CAMPBELL BIOLOGY IN FOCUS URRY CAIN
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
◉ evolution.
Answer: Descent with modification; the idea that living species are
descendants of ancestral species that were different from the
present-day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the
genetic composition of a population from generation to generation.
◉ biology.
Answer: The scientific study of life.
◉ reductionism.
Answer: The approach of reducing complex systems to simpler
components that are more manageable to study.
◉ biosphere.
Answer: The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; the sum of all
the planet's ecosystems.
◉ ecosystem.
,Answer: All the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic
factors with which they interact; one or more communities and the
physical environment around them.
◉ community.
Answer: All the organisms that inhabit a particular area; an
assemblage of populations of different species living close enough
together for potential interaction.
◉ population.
Answer: A group of individuals of the same species that live in the
same area and interbreed, producing fertile offspring.
◉ organism.
Answer: An individual living thing.
◉ organ.
Answer: A specialized center of body function composed of several
different types of tissues.
◉ organ system.
Answer: A group of organs that work together in performing vital
body functions.
,◉ tissue.
Answer: An integrated group of cells with a common structure,
function, or both.
◉ cell.
Answer: Life's fundamental unit of structure and function.
◉ organelle.
Answer: Any of several kinds of membrane-enclosed structures with
specialized functions, suspended in the cytosol of eukaryotic cells.
◉ molecule.
Answer: Two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds.
◉ atom.
Answer: The smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of an
element.
◉ emergent properties.
Answer: New properties that arise with each step upward in the
hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts
as complexity increases.
, ◉ systems biology.
Answer: An approach to studying biology that aims to model the
dynamic behavior of whole biological systems based on a study of
the interactions among the system's parts.
◉ eukaryotic cell.
Answer: A type of cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus and
membrane-enclosed organelles and include protists, plants, fungi,
and animals.
◉ prokaryotic cell.
Answer: A type of cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nucleus and
membrane-enclosed organelles and include bacteria and archaea.
◉ DNA.
Answer: A nucleic acid molecule, usually a double-helix, in which
each polynucleotide strand consists of nucleotide monomers with a
deoxyribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine
(C), guanine (G), and thymine (T); capable of being replicated and
determining the inherited structure of a cell's proteins.
◉ replication.
Answer: The process of copying DNA before a cell divides.
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
◉ evolution.
Answer: Descent with modification; the idea that living species are
descendants of ancestral species that were different from the
present-day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the
genetic composition of a population from generation to generation.
◉ biology.
Answer: The scientific study of life.
◉ reductionism.
Answer: The approach of reducing complex systems to simpler
components that are more manageable to study.
◉ biosphere.
Answer: The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; the sum of all
the planet's ecosystems.
◉ ecosystem.
,Answer: All the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic
factors with which they interact; one or more communities and the
physical environment around them.
◉ community.
Answer: All the organisms that inhabit a particular area; an
assemblage of populations of different species living close enough
together for potential interaction.
◉ population.
Answer: A group of individuals of the same species that live in the
same area and interbreed, producing fertile offspring.
◉ organism.
Answer: An individual living thing.
◉ organ.
Answer: A specialized center of body function composed of several
different types of tissues.
◉ organ system.
Answer: A group of organs that work together in performing vital
body functions.
,◉ tissue.
Answer: An integrated group of cells with a common structure,
function, or both.
◉ cell.
Answer: Life's fundamental unit of structure and function.
◉ organelle.
Answer: Any of several kinds of membrane-enclosed structures with
specialized functions, suspended in the cytosol of eukaryotic cells.
◉ molecule.
Answer: Two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds.
◉ atom.
Answer: The smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of an
element.
◉ emergent properties.
Answer: New properties that arise with each step upward in the
hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts
as complexity increases.
, ◉ systems biology.
Answer: An approach to studying biology that aims to model the
dynamic behavior of whole biological systems based on a study of
the interactions among the system's parts.
◉ eukaryotic cell.
Answer: A type of cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus and
membrane-enclosed organelles and include protists, plants, fungi,
and animals.
◉ prokaryotic cell.
Answer: A type of cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nucleus and
membrane-enclosed organelles and include bacteria and archaea.
◉ DNA.
Answer: A nucleic acid molecule, usually a double-helix, in which
each polynucleotide strand consists of nucleotide monomers with a
deoxyribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine
(C), guanine (G), and thymine (T); capable of being replicated and
determining the inherited structure of a cell's proteins.
◉ replication.
Answer: The process of copying DNA before a cell divides.
