BIOL215 Learning Objectives UPDATED
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Characteristics of living things that distinguish them from non living things - CORRECT
ANSWER - REODGRMH
response to environment
evolution
organization
DNA
growth and development
reproduction
metabolism
homeostasis
historical events that contributed to modern cell biology (names and dates) - CORRECT
ANSWER - 1500s: Jansen invents first microscope
1665: Robert Hooke and cork slices
1830s: development of microscope
1831: robert brown describes nucleus
1838: cell theory by schleiden
currently accepted cell theory - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. all organisms consist of one or
more cells
2. the cell is the basic unit of structure
3. all cells arise from pre existing cells
3 domains of life - CORRECT ANSWER - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya
,who is credited with redrawing the tree of life into 3 domains - CORRECT ANSWER -
Woese and Fox
describe the evidence used to reclassify organisms into the 3 domains - CORRECT
ANSWER - based on analysis of rRNA sequences and homologous nucleotides
comparisons
why were rRNA gene sequences used to analyze phylogenetic relationships - CORRECT
ANSWER - slight changes represent evolutionary steps
establishes evolutionary relationships
can design PCR primers
what information did we learn from the analysis of the rRNA gene sequences pioneered by
Woese and Fox - CORRECT ANSWER - 2 separate groups of prokaryotes (bacteria and
archaea)
Eukaryotes and archaea are more closely related to each other than to bacteria
Allowed better understanding of how protists should be organized phylogenetically
what is a protist - CORRECT ANSWER - A protist is a diverse grouping of eukaryotic
organisms with diverse lineages
Can be unicellular (dinoflagellates) or multicellular (algae)
why is it no longer correct to classify all protists together into one phylogenetic group -
CORRECT ANSWER - some protists are more closely related to plants, animals, or fungi
than to other protists
Are viruses considered living organisms? - CORRECT ANSWER - Viruses do not grow,
respond to the environment, have a metabolism or homeostasis or contain cells
What is SARS - CoV - 2? What is COVID? - CORRECT ANSWER - Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
,The virus that causes COVID 19(the disease)
Describe the fundamental differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells - CORRECT
ANSWER - Prokaryotes do not have a nucleus, while eukaryotes do
Describe the structural features shared by all cells - CORRECT ANSWER - Surrounded by
lipid based plasma membrane
Metabolic machinery
DNA as hereditary information
Ribosomes as protein synthesizing machinery (converting mRNA into protein)
Explain why cell size is limited - CORRECT ANSWER - Resource availability (nutrients,
space)
Surface area to volume ratio (small sa/v means diffusion rates decrease)
Explain the strategies cells/organisms can use to overcome the limitations imposed by surface
area: volume constraits - CORRECT ANSWER - Cells divide (mitosis is triggered after
cells reach its maximum size)
Growth stops
Increase surface area
Membrane folding (brush border cells of intestinal epithelium)
Long thin cells have a greater surface area: volume ratio
Active transport
Multicellularity
Describe how cells are fractioned in order to study their individual components - CORRECT
ANSWER - Cell lysis
Cells are broken open
Occurs by exposure to chemicals, enzymes or sound waves
Homogenization
, Subcessular contents are blended together
Centrifugation
Use of centrifugal force to differentially sediment heterogeneous mixture
Separation of components based on density and size
Define the sedimentation coefficient and explain its usage in cell biology - CORRECT
ANSWER - measure of how rapidly a particle sediments when subjected to centrifugal
force
prokaryotic: 30S+50S=70S
eukaryotic: 40S+60S=80S
carbon can form what kind of covalent bonds - CORRECT ANSWER - single, double,
triple
partial charges occur when - CORRECT ANSWER - atoms share electrons unequally
what bonds can form between atoms of equal electronegativity - CORRECT ANSWER -
van der Waals
what atom forms the backbone of almost all biological molecules - CORRECT
ANSWER - carbon
eukaryotic cells are believed to have arisen - CORRECT ANSWER - from a symbiotic
relationship between primitive nucleated cells and bacterial cells
electrons determine... - CORRECT ANSWER - the atoms size
what is true of the energy levels of electrons in shells - CORRECT ANSWER - the valence
shell has higher energy than other occupied shells
