Introductory Biology: study guide and practice
Also known as: biol 101, biol 1101, biol 1406, bio 101, bio 1010, biol 111, general biology i, biology for majors i, principles of biology, biology 1
What you will be able to do
- Explain the chemistry behind water, macromolecules and enzymes
- Compare cell types and describe how substances cross membranes
- Describe photosynthesis and cellular respiration and how they connect
- Compare mitosis and meiosis
- Predict inheritance with Punnett squares
- Explain how DNA is copied and used to build proteins
- Explain natural selection and the evidence for evolution
- Describe energy flow, populations and nutrient cycles in ecosystems
Topics
- Chemistry of lifeAtoms, bonds, water and the four classes of biological molecules, plus enzymes and pH.
- Cell structure and transportProkaryotic and eukaryotic cells, the organelles and how materials cross the membrane.
- Photosynthesis and cellular respirationHow cells capture light energy to build sugar and how they release that energy as ATP.
- Cell division: mitosis and meiosisThe cell cycle, the stages of mitosis, how meiosis makes gametes and why the two differ.
- Mendelian geneticsAlleles, dominance, Punnett squares and probability, plus incomplete dominance and sex linkage.
- DNA and gene expressionDNA structure, replication, and how genes are transcribed into mRNA and translated into proteins.
- Evolution and natural selectionHow populations change by natural selection, drift and mutation, and the evidence that species share ancestry.
- Ecology: populations, energy and cyclesLevels of ecological organisation, energy flow through food chains, population growth and nutrient cycles.