Study Guide
General Biology 102, Exam 3

TEST:              Monday, April 4, 2006, 1:30 – 2:20 PM

COVERS:        All lecture notes (2/27/05-3/31/05), and readings from Chapters 32, 18, 20, 5, 25, 26, 28, & 23.  If it was mentioned in class or assigned in the syllabus, it’s free game.

This list is a study guide, not a complete list of all the material on the test.  Please bring questions to my office hours:  Rm. 3324A LSB, Wednesday or Friday 2:30-4:00 PM, Thursday 3-4 PM, or Monday 11:30-1:00.

Plant Nutrition and Transport

1.      What are stomata?  Where do you find them?  What are guard cells?  How are they regulated?  (When do stomata close?)  For the following compounds, know whether they enter or leave through stomata: CO2, O2, and H2O. 

2.      Which direction do water and minerals move through the xylem? 

3.      Know the differences between transpiration (evaporation), cohesion/adhesion, and root pressure (osmosis).  Which of these forces is most important? What substances do they help to transport?

4.      Which direction(s) does sugar move through the phloem?  On a sunny day, what part of a plant would be a sugar source, and what would be a sink?  On a cloudy day, what would be source vs. sink?

Animal Kingdom

5.      Describe the difference between a “domain” (e.g. the 3 domains of living things), a “kingdom” (we’ve covered 4), and a “phylum” (we covered 9 phlya in class, although there are many more).  Know the names of all of these.

6.      Know the 9 “phyla” of animals discussed in class and in your book.  What are the defining characteristics of each phylum?  For the examples of specific animals discussed in class and in your book, be able to tell me which phylum each one belongs to. 

a.      sponges (porifera)

b.      cnidarians

c.      flatworms

d.      roundworms

e.      mollusks

f.       annelids

g.      arthropods

h.     echinoderms

i.       chordates

7.      Know the important “innovations” that have appeared as animals have changed over time.  Review the handouts from class carefully.  Be familiar with some of the first classes/phyla of animals who showed or lacked each innovation.  (Example:  most animals have tissues; sponges do not—but cnidarians were the first animals we discussed that have tissues.)  HINT: Make it into a story; it’ll be easier to remember.

8.      Although you’re going to want to review ALL the innovations, here are some questions to get you started…

a.      What is the difference between radial symmetry and bilateral symmetry?  Give some examples.  What advantages does each type of symmetry have?  (Consider sedentary vs. mobile lifestyles.)

b.      Do all animals have tissues?  What IS a tissue?

c.      Describe the different styles of body cavities found in animals.  Would humans be an example of animals with no cavity (acoelomate), a simple unlined cavity (pseudocoelomate), or a fully lined body cavity (coleomate)? 

d.      Which phylum reverts to radial symmetry as an adult?  (Hint: its embryos and larvae are still bilaterally symmetric, so it still fits…)

e.      Very briefly, how common are arthropods?  What about insects?

f.       What characteristics are common to chordates?  How are vertebrates and chordates related?

g.      Which phyla include animals with skeletons (internal or external)?

h.     Classify these:  a snail, a starfish, a sea anemone, a tapeworm, an earthworm, a coral, a salmon, a squid, a lobster, a housefly, a cat, a shark

9.      Each phylum can have a few classes—be sure you know these as well.  What phylum includes the classes: gastropod, cephalopod, and bivalve? 

10.   Know the 5 classes of vertebrates (reptiles, birds, amphibians, mammals, fish) discussed in class, and their basic qualities.  Know any important “innovations” that appeared as they developed and changed.

a.      Which classes of vertebrates have jaws?  Do they all have bony skeletons?  Know some exceptions. 

b.      Fish have swim bladders and gill slits.  What do these features do for fish?  What features eventually developed from them in other animals? 

c.      List some adaptations that help keep reptiles from drying out.  Amphibians don’t have these features—so how are their lifestyles different?

d.      Which vertebrates produce “amniotic eggs”? Why (or when) are these an advantage?

e.      What features do birds share with reptiles, and why is this a relevant question to ask?

f.       Which vertebrates are endotherms?  What does that mean?  What’s an ectotherm?

Tissue Types

11.   Define tissue, organ, and organ system.

12.   What is MATRIX?  What two types of tissues have some matrix?

13.   What is an epithelial tissue?  Where do you find epithelia?  Give some examples (other than skin!).  What features can vary between different types of epithelial tissue?  (Hint:  number of _____ and shape of __________.)

14.   What kind of tissue is found in glands and can secrete (release) substances?

15.   Name all the types of connective tissues, as discussed in class, and list their functions.  What features do all connective tissues have in common?

16.   Describe the location and structure of the 3 types of muscle tissue.

17.   What are the two types of cells found in nervous tissue?  How are they different?

Organ Systems and Homeostasis

1.      Review the names and functions of the organ systems of the human body.  Know how they contribute to homeostasis.  Which systems regulate the others, which ones aid in movement, protection, waste-disposal, homeostasis, etc.?

2.      Why do large, multicellular creatures tend to need organ systems?  (What does surface area have to do with it?)

3.      Define homeostasis.  How is it related to enzyme function?  (And why does that matter?)

4.      Compare negative-feedback regulation and positive-feedback regulation.  Give some examples.  When you have poison ivy or a mosquito bite, you itch, you scratch, and then it itches even worse.  Would this be an example of negative- or positive-feedback?

