Honors Biology Final Exam Review 2025 Summary

Meiosis (Unit 2.3)

• Gametes and somatic cells.
• Haploid vs. diploid cells.
• Independent assortment and segregation.
• Synapsis and crossing over.
• Homologous chromosomes and sister chromatids.
• Karyotype.
• Stages of meiosis.
• Mitosis vs. meiosis.

DNA & Gene Expression (Unit 3.1)

• DNA nucleotide structure.
• Antiparallel DNA strands.
• DNA Replication:
  • DNA Polymerase, DNA Helicase, DNA Ligase.
  • Leading and lagging strands, Okazaki fragments.
  • Semi-conservative replication.
• Gene expression.
• RNA vs. DNA.
• mRNA, tRNA, rRNA.
• Transcription and translation.
• RNA editing:
  • Spliceosome, introns, exons.
• Codons and anticodons.
• Central dogma of biology.
• Chromosomal mutations:
  • Deletion, inversion, translocation, duplication.
• Gene mutations:
  • Point, substitution, insertion, deletion, frameshift.
• Operons and lac operons.
• Recombinant DNA.
• DNA fingerprinting.
• Restriction enzymes.
• PCR and CRISPR.
• DNA sequence to mRNA and amino acid sequences.

Genetics (Unit 3.2)

• Heredity and genetics.
• Alleles: dominant and recessive.
• Genotype and phenotype.
• Homozygous and heterozygous.
• Incomplete dominance and codominance.
• Sex-linked traits and autosomal traits.
• Haploid and diploid.
• Nondisjunction.
• Genetic disorders: Hemophilia, Down syndrome, Sickle-cell anemia, Colorblindness, Huntington’s disease, polydactyly.
• Blood type genotypes, antigens, and antibodies.
• Monohybrid crosses.
• Punnett squares for blood types.
• Pedigree analysis.

Evolution & Taxonomy (Unit 4)

• Natural selection, fitness, adaptation, and competition.
• Evidence for evolution.
• Homologous, analogous, and vestigial structures.
• Stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection.
• Genetic drift and speciation.
• Reproductive isolation: behavioral, temporal, geographic.
• Pre- vs. post-zygotic reproductive barriers.
• Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and equations.
• Taxonomy and taxa.
• Order of taxa from broadest to most specific.
• Three domains and six kingdoms.
• Cladogram analysis.

Viruses & Bacteria (Unit 5.1)

• Viruses: lytic and lysogenic infections; viral diseases.
• Archaebacteria and bacteria; bacterial diseases.
• Peptidoglycan, Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria.
• Coccus, bacillus, spirillum bacteria.
• Strepto- and staphylo- arrangements.
• Endospores.
• Conjugation.
• Vaccines and types of vaccines; vaccine boosters.
• Antibiotics.
• How bacteria cause disease.

Protists, Fungi & Plants (Unit 5.1)

• Protists: pseudopodia, flagellate, ciliate, nonmotile; protist diseases.
• Fungi: hyphae, chitin, fruiting body, decomposers; fungal diseases.
• Plants: autotrophs, nonvascular, seedless vascular, gymnosperms, angiosperms.
• Xylem and phloem.
• Seeds and fruits.
• Cell wall contrasts: fungi, plants, bacteria.

Animal Development & Diversity (Unit 5.2)

• Fertilization, zygote, morula, blastula, gastrulation, blastopore.
• Protostomes and deuterostomes.
• Endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm.
• Invertebrates and chordates (vertebrates).
• Endotherms and ectotherms.
• Invertebrate phyla characteristics and examples: Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Echinodermata.
• Vertebrate phyla examples: Agnatha, Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia (marsupial, monotreme, placental).