General Biology Laboratory: Final Exam Review and Microscopic Organisms

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering organism slide identifications, microscopy concepts, laboratory techniques, biochemical pathways, gel electrophoresis, cell division, and genetics for the biology final exam review.

Laboratory Practical Final Exam

A 21-question cumulative exam (5 points each, totaling 100 points with 5 bonus points available) where stations feature lab apparatus, equipment, and biological specimens to test practical skills and conceptual knowledge.

Falsifiable Hypothesis

A proposed, testable explanation for an observed biological phenomenon that can be supported or refuted through experimentation and possesses the inherent property of being provable false.

Methods Section

A scientific report section distinct from step-by-step procedures that describes in narrative past-tense text the experimental design, setup, materials, and analytical rationale utilized.

Micropipette

A precision laboratory tool designed to measure and deliver minute liquid volumes in microliters ($\mu\text{L}$), categorized into types defined by specific volume ranges such as P20 and P1000.

Spectrophotometer

An analytical instrument used to measure the amount of light absorbed (absorbance) by a chemical or biological solute across designated wavelengths.

Blanking

The procedure of calibrating a spectrophotometer to zero absorbance using a cuvette containing only solvent or buffer, accounting for background light absorption.

Absorption Spectrum

A curve plotting absorbance values across a spectrum of light wavelengths to identify the characteristic peak absorption wavelengths of a pigment or molecule.

Standard Curve

A plot depicting known analyte concentrations against their corresponding absorbance values, utilized to calculate the concentration of an unknown solution.

Diffusion

The spontaneous net movement of solute molecules down a concentration gradient from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.

Dynamic Equilibrium

The condition reached when solute particles become uniformly dispersed and continue to move at equal rates in all directions without producing any net concentration change.

Osmosis

The passive net movement of water molecules through a selectively permeable membrane down its water potential gradient, moving toward regions of higher solute concentration.

Hypertonic Solution

An external environment possessing a higher solute concentration relative to the cytoplasm of a cell, driving net osmotic water movement out of the cell.

Hypotonic Solution

An external environment possessing a lower solute concentration relative to the cytoplasm of a cell, driving net osmotic water movement into the cell.

Isotonic Solution

An environment having a solute concentration equal to that within the cell, resulting in no net water transfer into or out of the cell.

Surface Area-to-Volume Ratio

A geometric relationship ($\text{SA/V}$) that decreases as cell size enlarges, constraining cell dimensions because internal volume grows faster than surface exchange capacity.

Total Magnification

The product of the ocular lens magnification multiplied by the objective lens magnification on a light microscope.

Field of View (FOV)

The diameter of the visible circular specimen area observable through a microscope eyepiece at a given magnification.

Resolution

The shortest distance between two separate points on a specimen at which they can still be distinguished as distinct entities by an optical system.

Endosymbiont Theory

The model stating that eukaryotic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts originated through the engulfment of ancestral free-living prokaryotes by primitive host cells.

Lactobacillus acidophilus

A rod-shaped, non-photosynthetic prokaryotic bacterium observed at 1000X magnification, capable of carrying out lactic acid fermentation.

Anabaena inaequalis

A photosynthetic, filamentous cyanobacterium (prokaryote) observed at 100X magnification capable of photoautotrophic energy production.

Egeria densa (Elodea)

An aquatic plant (eukaryote) observed at 400X magnification exhibiting distinct rectangular cell walls, cytoplasm, and green chloroplasts.

Amoeba proteus

A single-celled, heterotrophic eukaryotic protist observed at 100X magnification that moves and captures nutrients using pseudopodia.

Paramecium caudatum

A single-celled, slipper-shaped heterotrophic eukaryotic ciliate observed at 100X magnification using cilia for locomotion.

Paramecium (Stained)

A stained preparation of a Paramecium cell viewed at 400X magnification to accentuate internal eukaryotic organelles and nuclear morphology.

Lichen and Algae

A mutualistic symbiotic organism viewed in cross section at 400X magnification, showing fungal hyphae intertwined with photosynthetic algal cells.

Orchid and Mycorrhizae

A cross section of an orchid root observed at 400X magnification demonstrating endomycorrhizal fungal hyphae and pelotons located within plant cortical cells.

