Name_____________________________
Biology II --- January 2012
Study Guide for Semester Exam
Nature of Science
1. Fill in the diagram below.
Answers the question…
Theory
Describes a…
Answers the question…
Law
Describes a…
2. When does a theory turn into a law?
3. Why is evolution a theory?
4. What is a hypothesis?
5. What is the scientific method?
6. Why do scientists pool (add together) data?
Evolution
Evidence for Evolution
7. What are homologous structures? Give an example.
8. What are analogous structures? Give an example.
9. What are vestigial structures? Give an example.
10. What are the four major pieces of evidence for evolution?
11. Which way of dating a fossil uses what we know about the age of surrounding rocks? What kind
of rocks are they? What is this process called?
12. Which way of dating a fossil gives us it’s exact age? What process does this use?
13. What are the 4 types of fossils? Be able to identify each.
1.
2.
3.
4.
14. In what type of rock are fossils usually found?____________________________
15. Make sure you know how to determine the age of a fossil
based on an element’s half-life. (For example, how many
half-lives has a fossil gone through if it contains 50% of
the original element’s isotopes? ____ What about 25%?
____ 12.5%? ____ Also understand that if that half-life
is, say, 14,000 years old, how many years old is that
above fossil under the previous conditions? 50% ____
25% ____ 12.5% ____).
Number of
Half-lives
0
Percent of Sample
that is undecayed
100%
(Hint: make and fill out the table to the right)
16. What is the difference between variation and diversity?
17. What is the main source of genetic variation? ___________________________
18. What do results from DNA-DNA hybridization tell us? How do we interpret results of a DNA-DNA
hybridization study?
Mechanisms of Evolution
19. Remember Lamarck? How did he think evolution worked? What was this process called? Why is
it incorrect?
20. What process has the greatest impact on the evolution of organisms? ______________________
21. What is Natural Selection? What are the 4 necessary components? (How was this process
modeled in an in-class activity?)
22. How does natural selection apply to antibiotic resistance?
23. On what ecological level does natural selection operate? _________________________
24. What is artificial selection? How is it similar to natural selection? How is it different? Give an
example.
Outcomes of Evolution
25. What are the 3 types of selection? Describe and be able to identify a graph of each. In fact, it
would be great if you drew a graph of each. Circle the type that is most likely to lead to speciation.
1.____________________
2.____________________
3.___________________
26. Evolution happens at two proposed RATES. Name and describe each. Diagram each.
1._______________________
2.________________________
27. What is an adaptive radiation?
28. What is the founder effect? In what does it result?
29. What is the definition of a species we discussed in class? What’s wrong with it as a definition?
30. What are the two major types of reproductive barriers? Briefly describe each. (HINT: ____zygotic)
1.
2.
31. Which of the above reproductive barriers would be favored by natural selection? Why?
32. What are the 5 types of prezygotic reproductive barrier? Be ready to identify each.
33. What is sexual selection? How does it provide us with such a crazy variety of mating behavior
and physical ornaments (e.g. a long peacock tail)?
34. Compare allopatric and sympatric speciation.
35. What is necessary for speciation to occur? ________________________________________
36. What is the difference between Convergent and Divergent Evolution?
Classification
37. What is Taxonomy?
38. Whose classification system do we use now? _______________________________
39. On what is current classification based? ____________________________________
40. Why do scientists use dichotomous keys? (You should be able to use one…wink…wink.)
41. Of what two taxa does a scientific name consist? ____________________________________
42. What are the RULES for standardized scientific naming? (You will need to apply these rules!)
1.
2.
3.
43. What is the arrangement of recognized taxa from MOST INCLUSIVE to MOST SPECIFIC? (hint:
use your mnemonic!)
44. What are the 3 Domains? Briefly describe each.
1.
2.
3.
45. What is the difference between a prokaryote and a eukaryote? From the list above, which are
prokaryotes and which are eukaryotes (label each domain)?
46. What are the 4 Kingdoms in the Domain Eukarya? Briefly describe each.
1.
2.
3.
4.
47. Define synapomorphy and automorphy. Describe their use in a cladogram and give a short
example.