Dr.

Guarraia’s IX Biology Mid-term Exam Study Guide: 2010

*provided as a guide only. Exam will primarily cover content and labs covered in class. However,
text reading and related examples are also fair exam questions.

Ecology Key Topics:

Biological Organization: Sections 2.1 and 2.2
· Ecosystem, community, population,
o Ecosystem
 it is the relationship that living organisms have with the environment within
their community
o Community
 this is a group of populations that share the same environment at the same
time
o Population
 it is a group of organisms from different species that share the same
ecosystem at the same time.
· Biotic and abiotic
o Biotic
 This covers all of the features that are living in the earth
o Abiotic
 This is all of the features that are not living on the earth.
· Everything is an ecosystem!
o Ecology
 this is the study of ecosystems and their behavior
o Biosphere
 This is the portion of the earth that can contain life
o Biome
 this is a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have
similar communities
o habitat
 a place that an organism lives
o niche
 This is the role an organism plays in its community
o pristine
 clean
Energy and Nutrient Cycles: Sections 2.2 and 2.3
· Food webs and thermodynamics
o autotrophs
 an organism that makes its own food
o heterotrophs
 an organism that relies on other organisms for food
o detrivore
 this is an organism that eats thing that are decomposing.
o 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics
 1st law-the law of conversion of energy which states that energy can can be
converted to one form to the other but it cannot be destroyed
 2nd law-energy cannot be converted without the loss of usable energy.
 o tropic levels
 these are the levels that show the food consumption levels. [1st primary
autotroph]
o producer
 These are usually autotrophs and they make their own food
o consumer
 this is an organism that eats the food that the autotrophs make or eats other
organisms
· Water, carbon, nitrogen cycles
o biomass
 The amount of an organism
o biogeochemical cycle
o fixation (nitrogen and carbon)
Population Dynamics: Sections 4.1
· Density and Distributions of populations
o primary and secondary succession
o population density
 This is how large or small a population is
o dispersion
 how far apart the populations are from each other, or if they are spread
neatly around one another.
o sampling boundaries
o density-dependent
o density-independent factors
Community Dynamics: Section 5.1,
· Biodiversity and Relationship to Evolution
· Invasive species reduce biodiversity
o These species take over the native organisms’ food web, throwing it out of
proportion. This makes an unfortunate occurrence because then the animals may be
killed off or other organisms may not have enough food because the invasive
species are eating the organisms’ food source.

Evolution Key Topics:

Darwinian Evolution: Section 15.1
· Lamark vs. Darwin
Evolutionary Theory: Section 15.1 and 15.2
· Populations evolve; individuals adapt
· Evolution is not goal oriented
· Four principles of natural selection
· Fitness is the ability to survive and reproduce
· Evidence for evolution: Section 15.2.
o Fossils, morphology, physiology, biochemistry
Speciation: Section 15.3
· Changes in the environment can lead to new species
· What is a species?
· For a population to evolve, it must meet certain conditions
o Hardy-Weinberg Principle
 No Evolution
 · Random mating
· no mutations
· no immigration and emigration
· no adaptions and changes
· no natural selection
 Evoution
· Selective mating
· Mutations
· Immigration and Emigration
· adaptions and changes
· natural selection
· Tremendous variation results from evolutionary pressures
· Directional, disruptive and stabilizing selection

Cells, Diffusion and Photosynthesis/Respiration Key Topics:

Life is cellular: Section 7.1 and 7.4
· Know the cell theory (page 183)
· Know the differences and similarities between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
· Know the function of the organelles
· Know the relationships between the organelles
Transport: Section 7.2 and 7.4
· Know the structure of the cellular membranes
· Know that diffusion moves from high to low
· Know that active transport requires energy
· Know that plasmolysis is how the plasma membrane responds to changing conditions

Chemistry: Section 6.1 (page 148 only)

· Know that forming bonds stores energy
· Know that breaking bonds releases energy
· Know that electrons create bonds
· Know the basic structure of an atom

Photosynthesis: Section 8.1 and 8.2

· Know how to dissect and evaluate a complex system in to simpler component parts
· Know how to use figures to support your understanding of the light dependent reactions
(electron transport) and the Calvin Cycle
· Know how plants get their carbon
· Know the photosynthesis equation
· Know what goes in and what comes out

Respiration: Section 8.3

· Know how respiration gives you energy
· Know where your carbon comes from
· Know the relationship between photosynthesis and respiration
· Know the difference between long term (glucose) and short term energy storage (ATP)
· Know how to use figures to support your understanding of glycolysis, the Krebs Cycle and
electron transport (time permitting)