Semester 2 Final Exam Study Guide

Unit 1: Molecular Genetics
Related Textbook Chapters: 10.1,10.3,10.4; 11.4; pg. 342-343; 12.2-12.3; All of Chapter 13

Topics:

DNA

  • Be able to label the parts of DNA and the name for the structure.
  • Know the 3 scientists who discovered this structure.
  • Understand the 3 parts of a nucleotide
  • Know the 4 nitrogen bases and know which are purines, and which are pyrimidines
  • What types of bonds hold together a base pair?
  • Understand Chargaff’s rule:
  • Where is DNA in the eukaryotic cell?
  • Describe the process of “DNA replication”.
  • What makes up the “backbone” of DNA?
  • What makes up the “rungs” of DNA?

RNA

  • Understand the differences between DNA and RNA.
  • Know the 3 types of RNA, their definition, and what they look like.
  • What is a codon?
  • Describe the process of “RNA transcription”.

Translation

  • Understand that there are 20 amino acids, and 64 codons
  • What are we trying to build in translation?
  • Know how to use the amino acid chart.
  • Know what an anticodon is.
  • Know where translation takes place.

Mutations

  • Know the 3 gene mutations and the 4 chromosomal mutations.
  • Know what a mutagen is.
  • Understand what causes a “frameshift mutation” and what that means for the rest of the strand.

Mitosis

  • Understand that 1 parent cell will produce 2 daughter cells with identical chromosomes to the parent cell.
  • Understand the obstacles a cell faces as it gets larger.
  • Know what would happen if a cell’s DNA was not copied correctly during S phase.
  • What is cancer? And what organisms does it affect?
  • Know the functions of Mitosis

Meiosis

  • Know that Meiosis makes gametes
  • Know the difference between diploid and haploid?
  • What is a zygote
  • What is crossing over?
  • Know what meiosis produces.
  • Understand why meiosis reduces the number of chromosomes.
  • Explain how and why most eukaryotic genes are regulated

Essential Questions:

  • How are proteins formed?
  • How are proteins affected by mutations?
  • What are sources of mutation?
  • How does meiosis lead to genetic variation?
  • What is the function of mitosis in multicellular organisms?
  • What is the function of meiosis in multicellular organisms?
  • What are the differences between mitosis and meiosis?
  • What happens when the process of cell division goes awry?
  • How does cell specialization and differentiation create complex organisms?
  • How are genes regulated in multicellular organisms?
  • How does DNA get its shape?

Unit 2: Inheritance
Related Textbook Chapters: Chapter 11 (except 11.4) and 14.1-14

Topics:

Introduction to Genetics and Probability

  • Understand that genes can be inherited but only occasionally show.
  • Be able to describe the phenotype from genotype
  • Be able to give the possible genotypes from phenotype

Monohybrid Crosses

  • When and why does crossing over occur?
  • What does crossing over do for an individual? For a population?
  • Understand homozygous dominant, homozygous recessive, and heterozygous
  • Know the Principle of Dominance
  • Know the Principle of Segregation
  • Be able to use a Punnett square to determine the chance of an offspring inheriting a certain allele.
  • Be able to interpret the results of a Punnett square (both genotypically and phenotypically)
  • Understand how genetic ratios also show the genotypic and phenotypic results.

Types of Dominance

  • Know what pattern the offspring will look like in incomplete dominance and codominance
  • Be able to do Punnett squares crossing these inheritance patterns.

Two Factor Crosses

  • Be able to FOIL parent alleles onto a Punnett square
  • Know how to complete a Punnett square for a two-factor cross.
  • Know how to interpret a two-factor cross Punnett square by reporting genotypic and phenotypic results.
  • Understand how to calculate the phenotypic ratio for a two-factor cross
  • Know Mendel’s law of Independent Assortment.

Genetic Tools

  • Know that skin color, eye color, and height are examples of polygenic traits.
  • Be able to trace a gene through a pedigree using Punnett squares.
  • What are the uses of a pedigree?
  • How many chromosomes are shown on a normal human karyotype?

Blood Types

  • Know that Blood types follow a multiple allele inheritance pattern.
  • Know the genotypes for the different blood types
  • Be able to do Punnett squares for blood types and report results

Sex-linked Genes

  • Male chromosomes: XY
  • Female chromosomes: XX
  • Know that 50% of human sperm carry an “X” and 50% carry a “Y”.
  • Be able to explain why sex-linked genes are usually passed from mother to son.
  • Be able to do Punnett squares for sex-linked genes and report results.

