ASSIGNMENT BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE

QUESTIONS FOR CELLS 1. Explain the events that made it possible understand cell structure and function. to observe and

Robert Hooke's microscope. Hooke first described cells in 1665. The invention of the microscope allowed the first view of cells. English physicist and microscopist Robert Hooke (16351702) first described cells in 1665. He made thin slices of cork and likened the boxy partitions he observed to the cells (small rooms) in a monastery. The open spaces Hooke observed were empty, but he and others suggested these spaces might be used for fluid transport in living plants. He did not propose, and gave no indication that he believed, that these structures represented the basic unit of living organisms. In 1676 the Dutch microscopist Antony van Leeuwenhoek (16321723) published his observations of single-cell organisms, or "little animalcules" as he called them. It is likely that Leeuwenhoek was the first person to observe a red blood cell and a sperm cell. Leeuwenhoek made numerous and detailed observations on his microorganisms, but more than one hundred years passed before a connection was made between the obviously cellular structure of these creatures and the existence of cells in animals or plants.
When cells were first described, what was observed during this initial discovery?
2. 3. 4. 5. Describe what is now known as cell theory. Why are most cells small? Define cytoplasm and nucleoplasm. Compare and contrast the function of a solution and a colloid in cell structure. 6. What is a cell membrane? 7. How do materials move through a cell membrane? 8. What are the possible dynamics of cell contents when the osmotic pressure within the cell is not equal to that outside the cell? 9. How do materials move between cells? 10. Described the nucleus: what is it; what is in it; and what is its function? 11. Give a brief description of each of the following structures: a. Endoplasmic reticulum b. Ribosome

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c. Golgi apparatus d. Lysosome e. Mitochondrion f. Fat droplet g. Plastid h. Vacuole i. Microfilament j. Microtubule k. Cilium l. Flagellum m. Centriole Compare and contrast eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells.

QUESTIONS FOR CELL DIVISION 1. Compare and contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell division. Which is less complex and why? 2. In both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell division, the genetic information must be duplicated before the cell begins to divide. Why? 3. Cell division is a brief and distinct stage in a cells life history, compared to the rest or a cells life. Describe what happens during interphase. 4. Define karyokinesis and cytokinesis. 5. Describe, with the use of labeled diagrams, each of the stages in eukaryotic cell division. 6. Define syncytium and coenocyte in terms relating them to cell division. 7. Compare and contrast binary fission, budding, cloning, conjugation, transformation, and transduction. 8. Define haploid and diploid, using the terms fertilization and zygote. 9. Define the following terms with labeled illustrations, comparing and contrasting the roles these parts play in different stages of a cells life history: chromosome, chromatid, centromere. 10. With carefully labeled illustrations, describe all the steps in meiosis.

QUESTIONS FOR REPRODUCTION 1. Define asexual reproduction and discuss the different type that exist. 2. Compare and contrast asexual and sexual reproduction: What are the benefits and shortcoming of each?

3. Describe with the use of illustrations both types of gametogenesis: spermatogenesis and oogenesis. 4. List the main human male reproductive structures (internal and external), explain their function. 5. Give the precise route that sperm takes from where it is formed to where it leaves the body. 6. Give the precise route that an egg takes from where it is formed to where it become an embryo, and then the path it takes when the baby is born. 7. describe a complete menstrual cycle.

QUESTIONS FOR CELLULAR RESPIRATION 1. Under what circumstances might cellular respiration occur in the presence of oxygen, and when might oxygen be unnecessary? 2. Although it has been stated that the oxidation of glucose to pyruvate releases, energy, what exactly is meant by term oxidation? 3. The first series of chemical reactions in cellular respiration, in which glucose is converted to pyruvate, is called glycolysis. Expand on what happens during this series of reactions. 4. Why are exzymes important in glycolysis? 5. How are both glycolysis and Kreb cycle related? 6. Describe anaerobic fermentation; compare and contrast it to other ways cells have to obtain energy. Integrate anaerobic fermentation into the larger picture, explaining the role it plays in most plants and in some microorganisms. 7. How do ATP and ADP differ, and why are they important in cellular respiration? 8. What happens during the Kreb cycle? 9. What is the electron transport chain, what role do the cytochrome play in this chain, and where might such an electron transport chain exist? Why? 10. What types of substances can be fed into the respiratory chain of reactions? And what happens to them once they have been fed into this chain of reactions?

QUESTIONS FOR PHOTOSYSNTHESIS

1. Give a brief history of how basic fundamentals of photosynthesis were first discovered. 2. What are the different photosynthetic pigments and why are there different ones? Pigments are chemical compounds which reflect only certain wavelengths of visible light. This makes them appear "colorful". Flowers, corals, and even animal skin contain pigments which give them their colors. More important than their reflection of light is the ability of pigments to absorb certain wavelengths. There are three basic classes of pigments. Chlorophylls are greenish pigments which contain a porphyrin ring. There are several kinds of chlorophyll, the most important being chlorophyll "a". This is the molecule which makes photosynthesis possible, by passing its energized electrons on to molecules which will manufacture sugars. All plants, algae, and cyanobacteria which photosynthesize contain chlorophyll "a". A second kind of chlorophyll is chlorophyll "b", which occurs only in "green algae" and in the plants. A third form of chlorophyll which is common is (not surprisingly) called chlorophyll "c", and is found only in the photosynthetic members of the Chromista as well as the dinoflagellates. The difference between the chlorophylls of these major groups was one of the first clues that they were not as closely related as previously thought. Carotenoids are usually red, orange, or yellow pigments, and include the familiar compound carotene, which gives carrots their color. These compounds are composed of two small six-carbon rings connected by a "chain" of carbon atoms. As a result, they do not dissolve in water, and must be attached to membranes within the cell. Carotenoids cannot transfer sunlight energy directly to the photosynthetic pathway, but must pass their absorbed energy to chlorophyll. For this reason, they are called accessory pigments. One very visible accessory pigment is fucoxanthin the brown pigment which colors kelps and other brown algae as well as the diatoms. Phycobilins are water-soluble pigments, and are therefore found in the cytoplasm, or in the stroma of the chloroplast. They occur only in Cyanobacteria and Rhodophyta. Phycobilins are not only useful to the organisms which use them for soaking up light energy; they have also found use as research tools. Both pycocyanin and

