Cheat Sheet

Chapter 1: Intro
Independent Variable - variable you deliberately change during an experiment
Theory - explanation based on a large number of experiments
Hypothesis - educated prediction of cause and effect - what you test in an experiment
Control - a zero or set form of the independent variable
Dependent - variable you measure because you think it could change
7 characteristics: order, regulation, growth and development, energy processing, response to the environment, reproduction, evolutionary adaptation
Ecosystem - consists of all the organisms living in a particular area and the nonliving environmental components and interactions
Community - all the living organisms in an ecosystem
Population - localized group of individuals of a species
Species - population or group of populations whose members can reproduce fertile offspring
Taxonomy - science of classifying organisms
Domain > Kingdom > Phylum > Class > Order > Family > Genus > Species
Prokaryotic Cells - do not have a nucleus, simple and small, bacteria
Eukaryotic Cells - has a nucleus, possess organelles separated by membranes, plants, animals, fungi
Protista - single-celled, colonial eukaryotes, contains nucleus and other membrane bound structures, mobile
Plantae - photosynthetic, multicellular autotrophs, cellulose cell walls, contain chlorophyll
Fungi - multicellular heterotrophs, digest and internalize food from their surroundings, immobile, chitin cell walls
Animalia - multicellular heterotrophs, internal digestive system
Chapter 2: Chemical Basis of Life
CarbonHydrogenNitrogenOxygenPhosphorusSulfur
Atom - fundamental unit of matter
Element - matter made from only one type of atom
Compound - different types of atoms associated by chemical bonds
Isotopes - variant forms of an element
Radioactivity - nucleus of an atom falls apart, releasing high-energy particles and gamma rays that destroy other atoms
Atoms form bonds to fill outer electron shells and neutralize charges
Ionic Bonds - unequal electron sharing so that atoms carry a charge (become ions)
Covalent Bonds - electrons shared relatively equally in new molecular shells that cover both atoms
Acidic higher concentration of H 1-6 Basic lower concentration of H+ 8-14
Chapter 3: The Molecules of Cells
Hydrocarbons are composed of only hydrogen and carbon
Four main classes of biological molecules: carbs, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids
Macromolecules - large molecules made of smaller molecules
Dehydration Synthesis - process by which macromolecules are formed from smaller molecules

| Monomers | Polymer (Macromolecule) | carbohydrates | monosaccharides - glucose | polysaccharides, complex carbs, storage for glucose, structural carbs | lipids: form structures like cell and organelle membranes, make fats, hydrophobic, cholesterol | do not dissolve in water | cell membranes | proteins: encoded by genes, essential to the structures and activities of life, speed up and organize metabolic reactions, store amino acids, specific shape determines its function | 20 amino acids | polypeptides (protein) structures, storage, work, enzymes | nucleic acids | nucleotides | DNA or RNA |
Protein: shape depends on 4 levels of structure Primary - sequence of amino acids forming its polypeptide chains, determines function of protein Secondary - coiling or folding of the chain Tertiary - overall 3D shape of a polypeptide Quaternary - results from the association of 2 or more polypeptide chains (chemical interactions between separate amino acid chains)
Form = Function
Nucleic Acids - information rich polymers of nucleotides (used for energy transfer)
Chapter 4: A Tour of the Cell
Light Microscopes - magnify cells up to 1,000 times, can view living cells
Electron Microscope - allows greater magnification and reveals cellular details, but kills the cell
Nucleus - genetic control center, usually largest organelle, contains cell’s DNA
Mitochondria - harvest chemical energy from food, carry out cellular respiration
Chloroplasts - convert solar energy to chemical energy
Endomembrane System - collection of membranous organelles that manufactures and distributes cell products
Smooth ER - synthesizes lipids, processes toxins and drugs in liver cells, stores and releases calcium ions in muscle cells
Rough ER - makes membrane and proteins
Ribosomes on surface of rough ER - produce proteins that are secreted, inserted into membranes, or transported in vesicles to other organelles
Golgi Apparatus - finishes, sorts, and ships cell products
Lysosomes - digestive compartments within a cell, sacks of enzymes, destroy bacteria that have been ingested
Chapter 5: The Working Cell
Energy - capacity to perform work