5.      How does the body regulate temperature?  Relate this to negative- or positive-feedback regulation, and the elements of a “control system” like a thermostat.

6.      How is temperature regulation different in endotherms vs. ectotherms?  Which ones have a faster metabolism, and why is that relevant?

7.      How does the human body regulate water balance? 

8.      Describe the challenges faced by freshwater vs. saltwater fish, and how they maintain water and salt balance.  Does this sound like a type of negative or positive feedback regulation?

9.      Just for your information:  Salmon are special—they live in saltwater but return to fresh water to reproduce.  Their body composition remains the same in both environments.  This means they have the ability to switch between different methods of maintaining water balance.

Endocrine System

10.   Compare the endocrine system and the nervous system, including the timescales over which they act, the substances they release, and how their signals are carried through the body.

11.   Hormones are released into the blood, so they pass through all the organs of the body.  Given this very broad exposure, explain exactly how each hormone can be specific for certain targets (e.g. TSH activates the thyroid, but not the pancreas).

12.   Know the main roles and locations of the following glands:  hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid and parathyroids, and pancreas.

13.   Describe how your pancreas regulates blood sugar.  Include the roles of glucagon and insulin in your description.  Where is extra glucose stored until it is needed?  Why is more glucose sometimes released into the blood during stress?

14.   Describe how your thyroid and parathyroid glands regulate calcium levels in your body.  Describe how calcitonin and parathyroid hormone balance each other’s functions.  Where in the body is calcium stored?

15.   Explain how too little dietary iodine causes the growth of the thyroid into a goiter.  How are TRH and TSH involved in this process?  Briefly explain how this relates to negative feedback regulation.

16.   When too much thyroid hormone is produced, what happens to your body and personality?  What happens when not enough thyroid hormone is produced?

17.   What is a symptom of Graves’ disease?  What causes it, and how does this link the immune system and the endocrine system?  (If you missed this lecture, do a quick on-line search for “Graves disease”.)

18.   What does ADH do?  Where is it produced?

19.   How are oxytocin, ADH, and GH different from other pituitary hormones?

20.   Explain how the amount and timing of GH production causes pituitary dwarfism, gigantism, or acromegaly.

Nervous System

21.   What two main types of cells do you find in the nervous system?  What are their jobs?

22.   Know the parts of a typical neuron.

23.   Know the 3 types of neurons, and where specifically you find them in the nervous system.

24.   Explain how a reflex action works.  Include all three types of neurons in your description.  Is the brain necessary for a reflex action to occur?  Why is it that way?

25.   Where are chemical vs. electrical signals used in the nervous system?  What is a synapse?

26.   Briefly describe what an action potential is, and how it travels from one end of a neuron to the other.  What direction do action potentials travel within a single neuron?

27.   Describe how, when, and where neurotransmitters are released by a neuron.  What happens when they bind to another neuron?

28.   Neurotransmitters must eventually be removed from the synapse.  Describe the two ways in which this is done.  One of these ways tends to be blocked by drugs (cocaine, Prozac, Zoloft).  How would having more neurotransmitter in the synapse affect the neurons?

29.   Other drugs tend to block signaling a different way.  Explain how Botox and tetanus work.

30.   Compare the PNS to the CNS.  What kind of neurons do they contain?

31.   Which branches of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) contain sensory vs. motor neurons?

32.   Explain how and why “referred pain” occurs.  Explain why a person having a heart attack often feels pain in his/her left arm. 

33.   Cranio-sacral massage” is a type of massage therapy that focuses on areas near the skull (cranium) and tailbone (sacrum).  Study figure 28.13: would this kind of massage be more likely to stimulate the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system?  Based on your answer, what effects should it produce?

34.   Compare the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the nervous system.

35.   Know the main parts of the brain, and their functions, as discussed in class.  This might include:

a.      brainstem

b.      cerebellum

c.      hypothalamus

d.      reticular formation

e.      the 4 lobes of the cerebrum (occipital, frontal, temporal, parietal)

f.       sensory vs. motor cortex

Circulatory System

NOTE:  This section will probably be postponed until after Exam 3!

36.   Describe how the types of tissue (epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous) are involved in the function of the blood vessels. 

37.   Describe the sizes and differences between venules, veins, arteries, arterioles, and capillaries.  Your description should include smooth muscle and connective tissue layers, as well as size and presence of valves.  How are they related to each other?

38.   Beginning with the capillaries in a tissue, how would blood return to the heart, pick up oxygen in the lungs, and return to the tissue?  Arrange in the proper order: the types of blood vessels (from the previous question), the right/left sides of the heart, and the valves. 

39.   What function do valves serve in blood vessels?  What about in the heart?

40.   Which is under higher pressure:  veins or arteries?  Why?  How do their structures reflect this?

41.   Which side of the heart serves the lungs?  Which side serves the tissues of the body?  On a paper diagram, why are the right and left sides always reversed?

42.   Describe the function of the atria and the ventricles of the heart. 

43.   Where do the “lub” and “dub” sounds of your heartbeat come from? 

44.   What’s a heart murmur?  What’s a heart attack?

45.   Briefly describe what the cardiac conduction system does, including the “pacemaker.”  In what order do the following parts of the heart contract: right atrium, left atrium, right ventricle, left ventricle?