phycoerythrin fluoresce at a particular wavelength. That is, when they are exposed to strong light, they absorb the light energy, and release it by emitting light of a very narrow range of wavelengths. The light produced by this fluorescence is so distinctive and reliable, that phycobilins may be used as chemical "tags". 3. Describe the differences between autotrophs and heterotrophs. Living organisms obtain chemical energy in one of two ways: Autotrophs store chemical energy in carbohydrate food molecules they build themselves. Food is chemical energy stored in organic molecules. Food provides both the energy to do work and the carbon to build bodies. Because most autotrophs transform sunlight to make food, we call the process they use photosynthesis. Only three groups of organisms - plants, algae, and some bacteria - are capable of this lifegiving energy transformation. Autotrophs make food for their own use, but they make enough to support other life as well. Almost all other organisms depend absolutely on these three groups for the food they produce. The producers, as autotrophs are also known, begin food chains which feed all life. Heterotrophs cannot make their own food, so they must eat or absorb it. For this reason, heterotrophs are also known as consumers. Consumers include all animals and fungi and many protists and bacteria. They may consume autotrophs or other heterotrophs or organic molecules from other organisms. Heterotrophs show great diversity and may appear far more fascinating than producers. But heterotrophs are limited by our utter dependence on those autotrophs that originally made our food. If plants, algae, and autotrophic bacteria vanished from earth, animals, fungi, and other heterotrophs would soon disappear as well. All life requires a constant input of energy. Only autotrophs can transform that ultimate, solar source into the chemical energy in food that powers life. 4. List some of the most important nutrients to a plant, and tell where they are most likely to come from. 5. How does chlorophyll work? 6. Where is chlorophyll usually located, and why? 7. What is noncyclic photophosphorylation? 8. What is cyclic photophosphorylation? 9. How do plants synthesizes carbohydrates?

QUESTIONS FOR HOMEOSTASIS 1. Explain what it means for a cell to be isosmotic, hyperosmotic, and hypoosmotic with regard to the surrounding medium. 2. Why is ammonia converted into either urea of uric acid in most organisms? 3. What are the different methods animals have to cope with nitrogenous wastes? 4. Trace the movement of nitrogenous waste removal through a kidney from the renal artery to the ureter.

QUESTIONS FOR HORMONES 1. What are hormones, and how are they delivered from where they are produced to their target area? 2. What is the difference between endocrine and exocrine glands? 3. What are two groups of plant hormones, and how do they affect plants? 4. What is a plants photoperiod? 5. Describe how hormones affect diabetes. 6. Compare the similarities and differences of male and female sex hormones.

QUESTIONS FOR BRAIN AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 1. What protective layers envelope the vertebrate brain? 2. How are vertebrate brains similar in basic construction? 3. What do the terms forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain refer to? 4. What are the three basic types of neurons? 5. Define myelin sheathing and explain its function. 6. What is the all-or-nothing principle? 7. Shortly after being released, what normally happens neurotransmitters? 8. How does a nervous impulse pass down a neuron?

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QUESTIONS FOR BONES AND MUSCLES 1. What substances are found in skeletal systems? Explain their function. 2. How do muscles work antagonistically? 3. The vertebral column is made of which types of vertebrae? Where are they example of each. 4. What is the function of the pacemaker?

5. Describe muscle contraction and relaxation. 6. Explain the fundamentals of the sliding-filament theory.

QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERNAL TRANSPORT OF PLANTS 1. Describe the conducting tissues of plants. 2. What are the theories concerning how materials are conducted throughout plants? 3. What is the function of the roots, and how do they work?

QUESTIONS FOR CIRCULATORY SYSTEM 1. Describe the similarities and difference between closed and open circulatory systems. 2. How does the insect tracheal system affect its circulatory system? 3. What is the role of the Malphigian tubules, and how do they interact with the circulatory system of what kinds of animals? 4. Compare and contrast several different types of hearts. 5. Follow the entire route of blood through a vertebrarate circulatory system. 6. What is the function of a lymphatic system? QUESTIONS FOR BLOOD 1. Analyze, compare, and contrast the contents of the blood of a vertebrate and an insect. 2. How does blood clot? 3. How does heart beat? 4. What is blood pressure? QUESTIONS FOR NUTRITION 1. Why is it necessary for food to be digested? 2. Describe some simple sugars and explain their nutritional value. 3. Why are proteins important in a diet? 4. What is the role of lipids in ones diet? 5. What are vitamins and why are they important? 6. What is the difference between a vitamin and a mineral? 7. What is thought to be the value of fiber in ones diet?