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Characteristics of living things that distinguish them from non living things - CORRECT
ANSWER - REODGRMH
response to environment
evolution
organization
DNA
growth and development
reproduction
metabolism
homeostasis
historical events that contributed to modern cell biology (names and dates) - CORRECT
ANSWER - 1500s: Jansen invents first microscope
1665: Robert Hooke and cork slices
1830s: development of microscope
1831: robert brown describes nucleus
1838: cell theory by schleiden
currently accepted cell theory - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. all organisms consist of one or
more cells
2. the cell is the basic unit of structure
3. all cells arise from pre existing cells
3 domains of life - CORRECT ANSWER - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya
,who is credited with redrawing the tree of life into 3 domains - CORRECT ANSWER -
Woese and Fox
describe the evidence used to reclassify organisms into the 3 domains - CORRECT
ANSWER - based on analysis of rRNA sequences and homologous nucleotides
comparisons
why were rRNA gene sequences used to analyze phylogenetic relationships - CORRECT
ANSWER - slight changes represent evolutionary steps
establishes evolutionary relationships
can design PCR primers
what information did we learn from the analysis of the rRNA gene sequences pioneered by
Woese and Fox - CORRECT ANSWER - 2 separate groups of prokaryotes (bacteria and
archaea)
Eukaryotes and archaea are more closely related to each other than to bacteria
Allowed better understanding of how protists should be organized phylogenetically
what is a protist - CORRECT ANSWER - A protist is a diverse grouping of eukaryotic
organisms with diverse lineages
Can be unicellular (dinoflagellates) or multicellular (algae)
why is it no longer correct to classify all protists together into one phylogenetic group -
CORRECT ANSWER - some protists are more closely related to plants, animals, or fungi
than to other protists
Are viruses considered living organisms? - CORRECT ANSWER - Viruses do not grow,
respond to the environment, have a metabolism or homeostasis or contain cells
What is SARS - CoV - 2? What is COVID? - CORRECT ANSWER - Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
,The virus that causes COVID 19(the disease)
Describe the fundamental differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells - CORRECT
ANSWER - Prokaryotes do not have a nucleus, while eukaryotes do
Describe the structural features shared by all cells - CORRECT ANSWER - Surrounded by
lipid based plasma membrane
Metabolic machinery
DNA as hereditary information
Ribosomes as protein synthesizing machinery (converting mRNA into protein)
Explain why cell size is limited - CORRECT ANSWER - Resource availability (nutrients,
space)
Surface area to volume ratio (small sa/v means diffusion rates decrease)
Explain the strategies cells/organisms can use to overcome the limitations imposed by surface
area: volume constraits - CORRECT ANSWER - Cells divide (mitosis is triggered after
cells reach its maximum size)
Growth stops
Increase surface area
Membrane folding (brush border cells of intestinal epithelium)
Long thin cells have a greater surface area: volume ratio
Active transport
Multicellularity
Describe how cells are fractioned in order to study their individual components - CORRECT
ANSWER - Cell lysis
Cells are broken open
Occurs by exposure to chemicals, enzymes or sound waves
Homogenization
, Subcessular contents are blended together
Centrifugation
Use of centrifugal force to differentially sediment heterogeneous mixture
Separation of components based on density and size
Define the sedimentation coefficient and explain its usage in cell biology - CORRECT
ANSWER - measure of how rapidly a particle sediments when subjected to centrifugal
force
prokaryotic: 30S+50S=70S
eukaryotic: 40S+60S=80S
carbon can form what kind of covalent bonds - CORRECT ANSWER - single, double,
triple
partial charges occur when - CORRECT ANSWER - atoms share electrons unequally
what bonds can form between atoms of equal electronegativity - CORRECT ANSWER -
van der Waals
what atom forms the backbone of almost all biological molecules - CORRECT
ANSWER - carbon
eukaryotic cells are believed to have arisen - CORRECT ANSWER - from a symbiotic
relationship between primitive nucleated cells and bacterial cells
electrons determine... - CORRECT ANSWER - the atoms size
what is true of the energy levels of electrons in shells - CORRECT ANSWER - the valence
shell has higher energy than other occupied shells
