Biology Flash Cards

Flashcards covering key biological concepts including scientific reasoning, cellular structure, biological organization, basic chemistry, biomolecules, and membrane transport based on lecture notes.

What is a suggested and testable explanation for an event called?

A hypothesis

Which of the following sciences is not considered a biological science: botany, astronomy, ecology, or genetics?

Astronomy

What type of logical thinking uses related observations to arrive at a general conclusion?

Inductive reasoning

Which process helps to ensure that a scientist’s research is original, significant, logical, and thorough?

Peer review

If a person notices that houseplants exposed to music seem to grow more quickly and concludes that plants grow better when exposed to music, which type of reasoning is being used?

Inductive reasoning

What is the smallest unit of biological structure that meets the functional requirements of "living"?

The cell

The presence of a membrane-enclosed nucleus is a characteristic of which type of cells?

Eukaryotic cells

What is a group of individuals of the same species living in the same area called?

A population

Which sequence represents the hierarchy of biological organization from the most inclusive to the least complex level?

Biosphere, ecosystem, community, population, organism

Where in a phylogenetic tree would you expect to find the organism that had evolved most recently?

At the branch tips

If xenon has an atomic number of 54 and a mass number of 108, how many neutrons does it have?

54

What are atoms called that vary in the number of neutrons found in their nuclei?

Isotopes

Lithium has an atomic number of 3. Where are its electrons located?

Shells 1 and 2, with shell 2 having only one electron

Which type of bond represents a weak chemical bond?

Hydrogen bond

Which statement regarding water is NOT true?

Water is the most abundant molecule in the Earth’s atmosphere.

When acids are added to a solution, what should happen to the pH?

The pH should decrease.

What do we call a molecule that binds up excess hydrogen ions in a solution?

A base

What happens when acids and bases mix together?

Acids and bases will neutralize each other.

Each carbon atom can bond with as many as how many other atoms or molecules?

Four

Which of the following is not a functional group that can bond with carbon: sodium, hydroxyl, phosphate, or carbonyl?

Sodium

What does dehydration synthesis lead to the formation of?

Water and polymers

During the breakdown of polymers, which reaction takes place?

Hydrolysis

What is an example of a monosaccharide?

Glucose

Cellulose and starch are examples of which type of carbohydrate?

Polysaccharides

Which carbohydrate do plant cell walls contain in abundance?

Cellulose

Which of the following is NOT an extracellular matrix role of carbohydrates?

Provide energy for muscle movement

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of saturated fats?

They tend to dissolve in water easily

Phospholipids are important components of which biological structure?

The plasma membrane of cells

Based on its structure, where is cholesterol found in the plasma membrane?

Within the tail bilayer

What are the monomers that make up proteins called?

Amino acids

The $\alpha$-helix and the $\beta$-pleated sheet are part of which level of protein structure?

Secondary structure

Mad cow disease is an infectious disease where one misfolded protein causes all other copies of the protein to begin misfolding. This impacts which level of protein structure?

Tertiary structure

Which plasma membrane component can be found either on its surface or embedded in the membrane structure?

Protein

Which characteristic of a phospholipid contributes to the fluidity of the membrane?

Double bonds in the fatty acid tail

What is the primary function of carbohydrates attached to the exterior of cell membranes?

Identification of the cell

A scientist compares the plasma membrane composition of an animal from the Mediterranean coast with that of one from the Mojave Desert. Which hypothesis is most likely to be correct?

The cells from the Mojave Desert animal will have a higher cholesterol concentration in the plasma membranes.

In which direction does water move via osmosis?

From an area with a high concentration of water to one of lower concentration

What is the principal force driving movement in diffusion?

The concentration gradient

What problem is faced by organisms that live in fresh water?

Their bodies tend to take in too much water.

In which situation would passive transport NOT use a transport protein for entry into a cell?

Oxygen moving into a cell after oxygen deprivation

Why must active transport function continuously?

Diffusion is constantly moving solutes in opposite directions

How does the sodium-potassium pump make the interior of the cell negatively charged?

By expelling more cations than are taken in

What happens to the membrane of a vesicle after exocytosis?

It fuses with and becomes part of the plasma membrane.

Which transport mechanism can bring whole cells into a cell?

Phagocytosis

In what important way does receptor-mediated endocytosis differ from phagocytosis?

It brings in only a specifically targeted substance.

Many viruses enter host cells through receptor-mediated endocytosis. What is an advantage of this entry strategy for the virus?

The virus only enters its target host cell type.

If a cell can perform exocytosis, but only minimal endocytosis, what would happen to the cell over time?

The plasma membrane would increase in size over time.