Essential Questions:

  • Why do individuals of the same species vary in how they look, function, and behave?
  • How does sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation?
  • What is the relationship between dominant and recessive forms of an allele?
  • How is probability used to predict the expression of traits?
  • How does genotype affect phenotype?
  • How does a Punnett Square accurately predict offspring outcomes?
  • What is a Karyotype? What can it be used for?
  • What is non-disjunction? How can it affect offspring?
  • What is a pedigree? What can it be used for?

Unit 3: Common Ancestry & Diversity
Related Textbook Chapters: 16.1; pg. 454-455; 16.4; 18.2; 19.3

Topics:

Earth’s History

  • Know how old the Earth is
  • Name the 4 eras that we organize geological time into.
  • Understand what a Geologic Time Scale (timeline) is used for.
  • What was the earliest life on Earth?
  • Describe how oxygen ended up on planet Earth
  • Revise the photosynthesis equation and understand what bacteria need to do photosynthesis and what they produce from the reaction.
  • Now that life has colonized land, what organisms are doing photosynthesis to provide oxygen for the earth?
  • Early earth did not have nutrient-rich soil. So how did microbes (bacteria) aid the evolution of plants onto land?

Origins of Life

  • Know the difference between hypothesis, theory, and law.
  • Understand what Urey and Miller did.
  • Know what the first life was, and how long ago it formed.
  • Understand the difference between Spontaneous Generation and Biogenesis, and the history (story) behind both ideas.

Evidences of Evolution

  • Know the difference between homologous and analogous structures (including the pictures of each).
  • What do homologous structures show?
  • What do vestigial structures show?
  • Know why embryology is a good indicator of evolution.
  • How can scientists use amino acid sequences to show common ancestry?

Cladograms

  • Know how to read/analyze a cladogram.
  • Know the parts of a cladogram (node, branch, groups, common ancestor, derived characteristics)
  • Be able to tell how closely related two groups are on a cladogram based on their placement.
  • Be able to identify where the most recent common ancestor is between groups.

Essential Questions:

  • What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?
  • How did photosynthesis create the atmosphere we have today?
  • How did increased O2 alter life on Earth?
  • How does increasing CO2 levels alter Earth’s processes?
  • How did early microbes alter the environment?
  • What is our current theory on which type of organisms were the earliest to evolve?
  • What evidence is there for evolution and common ancestry?
  • How many separate times do scientists believe life began on Earth?


Unit 4: Mechanisms of Evolution
Related Textbook Chapters: 16.2-16.3; 17.1-17.3; 19.2

Topics:

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

  • Who is Lamarck? What was his theory?
  • What did Darwin’s theory suggest? How was this different than Lamarck’s?
  • Know Darwin’s 5 Principles of Natural Selection.
  • Know the definition of natural selection.
  • What happens when individuals produce more offspring then there are limited resources?
  • Know the difference between artificial selection and natural selection.
  • Be able to explain how Darwin’s finches display adaptive radiation.

Adaptations

  • Know what an adaptation is, and be able to give an example of an animal with one.
  • Know what antibiotic resistance is, how it occurs, and what the consequences are if it continues.

Mechanisms of Evolution

  • Be able to identify the three natural selection graphs: directional, stabilizing, and disruptive.
  • Understand how mutations can become more frequent in a population.
  • What is geographic isolation? And how does it keep two populations from reproducing?
  • What is temporal isolation?
  • What is behavioral isolation?
  • How do homologous structures show divergent evolution?
  • How do analogous structures show convergent evolution?
  • Which combination of characteristics in populations provides the greatest potential for evolution?
  • How do you maintain genetic equilibrium? What does Hardy-Weinberg say must happen to keep genetic equilibrium?
  • What type of population experiences the greatest potential for evolutionary change?

Essential Questions:

  • What is the relationship between natural selection and genetic variation?
  • How do expressed traits account for differences in individuals?
  • What factors interact to drive evolution?
  • How does the physical environment affect species survival?
  • Why do species become extinct?
  • Why do populations, not individuals, evolve?
  • What is the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?