HONORS BIOLOGY
SUMMER ASSIGNMENT
Welcome to Honors Biology!
We’re so glad you’ve decided to take Honors Biology next year! To help prepare yourself for the material we will cover,
you will need to complete the assignments listed. This work is due the first day of class. We will also have a quiz over part
of the information. The chart below summarizes each part and explains how each component will affect your grade.
Details of each assignment are on the following pages.
ASSIGNMENT PART
SUMMARY OF ASSIGNMENT
HOW IT WILL BE GRADED
I. SCIENTIFIC
Attached you will find a list of scientific prefixes that
Quiz on day one will include this
PREFIXES
are essential to your understanding of new terms
information
throughout this course. You need to study these
terms.
II. SCIENTIFIC
Attached is a sheet you need to fill out about the
METHOD
scientific method. This includes steps, variables,
controls, and constants.
Scientific method work--15 points
Quiz on day one will include this
information
III. BIOMES
You will need to research the biomes listed on the
Biome chart-- 10 points
included biome form. We will be using these biome
summaries during our ecology unit.
Quiz on day one will include this
information
IV. CHEMISTRY
Attached you will find a list of chemistry terms that
Definitions- 10 points
are essential to your understanding biochemistry.
You need to define these terms and study them
Quiz on day one will include this
information
V. METRIC SYSTEM
You will need to work the included problems and
Problems-- 15 points
answer the questions on the metric system.
Quiz on day one will include some
metric conversions
Day one of school:
# 1 Turn in completed summer work packet (50 points)
# 2 Be prepared for summer work quiz (50 points)
I. Scientific Prefixes:
You need to study this information. You will see these on a quiz on the first day of class.
Prefix
Meaning
Prefix
Meaning
Suffix
Meaning
A or an
Without, non
Mono-
one
--cyst
Pouch
Aero-
Air
Multi-
many
-cyte
Cell
Anti-
against
Mut-
To change
-derm
Skin
Arthr-
joint
Myco-
fungi
-itis
inflammation
Auto-
self
Neco-
Corpse
-logy
Study of
Bi-
Two
Neuro-
Nerve
-osis
Condition
Bio-
Life
Nomen-
Name
-phase
Stage
Carn-
Meat
Omni-
All
-phage
Eater
Chele-
Claw
Oo, ovum
Egg
-phyte
Plant
Chloro-
Green
Osteo-
Bone
-pod
Foot
Chroma-
Color
Paleo-
Old
-stasis
Cyto-
cell
Ped, pod
Foot
-lysis
To break
Derm-
Skin
Peri-
Around
-synthesis
To build or make
di-
Two
Phaeo-
Brown
-phyll
leaf
Ecto-
On the outside
Phage-
To eat
-sperm
seed
Endo-
Inner
Photo-
Light
Epi-
Above
Pino-
To drink
Eu-
True
Poly-
Many
Exo-
Outside of
Pseudo-
False
Gastro-
Stomach
Pre-
Before
Geo-
Earth
Pro-
first
Gymno-
Naked
Sapro-
Rotten
Halo-
Salt
Soma-
Body
Hemo-
Blood
Telo-
End
Hemi-
Half
Therm-
Heat
Hetero-
Different
Trans-
Across
Histo-
Tissue
Tri-
Three
Homo-
same
Tricho-
Hair
Hydro-
Water
Troph-
Feed
Hyper-
Over
Zoo-
animal
Hypo-
under
Inter-
Between
Intra-
Within
Iso-
Equal
Karyo-
Nucleus
Leuco-
White
Lipo-
fat
Macro-
Large
Meso-
Middle
Meta-
Between
Micro-
Small
Stationary condition
II. Scientific Method:
Please answer the following questions on the Scientific Method. This work needs to be included in your folder to be turned in on the first
day of class.
1. List the parts of the scientific method in order.
2. Define:
a. Hypothesis
b. Independent variable
c. Dependent variable
d. Control group
e. Constant
3. Suppose you work for a Blabbit Labs, the developer of many different pharmaceutical products. Your research
division has stumbled across a new drug that you believe cures male pattern baldness. Before you can start selling the
drug, you must demonstrate to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the drug is effective.
a. What is the question being asked?
b. What is the hypothesis?
You design an experiment with 500 men who have been diagnosed with male pattern baldness. They are divided up into
two groups, group A men receiving the drug while group B men receive a placebo, a drug that is known not to effect
baldness. In this study, the men receive the drug or a placebo once a day. All of the men will have the number of hairs
per square inch of scalp measured in a clinic once per week.
Men in group A belong to the experimental group, since they received the experimental, or independent, variable. Men
in group B belong to the control group. The control group is important since it gives the researchers something to
compare the experimental group to. For instance, if the men in the experimental group were shown to have hair growth,
then that would indicate that the hypothesis was supported and the drug grows more hair. However, if the control group
also grew hair, then something in the environment besides the drug was responsible for hair growth.
c. Describe dependent and independent variables for this experiment.
d. Compare and contrast the experimental and control group.
