where are they found? What are some examples of the infraclass Eutheria? What about the marsupial radiation in Australia? What did marsupials adapt to? What is the origin of plants? What is the closest living relative to plants? Plants needed several major adaptations to move onto dry land: Structure. What ado roots and shoots do? What is the function of xylem and phloem? Where does the strength of a plant come from? How do plants support themselves (if they're more than a few inches tall)? Water retention. How can plants conserve water? What structures do they use? Reproduction. How can plants reproduce on land? What are bryophytes? What is pollen? What are spores? Why is are mosses so unusual (from our perspective)? What is different about their reproduction? Other than mosses, what other bryophytes are there? What are ferns? How does the fern life cycle differ from that of more advanced plants? What are club mosses? How big did they get? How big do the get today? What are Gymnosperms? What kinds of plants are found in this group? What are male cones? Female cones?
Where is the pollen made/stored? eggs? How does the pollen in Gymnosperms get to the eggs? What is a seed? Why are gymnosperms called naked seed plants? How are the seeds of gymnosperms dispersed? What are angiosperms? What are the main groups of angiosperms? What is a flower? What are the different parts of a flower? What is a fruit? How do angiosperms move pollen to the eggs? Other than wind, what kinds of pollinators are there? How are angiosperm seeds different than those of gymnosperms? How is fruit dispersed? Be able to give at least three different examples. Note that virtually all of our agriculture is dependent on angiosperms. What kinds of asexual reproduction are found in plants? 6) Chemistry: What is an element? What are the most common elements in organisms? What are trace elements? Why are they needed? Make sure you can give some examples of each. What is a compound / molecule? Does a compound (or molecule) have the same properties as the elements making it up? Give some examples. What is an atom? What three parts of atoms did we discuss in class? What are the properties of each of these parts? What is the difference between protons and neutrons?
Which determines the properties of the atom? What is an electron shell? How many electrons do atoms have in their electron shells? How many electrons do they want in their electron shells? What types of bonds can hold atoms together? Why do these bonds work? What is a covalent bond? Know some examples of molecules with covalent bonds. What is a single/double/triple covalent bond? What is the chemical makeup of water? What is an ionic bond? What is a hydrogen bond? What is ph? Why does this bond work (what keeps the atoms stuck together)? Know some examples of compounds with ionic bonds. Why can water form hydrogen bonds? What properties do hydrogen bonds give to water? There's a long list here (e.g., evaporation, ice being less dense than water, surface tension, etc.) - make sure you know it). Why are these properties important (know why each is important)? What is the difference between something at ph 10 and ph 11? What is an acid? A base? What is a buffer? Why are buffers important? What happens if blood ph changes too much? What is the ph of blood? What is acid rain? What is a chemical reaction? 7) Biological molecules Which element are most biological molecules based on? Why? What are different ways of representing molecules?
What are hydrocarbons? What are functional groups? What do they do? What is a polar molecule? Non-polar? What role do functional groups play in this? What can happen with if the functional group of a molecule is changed? What are the four main groups of biological molecules? What is a monomer? Polymer? Approximately how many biologically common monomers are there? What is a dehydration reaction? What is hydrolysis? What is a carbohydrate? Be able to identify and illustrate these reactions. What is a monosaccharide? Disaccharide? Polysaccharide? What are isomers? What are some common monosaccharides? disacchides? polysaccharides? What is the difference between starch, glycogen & cellulose? What are modified carbohydrates? Give some examples. What are lipids? What monomers do fats have? (Glycerol (or a related molecule) and fatty acid chains). How do fatty acid chains hook into glycerol? What is fat used for? What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats? What are partially hydrogenated oils? Other than fats, what other lipids did we discuss? What are some of the properties of these? What are proteins? What are they made up of? What is a peptide bond? How many different amino acids are there? What do all amino acids have in common?
What is different about the 20 different amino acids? What is the ultimate shape of a protein? What is primary structure? Secondary? Tertiary? Quaternary? What is the difference between a polypeptide and a protein (if any)? Make sure you know the details here - what does the primary sequence do? What role do hydrogen bonds play? How can 20 amino acids give rise to over a trillion different proteins? What happens when a protein denatures? What can cause a protein to denature? What are nucleic acids? What three parts make up a nucleotide (what is a nucleotide, anyway?) What are nitrogenous bases? How are these different in DNA and RNA (know the names of these!!).