Unit 0 AP Bio Review

  • Biology - The study of living things, such as how living things grow, interact, and evolve.

  • Characteristics of Life (know/define and be able to explain briefly):

    • Energy processing - Refers to how living organisms obtain and convert energy to power their life processes.

Examples: Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration



  • Growth, development, and reproduction—Growth refers to the increase in an organism's size, and an example is through mitosis. Development means what an organism undergoes and changes in function throughout its maturation. Lastly, reproduction is where new organisms are produced through the processes of asexual and sexual reproduction



  • Response to the environment - goes with the below to mediate homeostasis

  • Regulation- homeostasis

  • Order

  • Evolution/adaptation 



  • Themes of Biology (know the following about each):

    • 1 - Organization

      • Hierarchical levels (be able to define each & know in sequence & examples if applicable)

        • Biosphere (broadest category) 

        • Ecosystem

        • Community

        • Population

        • Organism

        • Organ

        • Tissues

        • Cells

        • Organelles

        • Molecules: chemical structure consisting of 2 or more atoms chemically joined together… DNA is probably one of the more important; proteins are a big deal too

        • Genes (smallest level)

      • Emergent properties: properties due to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases 

        • Systems biology

          • Form follows function

          • Cell 

            • Prokaryotic 

            • Eukaryotic

    • 2 - Information: Life processes involve the transmission of information 

      • DNA (know definition & definitions of the below words too)

      • Gene

      • Gene expression




  • Genome

  • Genomics

  • Proteome

  • Proteomics

  • Bioinformatics (definition + what two other important research developments make genomic and proteomic approaches possible)



  • 3 - Energy/Matter: Energy conversions and Matter transformation support life

    • Energy

      • Organisms require Energy to do work (move, grow, develop, reproduce, etc.)

      • ENERGY FLOWS; Open System on Earth (means “E” comes into Earth and can leave Earth)

      • MOST ecosystems start with SUN
        (arrows show directions of Energy transfer)












  • Matter  

    • Matter is constantly being transformed from one compound to another 

    • MATTER CYCLES; Closed System on Earth (means Matter does not come into Earth at large scale and cannot exit Earth at large scale)




  • Matter moves around/converted in ecosystems via processes like assimilation, absorption, consumption, decomposition, etc. 



  • 4 - Interactions: Way working together achieves common goals 

    • Interactions between components of systems ensures smooth integration of all parts to better function as whole

    • Helps to maintain homeostasis (know definition)

    • Can be small-scale (molecules in cells)

      • Regulated by feedback (define feedback regulation)

      • Two kinds of feedback

        • Negative feedback (more common in biological systems):







  • Positive feedback (less common in biological systems):







  • Can be large-scale (ecosystems)

    • Food chain/webs, interspecific species interactions, and matter cycles highlight interactions between species





  • Climate change (definition) 

    • Causes– 1- extraction and combustion of fossil fuels & 2- deforestation  

    • Outcomes–  (know some)

  • 5 - Evolution: scientific explanation for unity and diversity of organisms; explains how species can be similar & different from each other

    • Evolution (a.k.a. Descent with Modification— works at POPULATION Level!!!): change in populations DNA/allele frequencies over time 

      • ~1.8 named species (could be anywhere from 10-100 million species on Earth)

      • Taxonomy arranges (D (broadest), K, P, C, O, F, G, S(smallest))

      • 3 Domains:

        • Bacteria: prokaryotic cells; simple, usually single-celled; most diverse & widespread prokaryotes

        • Archaea: prokaryotic cells; simple, usually single-celled; usually live in extreme environments that are very salty, boiling waters, etc.

        • Eukarya: eukaryotic cells; can be single or multicellular; usually more complex

          • 4 subgroups

          • Kingdom List:

            • Plantae- multicellular photosynthetic; convert inorganic molecules (H20; CO2; sunlight) into organic molecules (sugars)

            • Fungi- absorb nutrients dissolved from their surroundings 

            • Animalia- multicellular consumers that ingest other organisms 

            • Protista- mostly unicellular; most numerous & diverse eukaryotes; once in one kingdom, but currently based on DNA evidence, are being broken down into several groups as seems some protists are more closely related to plants, animals, & fungi than other protists; live in LOTS of different locations (water, soil, inside of other organisms,...)