4. Honeybees play an important role in agriculture, by pollinating at least 90 different species of food plants, worth
about 15 billion dollars in the U.S. alone. As a result, beekeeping or apiculture, is a multi-million dollar business.
However over the last year, honey bee populations are crashing (Colony Collapse Disorder) with hives dying off in
less than a week, without an obvious cause. Ian Lipkin a senior researcher in the Epidemiology (infectious disease)
Department of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health believed the cause to be a pathogen (virus,
bacteria or fungus) of some sort. Use the information given to answer the following questions.
a. What is the hypothesis ?
b. Help Dr. Limpkin design an experiment to test this hypothesis. (Be sure you can explain how you are going to
conduct the test and predict what the results will be if they support the experiment.). You are not to create the data
for your results section.
c. If your hypothesis is to be supported, what should the data indicate?
d. If your hypothesis is disproven, what should the data indicate?
5. You are conducting an experiment to determine if increased ultraviolet radiation from the decrease in the ozone
layer is killing off frog tadpoles. After examining all of the data available in the library, you decide to go with a
hypothesis that increased ultraviolet radiation from the sun is killing off the tadpoles.
You design an experiment with a control and an experimental group. Group 1 involves 100 tadpoles in a five gallon
container of water, which is covered by glass (knowing that the glass will filter out the ultraviolet radiation). Group 2
will be set up exactly like group 1, except that instead of being covered with glass, it is covered with an acrylic
plexiglass, which will not filter out the U.V. radiation. You then place the groups outside for a period of a month, and
observe the results.
Using this information, answer the following
questions.
a.What is the independent variable and what is
the dependent variable?
b. Does the information from this experiment support the hypothesis?
c. If no, then what might be causing the decrease in frog populations?
d. Which is the control group, and which is the experimental group?
e. What is the difference between the two groups? Should they be different in any other way?
III. Biomes:
You will need to complete the chart on the biomes listed on this sheet in addition to answering the questions below.
1. Define biome:
2.What is the difference between tropical, temperate, and polar?
3. In what biome do we live?
Biomes to research:
Desert
Tropical savanna
Tundra
Temperate grassland
Taiga/Boreal Forest
Temperate forest
Tropical rain forest
Northwestern coniferous
Tropical dry forest
Biome
Climate Summary Characteristic
Plants (4-5)
Characteristic
Adaptations
Animals (4-5)
plants and
animals need to
survive here
IV. Chemistry terms:
Attached you will find a list of chemistry terms that are essential to your understanding biochemistry. You need to define these
terms and study them. You will see this information on a quiz on the first day of class.
Term
atom
nucleus
electron
isotope
element
compound
Ionic bond
Covalent bond
molecule
Cohesion
Adhesion
Product
Reactant
Solute
Solvent
pH
Acid
Base
Buffer
Monomer
Polymer
Activation Energy
Catalyst
Definition
V. Metric System:
Complete the following questions and problems using the metric system. Please show all work. You will also see this material on
the day one quiz. This completed work needs to be included in your folder to turn in.
We will learn TWO methods for metric conversions. The first is the shortcut (or ladder
method). This will just involve moving the decimal to get our answer. The second
method is called dimensional analysis. This will be used for more complex problems.
This is also a skill you will rely heavily on in chemistry. You need to be able to use both
methods.
1. The metric system is based on powers of ______________________________.
2.What are the metric base units for the following:
a.Mass ________________
b.Length _______________
c. Volume ________________
3. Put these in order from biggest to smallest:
Meter, Centimeter, Decimeter, Kilometer, Hectometer, Dekameter, Millimeter
4. Circle the correct answer:
a. 1 meter is ( bigger or smaller) than one millimeter.
b. 1 centimeter is ( bigger or smaller) than one millimeter.
c. 1 kilogram is ( bigger or smaller) than one decigram
d. 1 liter is ( bigger or smaller) than one hectoliter
Metric Conversions: Ladder method
Metric Conversions: Dimensional Analysis
Make the following conversions using the method of dimensional analysis and
show all your work in the space provided.
1.
Convert 16.7 inches to yards (there are 3 feet in a yard)
2.
Convert 25 yards to inches
3.
Convert 90 centuries to minutes
4.
Convert 84 miles to kilometers (there are 0.6 miles in a kilometer)
5.
Convert 100 miles to inches (there are 5280 ft in one mile)
6.
Convert 50 m to mm
7.
Convert 25 cm to km
8.
Convert 400 mm to m
9.
Convert 60 kg to mg
10.
How many cm are in 5.0 miles ? (1 mile = 5280 ft
1ft = 12 in
1in = 2.54 cm )