study guide Essay

2nd Semester Final Exam Study Guide
1. Evolution: change in a species over time; process of biological change by which descendents come to differ from their ancestors. Speciation: evolution of two or more species from one ancestral species
2. Natural Selection: mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptations produce more offspring on average than do other individuals; Artificial Selection: process by which humans modify a species by breeding it for certain traits
3. Darwin’s Main Points
a. There is a struggle to survive
b. Individuals that have variations that help them survive in a specific environment will live longer and reproduce more than those who don’t
c. Over several generations, these favorable traits will become adaptations for the species
4. Hardy Weinberg Theorem
a. Very large population: no genetic drift
b. No emigration or immigration: no gene flow
c. No mutations: no new alleles
d. Random mating: no sexual selection
e. No natural selection
5. Species: group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring
6. Genetic drift: change in allele frequencies due to chance alone, occurring most commonly in small populations
7. Homologous Structures: chromosomes that have the same length, appearance, and copies of genes, although the alleles may differ. ; Analogous Structures: body part that is similar in function as a body part of another organism but is structurally different
8. Gradualism: principle that states that the changes in landforms result from slow changes over a long period of time; Punctuated Equilibrium: theory that states that speciation occurs suddenly and rapidly followed by long periods of little evolutionary change
9. The Kingdom Classification system is used in biology.
10. Kingdoms
a. Monera
b. Prototista
c. Fungi
d. Plantae
e. Animalia
11. Binomial Nomenclature: naming system in which each species is given a two part scientific name (genus and species) using Latin words
12. Dichotomous Key works by using a set of questions to eliminate choices until you reach the species you are looking for.
13. Bacteria
a. Flagella
b. Cell membrane
c. Ribosome
d. Pilli
e. Plasmids
f. Cell wall
g. Chromosome
14. Viruses
a. Capsid
b. Glycoprotein receptors
c. Envelope
15. Lytic Cycle: Infectious pathway of a virus in which host cells are destroyed; Lysogenic cycle: infections pathways of a virus in which host cells are not immediately destroyed
16. Retrovirus: Virus that contains RNA and uses the enzyme called reverse transcriptase to make a DNA copy
17. Bacteria and Viruses get in the body and infect the blood cells and wreak havoc.
18. Binary Fission: form of asexual reproduction used by prokaryotes and eukaryotes
19. Conjugation: process by which a prokaryote transfers part of its chromosome to another prokaryote
20. Transformation: the alteration of bacteria’s genotype by the uptake of DNA from the surrounding environment
21. Ecology
a. Biosphere: all organisms and the part of Earth where they exist
b. Biome: regional or global community of organisms characterized by the climate conditions and plant communities that thrive there
c. Ecosystem: collection of organisms and nonliving things
d. Community: collection of all of the different populations that live in one area
e. Population: all the individuals of a species

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