1st Law of Thermodynamics - energy cannot be created or destroyed, total amount of energy in the universe is constant
2nd Law of Thermodynamics - energy transformation increase disorder or “entropy” and some energy is lost as heat
Endergonic reactions - absorb energy and yield products rich in potential energy
Exergonic reactions - release energy and yield products that contain less potential energy than their reactants
Metabolism - sum of all the chemical reactions in an organism
Enzymes - speed up the cell’s chemical reactions by lowering energy barriers
Solute - chemical dissolved in a solvent
Solvent - chemical that dissolves a solute
Solution - a solute dissolved in a solvent
Hypotonic - less concentrated solution
Hypertonic - more concentrated solution
Isotonic - two solutions of equal concentrations
Chapter 6: How Cells Harvest Chemical Energy
Photosynthesis - traps sunlight energy and converts it to energy in chemical bonds of sugar
Cellular Respiration - makes ATP for the organism by breaking apart the chemical bonds of sugar, glucose is converted to CO2 occurs in 3 main stages 1. glycolysis, 1.5 decarboxylation 2. TCA cycle 1. Oxidative Phosphorylation
Fermentation - is an anaerobic (without oxygen) energy-generating process, supplies muscle cells with ATP when they are starved for oxygen, alternative to cellular respiration
Glycolysis - universal energy-harvesting process of living organisms
Chapter 7: Photosynthesis: Using Light to Make Food
Autotrophs - producers of the biosphere
Pigments - molecules having electrons that absorb light energy
The Calvin Cycle - occurs in the cholorplast’s stroma, consists of carbon fixation, reduction, release of G3P, and regeneration of RuBp
Photosynthesis - uses light energy to make food molecules, moderates global warming
Average composition of the atmosphere up at an altitude of 25km - N(78%), O (20.95%), water
Chapter 8: The Cellular Basis of Reproduction and Inheritance
Cell division mechanism specifically moves chromosomes, then splits the cytoplasm and the cell
Prokaryotes reproduce by binary fission; cell division
Cell Cycle: Two major phases: interphase - chromosomes duplicate and cell parts are made / mitotic phase - duplicated chromosomes are evenly distributed into two daughter nuclei
Prophase-nuclear membrane dissolves , centroiles are present, chromosomes shorten and thicken and are visible, tetrads-(duplicated chroms) are joined by centromeres
Metaphase- chroms line up at equatorial plate, centroiles attach spindle fibers to centromeres
Anaphase- spindle finbers pull duplicated chroms to centroils.
Telophase- cell membrane pinches in & nuclear membrane reforms
Before a cell starts dividing, the chromosomes replicate
Cell division involves the separation of sister chromatids
Sister chromatids separate and move to opposite poles of the cell, where two nuclei form
Cytokinesis, in which the cell divides in two, overlaps the end of mitosis
Anchorage, cell density, and chemical growth factors affect cell division * The chromosomes of a homologous pair carry genes for the same characteristics at the same place, or locus * diploid: cells with 2 sets of chromosomes * haploid: single set of chromosomes ; gametes, eggs, and sperm * Meiosis reduces the chromosome number from diploid to haploid. Like mitosis, is preceded by chromosome duplication * meiosis: cell divides twice to form four daughter cells
Chapter 9: Patterns of Inheritance
Ploidy - the number of gene sets carried by an organism’s cells, number of chromosome sets
Haploid - one set of chromosomes
Diploid - two sets of chromosomes
Aneuploid - missing or additional chromosomes in a diploid set
Chapter 10: Molecular Biology of the Gene
Heredity - the transmission of characteristics to offspring
Genetics - study of heredity
Molecule Genetics - Study of the biochemistry of heredity
Gene = A discrete unit of hereditary information; a specific nucleotide base sequence that encodes a characteristic (trait)
Chromosome = A length of nucleic acid that carries genes
Locus = The physical location of a gene on a chromosome
Genome = The complete set of genes for a cell &/or organism
Genotype = The genes an organism carries
Phenotype = The traits an organism exhibits
Gene Expression = The process by which genetic information flows from genotype (DNA base sequences) to phenotype (traits)
DNA and RNA - polymers of nucleotides
DNA has 4 kinds of nitrogenous bases - A T C G
RNA is also a nucleic acid, A U C G, slightly different sugar
Transcription - produces genetic messages in the form of RNA
Transfer RNA molecules serve as interpreters during translation - takes place in the cytoplasm
DNA → RNA→ Protein