Honors Biology
1st Semester Exam Study Guide
Mrs. Schwartz – December 2011
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Study your outline sheets. The learning targets should be your starting point for studying for the
exam. All outline sheets can be found in PDF form on EDMODO.
Study your notes. All PowerPoint lectures can be found in PDF form on EDMODO.
You need to be familiar with all vocabulary words. Knowing the definitions is a good starting point,
but ultimately, you must make connections between words. How do words relate to each other?
Main Concepts
Chemistry of
Life
Name the six most essential elements for living things.
What information do subscripts in chemical formulas give?
Be familiar with the three subatomic particles and their location in the atom.
Use the periodic table to determine numbers of protons, electrons and neutrons.
Relate electron arrangement to chemical bonding.
Why do cells need to undergo chemical reactions?
State the law of conservation of matter.
Compare ionic and covalent bonding.
Describe the properties of water.
pH has a __________ increase or decrease between values.
Why is pH important for cell survival?
Acids have more __________ ions in solution. Bases have more _________ ions in solution.
What are functional groups? Why are they important?
Name the four groups of carbon compounds.
Carbohydrates have this type of ratio.
State the function of carbohydrates.
Give examples of mono-, di-, and polysaccharides.
State the function of lipids.
Describe the relationship between saturated fats and cardiovascular disease.
Give examples of lipids.
State the function of proteins.
Relate amino acid sequence to the letters of the alphabet.
What’s the name of the bond between adjacent amino acids?
Describe ways a protein’s function could be altered.
State the function of nucleic acids.
Compare DNA and RNA.
Name the three parts of a nucleotide.
Classify nitrogen bases as purine or pyrimidine.
State the rule for base-pairing in DNA.
Energy, Life, &
the Biosphere
Exchanging
Materials
Autotrophy
Compare autotroph and heterotroph.
State the importance of decomposers in ecosystems.
Define photosynthesis and recognize the chemical equation for this process.
Define cellular respiration and recognize the chemical equation for this process.
Why do photosynthesis and cellular respiration depend on each other?
Be familiar with food webs and describe how energy flows through them.
Compare biotic and abiotic environmental factors and give examples.
Compare various forms of energy.
The source of energy for autotrophs is the _____.
The source of energy for heterotrophs is _____.
Understand the importance of the predator-prey relationship.
Name four reasons why cells need energy to function.
Explain how energy, metabolism and enzymes are related.
Describe how activation energy relates to enzymes.
Why are enzymes compared to the lock-and-key model?
Enzymes are sensitive to ____ and _________________ changes.
Why do we need ATP to supply our cells with energy?
State the function of the digestive system.
Relate digestive system organs/structures to their function.
Explain the importance of the cell membrane to cell survival.
Compare/label hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions of a cell membrane.
Why is the membrane described as a fluid-mosaic model?
Describe the function of transport, integral, globular, and peripheral proteins.
Compare passive and active transport.
What is a concentration gradient?
Describe the physical shape of a cell placed in a hypotonic, hypertonic and isotonic solution.
Compare endocytosis and exocytosis.
State the function of the respiratory system.
Relate respiratory system organs/structures to their function.
State the function of the excretory system.
Relate excretory system organs/structures to their function.
How does the electromagnetic spectrum relate to photosynthesis?
Why do we “see” colors?
Describe the function of chloroplasts.
Be familiar with the structures of a chloroplast.
What colors do chlorophyll a and b absorb? How does this relate to the process of
photosynthesis?
State the three general steps of photosynthesis.
State the function of stomata on a plant’s leaf surface.
Compare the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis.
Describe how light intensity, temperature, and carbon dioxide concentration affect the rate of
photosynthesis.
Compare C3, C4 and CAM plants.
Describe how photosynthesis and survival of life on Earth are closely related.
State reasons for increasing levels of carbon dioxide on Earth.
Describe the greenhouse effect.
What is an extremophile? Why are these types of organisms considered autotrophs?