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#2. Knowledge Demonstration/Summative Assessment/Exam Study Guide 1. The molecular origins of life: Replication or metabolism first?
∙ Replication because of its potential to serve both as an information molecule and a catalytic molecule
2. What’s behind the resurgence of bedbugs around us?
∙ Natural Selection
∙ Background info:
∙ 1) There is variation in a population of insects. Genetic mutations make some insects naturally resistant to a pesticide.
∙ 2) If the population of insects is exposed to that pesticide, only the individuals with resistance will survive to reproduce
∙ 3)The alleles which caused the pesticide resistance will be passed on the next generation, and so the population will evolve to become more resistant to the chemical.
3. What is microevolution?
∙ Evolutionary change within a species or small group of organisms, especially over a short period.
4.How are human activities causing evolution?
∙ Domestication
∙ Artificial selection
5. Can we see speciation occurring?
∙ It is possible, especially for geographic speciation If you want to learn more check out How do seaweeds reproduce?
6. Is evolution happening near you?
∙ Evolution is happening everywhere
7. What is the name of the scientist who introduced the type of notation used for alleles? ∙ Gregor Mendel
a. Can you calculate the allele frequency in a population?
∙ With a punnet square
b. How did the selective pressure on the roach population change? ∙ The selective pressure went from predation
c. In the roach population, what phenotypic variation was acted on by natural selection?
∙ Resistance to pesticide
d. Still talking about roaches, which phenotype has the greatest evolutionary fitness after the environmental change?
∙ The recessive phenotype
e. If the homeowner continues to use BugBGone, predict how the frequencies of B and b in this population will change in the future. If you want to learn more check out What are some of the effects of entertainment shows?
∙ More and more roaches will become resistant making b more common than B. f. What evolutionary insight would you share with the homeowner to help him deal with his roach problem? If you want to learn more check out What si the equation for coefficient of performance?
We also discuss several other topics like What does total revenue pertain to?
Don't forget about the age old question of How do seismographs determine earthquake power?
∙ I would tell the owner to keep changing bugsprays If you want to learn more check out How does an animal sustain life?
8. Mechanisms of evolution
a. Gene flow
∙ The movement and exchange of genes or alleles from one population of species to another.
b. Genetic drift
∙ variation in the relative frequency of different genotypes in a small population, owing to the chance disappearance of particular genes as individuals die or do not reproduce.
i. Bottleneck effect
∙ A population bottleneck or genetic bottleneck is a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events (such as earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, or droughts) or human activities (such as genocide).
ii. Founder effect
∙ The reduced genetic diversity that results when a population is descended from a small number of colonizing ancestors.
9. Understand natural selection
∙ the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
10. At any given environment, how might herbicideresistant weeds affect other businesses or individuals?
∙ This will inconvenience farmers because they will have to handpick or hire people to handpick the weeds, it is possible that different pesticide companies will profit if the farmer switches pesticides regularly.
a. If herbicideresistant weeds become widespread, farmers may have to replace herbicides with traditional laborintensive methods of weed control. How might this affect food prices?
∙ Food prices would go up because labor is expensive
11. How does geographic separation cause speciation?
∙ Species cannot reach one another due to a geographic barrier and over time, this species changes to form 2 different species.
a. How does the organism’s mobility or lack of impact speciation?
∙ An organism might not know a particular mating dance and will not impress the females, therefore causing speciation.
12. What are other selection speciation pressures other than geographic separation? ∙ Gametic isolation
∙ Habitat Isolation (think about anoles)
∙ Behavioral isolation
13. What is sexual selection? How different is it from natural selection or is it an example/form of natural selection?
∙ Sexual selection is natural selection arising through preference by one sex for certain characteristics in individuals of the other sex.
a. Temporal isolation
∙ Temporal isolation means 'isolated in time,' so this is a mechanism that prevents species from mating because they breed at different times. These differences can be time of day, season, or even different years.
b. Habitat isolation
∙ species live in the same area but different habitats. ( Encounter each other rarely, never technically not geographically isolated, Ex. water vs land snakes)
c. Behavioral isolation
∙ when two populations are capable of interbreeding, but don't breed because of differences in their courtship rituals.
d. Gametic isolation
∙ When a type of prezygotic barrier where the gametes (egg and sperm) come into contact, but no fertilization takes place.
14. Understand the history of life on earth. How long have we been on earth? ∙ 200,000
15. How do plant reproduce and obtain nutrients?
∙ Plants reproduce through sexual and asexual reproduction
∙ Plants obtain nutrients through photosynthesis
a. What is photosynthesis?
∙ the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.
b. And why is it important?
∙ without plants the entire food chain—or more accurately the food web—would lose its foundation.
c. How do humans rely on photosynthesis?
∙ We rely on photosynthesis to produce the oxygen that we breathe
d. Why are roots so important?
∙ roots are the lifeline of a plant, taking up air, water, and nutrients from the soil and moving them up into the leaves
e. How have roots evolved to become so efficient in their ability to absorb water and nutrients?
∙ Root hairs form an important surface as they are needed to absorb most of the water and nutrients needed for the plant.
16. Explain the adaptations of a carnivorous plants and how they function.
∙ specialized structures like trapping leaves, and/or enhancements to improve the luring and capture of prey, such as extrafloral nectaries, attractive UV or pigmentation patterns, odors, hairs that guide prey, etc.
∙ Carnivorous plants feed on insects to substitute nutrients that they do not get from their soil.