      • Species name follows binomial nomenclature: 2 part name consisting of Genus and specific epithet with 2 names being species name 

        • Felis catus 

        • Genus = Felis; capitalized

        • specific epithet = cactus; lowercase

        • species name = Felis catus = two-part name; underlined if written out & italicized if typed

      • LOTS of evidence for Evolution, mostly thought of as based on structural similarities & differences, NOW largely based on Genetic/DNA evidence

      • Mechanisms of Evolution (what can happen over & over again to lead to Evolution:

        • Adaptations (know definition)

          • Individuals with these have advantage over those who do not have them

          • Can shift if environmental conditions change 

        • Natural selection (Charles Darwin; Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, published 1859) (definition; who is selective agent) WORKS at Individual, or organism, level

        • Premise for Natural Selection: 

          • Variation exists 

          • Traits are heritable

          • Overpopulation 

          • Competition exists

          • Individuals with adaptations are more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on their genes, thus influencing populations of their species to come  




  • Artificial selection (definition; who is selective agent) WORKS AT INDIVIDUAL LIVING ORGANISM LEVEL 

  • Non-adaptive processes: gene flow/genetic drift, mutations; recombination 



  • SCIENCE IS DRIVEN BY INQUIRY: Scientists make observations, form hypotheses, & test hypothesis

    • Humans have always tried to understand the world in which they live

    • Science (Latin for “to know”)- an approach to understanding the natural world

    • Inquiry (definition)  

    • Scientific Method

      • Make Observations

      • Form Testable Explanation (Hypothesis)– often look to the work of other scientists to help formulate one

      • Testing Hypothesis

      • Analyze Data/Evaluate Findings– using statistics to determine if findings are SIGNIFICANT or Not Significant 

      • Make Conclusion– often look to work of other scientists to help draw conclusions from findings 

      • Report Findings– IMPORTANT that are peer-reviewed to vet them 

    • Data- recorded observations  

      • Qualitative (definition and examples) 

      • Quantitative (definition and examples) 

    • Hypothesis (definition for null and alternative needed) 

      • Hypothesis must be 

        • specific

        • testable

        • repeatable 

        • falsifiable 



  • Experiment- scientific test can be carried out in a lab or natural environment 

    • Control group (definition and examples) 

    • Experimental group (definition and examples)

    • Constants (definition and examples) 

  • Controlled experiment (definition and examples) 

  • Inductive reasoning- from specific to general 

  • Deductive reasoning- from general to specific 






  • Variables- feature or quantity that varies in experiment

    • Independent variable- manipulated variable

      • “I” decide as researcher  

      • Really should only have one per experiment, but if more than one can sometimes tease apart with statistical analysis 

    • Dependent variable- factor being measured 






  • Theory - a claim that is supported by lots of evidence and data and is universally accepted by the scientific community as whole

    • Broaden than hypothesis

    • General enough to spin off many new hypotheses

    • Supported by a greater amount of evidence than a hypothesis

  • Law- something that is universally true everywhere

  • Model organism- used by scientists to test systems; certain systems sometimes use the same model organism 

  • Science Influences Society - know various ways in which science has influenced society 

  • Technology- application of scientific knowledge (know examples)




CER– Say this goes with Conclusion step in the scientific method

  • Lots of time goes with justification questions for FRQ

  • Claim: a statement about results of the investigation

    • One-sentence answer to the investigation question

    • Answers “What you can conclude?”

    • Should NOT start with Yes or No

    • Should describe the relationship between dependent & independent variable 
       

  • Evidence: scientific data used to support the claim

    • Evidence MUST be:

      • Sufficient- use enough evidence to support the claim

      • Appropriate- use data that supports your claim; leave out information that doesn’t support the claim

      • Qualitative or Quantitative or a combination of Both

  • Reasoning: ties together claim and evidence 

    • Shows how or why data count as evidence to support the claim

    • Provides justification for why this evidence is important to claim

    • Includes one or more scientific principles important to claim and evidence