Chlorella vulgaris

A small, spherical unicellular green alga (eukaryote) observed at 100X magnification that functions as an aquatic photoautotroph.

Gleotrichia pisum

A colonial, filamentous cyanobacterium (prokaryote) observed at 100X magnification that belongs to the group of photoautotrophic organisms.

Synechocystis nigrescens

A unicellular, spherical cyanobacterium (prokaryote) observed at 100X magnification that carries out oxygenic photosynthesis.

Chaetoceros gracilis

A unicellular marine diatom (eukaryote) observed at 100X magnification characterized by specialized silica shells and spine-like setae.

Porphyridium purpureum

A unicellular red alga (eukaryote) observed at 100X magnification that functions as a photoautotroph using red accessory photosynthetic pigments.

Aerobic Cellular Respiration

The oxygen-dependent catabolic process summarized by $\text{C}_6\text{H}_{12}\text{O}_6 + 6\text{O}_2 \rightarrow 6\text{CO}_2 + 6\text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{ATP}$, generating chemical energy from glucose.

Ethanol Fermentation

An anaerobic metabolic pathway that converts glucose-derived pyruvate into ethanol and carbon dioxide, re-oxidizing $\text{NADH}$ to $\text{NAD}^+$.

Lactic Acid Fermentation

An anaerobic pathway that directly reduces pyruvate to lactic acid without carbon dioxide release, replenishing the $\text{NAD}^+$ required for glycolysis.

Monosaccharide

The most fundamental class of monomeric carbohydrate units, containing a single sugar molecule such as glucose.

Disaccharide

A carbohydrate composed of two monosaccharide rings linked by a glycosidic bond, including maltose and cellobiose.

Photoautotroph

An organism capable of generating its own organic food molecules from inorganic carbon dioxide and water utilizing light energy.

Photosynthesis

The biological process converting light energy into chemical energy, summarized by the equation $6\text{CO}_2 + 6\text{H}_2\text{O} \rightarrow \text{C}_6\text{H}_{12}\text{O}_6 + 6\text{O}_2$.

Carbon Cycle

The biogeochemical circulation of carbon through ecosystems, driven by autotrophic photosynthetic uptake of $\text{CO}_2$ balanced by respiratory release of $\text{CO}_2$.

Restriction Enzyme

A bacterial endonuclease that recognizes specific palindromic nucleotide sequences in DNA and cleaves the phosphodiester backbone at defined cut sites.

Agarose Gel Electrophoresis

A technique separating negatively charged DNA fragments through an agarose matrix toward the positive anode at rates inversely proportional to fragment size.

DNA Ladder

A commercial standard mixture of DNA fragments of predetermined base-pair lengths run alongside unknowns to calibrate and estimate molecular sizes.

SDS-PAGE

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, a technique employing a polyacrylamide matrix to separate denatured proteins primarily by molecular weight.

Mitosis

The process of eukaryotic nuclear division consisting of prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase, resulting in two genetically identical diploid daughter nuclei.

Crossing Over

The reciprocal exchange of genetic segments between non-sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes occurring during prophase I of meiosis.

Haploid

A cell or organism possessing a single complete set of chromosomes ($n$), such as mature gametes.

Diploid

A cell or organism possessing two complete sets of homologous chromosomes ($2n$), such as standard somatic cells.

Genotype

The underlying genetic composition and allelic combination of an organism for a particular set of genes.

Phenotype

The observable physical, physiological, or biochemical traits of an organism produced by the interaction of its genotype with the environment.

Monohybrid Cross

A genetic mating between two parental organisms that tracks the inheritance patterns of alleles for a single gene locus.

Dihybrid Cross

A genetic cross between two individuals that simultaneously monitors the inheritance patterns of alleles for two distinct gene loci.

Law of Segregation

Mendel's first law stating that two alleles for a heritable trait separate during gametogenesis so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene.

Law of Independent Assortment

Mendel's second law stating that allele pairs for unlinked genes segregate into gametes completely independently of each other during meiosis.

Linked Genes

Genes residing close to one another on the same chromosome that do not assort independently and are frequently inherited together.