17. What are mosses used for?
∙ Stuffing mattresses
∙ Textiles
∙ Toilet paper
∙ Potential medicinal value
18. Vascular systems – xylem and phloem
a. what are they?
∙ Xylem carries water
∙ Phloem carries sugar
b. What is the advantage of having these systems to a plant?
∙ A vasculatory system allows plants to efficiently pass water and nutrients from one part of the plant to another
19. How does maple syrup come about?
∙ Maple syrup comes from xylem feed tree during winter. 20. Four major plant groups and their characteristics.
∙ Bryophytes (Mosses) nonvascular and are closely tied to water ∙ Tracheophytes (Ferns) vascular
∙ Gymnosperms (Conifers) naked seeds
∙ Angiosperms(flowering plants) flowers
21. Is there an advantage to having a dominant sporophyte stage rather than a gametophyte? Explain.
∙ Depends on the plant, but here are some facts to help you decide: ∙ Sporophyte dominant
∙ Spores result in identical clones of the parent
∙ Colonize new area quickly and solo
∙ Haploid babies crappy genes get weeded out
∙ Gametophyte dominant
∙ Gametes result in mixed genes
∙ Good genes can dominate over bad genes
∙ Faster evolution of the species
22. Draw and label a Nonvascular plant life cycle.
a. What does alternation of generations mean?
∙ a pattern of reproduction occurring in the life cycles of many lower plants involving a regular alternation between two distinct forms. The generations are alternately sexual and asexual (as in ferns).
23. Compare and contrast in detail seedless vascular plants and nonvascular seedless plants.
∙ Seedless Vascular Plants Well developed root shoot system, specialized roots, stems, and leaves, sporophyte stage dominant
∙ Nonvascular Seedless plants gametophyte dominant, water conduction through diffusion 24. Seedless vascular plant life cycle.
25. Seeds vs spores which one would you take and why?
∙ I would choose seeds because I would want to be around for a long time, unlike plants with spores.
∙ But there are advantages to spores too! They can take over an area very quickly
26. Gymnosperms. What are they? Give examples.
∙ The gymnosperms are a group of seedproducing plants that includes conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetophytes. The term "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek composite word, meaning "naked seeds"
a. What is the advantage of having cones?
∙ Cones provide protection, unlike naked seeds which are exposed.
b. Gymnosperm life cycle.
27. What are the three plant life spans and what do they mean?
∙ Annualslast one growing season
∙ Biennialslast 2 growing seasons
∙ Perennials last many growing seasons
28. Angiosperms!
a. What distinguishes angiosperms from other plants?
∙ Flowers & fruit
b. Why do we have so many of them compared to any other group of plants? ∙ More successful at dispersing pollen with eye catching flowers for pollinators.
29. How do fungi reproduce and obtain nutrients?
∙ Fungi can reproduce through sexual or asexual reproduction for the benefits of alternation of generations (like ferns and mosses)
∙ Fungi obtain nutrients through feeding on decaying animals, being parasites, or being active predators.
a. Sexual or asexual reproduction? Describe each.
∙ The reproduction of fungi can be either sexual or asexual. Sexual reproduction, as with other organisms, involves the fusion of two nuclei when two sex cells unite. This joining produces spores that can grow into new organisms. However, the majority of fungi reproduce asexually.
b. How does a fungus feed? Explain in detail with examples.
∙ Fungi obtain nutrients through feeding on decaying animals, being parasites(athlete's foot), or being active predators that lasso nematodes.
c. And lichens? What are they? What is the interaction?
∙ A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae and bacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi in a symbiotic relationship
30. How do protists reproduce and obtain nutrients?
∙ Protists produce sexually using gametes, while others reproduce asexually by binary fission.
a. What are protists?
∙ A kingdom of eukaryotic organisms that are unicellular and sometimes colonial or less often multicellular and that typically include the protozoans, most algae, and often some fungi
i. Plant like?
∙ Red algae, diatoms, dinoflagellates
ii. Fungus like?
∙ water molds, downy mildews, and slime molds.
iii. Animal like?
∙ Amoeba, flagellates, and ciliates
b. How diatomaceous is our earth?
∙ Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms called diatoms.
c. Can you describe the reproductive strategies used by different protists?
∙ Protists can reproduce asexually through binary fission, one nucleus divides; multiple fission, many nuclei divide; and budding.
31. How do bacteria reproduce and obtain nutrients?
∙ Bacteria reproduce through binary fission or conjugation where
∙ Bacteria obtain nutrients through being heterotrophs or autotrophs a. How do bacterial cells divide? They don’t have a nucleus.
∙ Through binary fission
b. What are the different shapes of prokaryotic cells?
∙ Cocci – spherical
∙ Bacilli – rodshaped
∙ spiralshaped.
c. What are some common mutualistic interactions between bacteria and other organisms? ∙ Cows and bacteria in their intestines
∙ Lichen
d. Bacteria produce spores. Are they reproductive spores like those found in plants? Explain.
∙ Bacteria produce endospores, but they are not reproduction spores. When the bacteria is starving or senses a change in the environment, like extreme temperatures and drought, they will produce a spore. This spore is a protective, thick cell wall and can help the bacteria survive for several years by living in a dormant state.
Difference between diatoms and dinoflagellates:
∙ difference between diatoms and dinoflagellates and single cells and chains. Diatoms, are the most important phytoplankton in the ocean. Diatoms are usually single celled but often occur in chains of cells.