Some terms to know

reproductive system (animals)/organ (in plants)	sexual/asexual reproduction	haploid/diploid
meiosis	gamete (egg and sperm)	spermatocyte/oocyte
testis/ovary	uterus/oviduct	vas deferens/penis
external fertilization/ internal fertilization	anther/filament (see lab)	stigma/style/ovary (see lab)
embryo sac/pollen grain	sporophyte/gametophyte	alternation of generations
genotype	phenotype	pure- or true-breeding
homozygous	heterozygous	dominant/recessive allele
Law of Segregation	Law of Dominance	Law of Independent Assortment
P, F1, F2 generations	test cross/tester	Rules of Probability
independent events	autosomal genes	autosomes/sex chromosomes
linked genes	sex-linked genes	lack of dominance/co-dominance/ incomplete dominance
homologous chromosomes	multiple alleles	gene interaction
complex or multigenic traits	monozygotic/dizygotic twins	biome
biotic/abiotic	ecosystem/biosphere	community
population	population growth rate	carrying capacity
birth and death rates	exponential growth	primary/secondary / tertiary consumer/decomposer
producer	trophic level	food chain/web
energy pyramid/10% rule	mutualism	consumer-victim relationship
competition	ecological succession	pioneer community
biogeochemical cycle	water cycle	carbon cycle
global warming	greenhouse effect	habitat
evolution	natural selection	species
reproductive isolation	microevolution	macroevolution
plate tectonics	random, heritable changes	adaptive radiation
extinction	fossil	most recent common ancestor
adaptation	evolutionary fitness	homologous structures
vestigial structures	chemical origin of life	scientific theory

   Some questions to think about:

• What are the differences and similarities between egg formation and sperm formation in animals?

• How does the reproductive strategy of terrestrial organisms differ from that of aquatic ones?

• What is the difference between genotype and phenotype?

• How can we tell which allele is dominant or recessive?

• How does the behavior of chromosomes during meiosis explain segregation of genes for the same trait and independent assortment of genes for different traits?

• What is a test cross and how does it show us the genotype of the non-tester parent?

• How does a Punnett Square show us the same information as the rules of probability?

• How do sex linked genes give us different ratios of offspring than autosomal genes?

• How do linked genes give us different ratios of offspring than independently assorting genes?

• How are phenotypic ratios changed by lack of dominance, multiple allelism, and gene interaction?

• How does the fact that genes code for proteins explain why there is often lack of dominance, multiple allelism, and gene interaction?

• What are complex genetic traits and why is it so hard to predict ratios of types of offspring for complex traits?

• How do abiotic and biotic parts of the ecosystem affect each other and themselves?

• What is the difference between a community, a population, and a habitat?

• Why do community successions occur and what characterizes a pioneer community?

• What are the major physical (non-living) factors characterizing  biomes?

• Why are biomes and communities often named after their dominant plant species?

• What happens to energy as it goes through the different trophic levels in an ecosystem? Why is energy flow through the ecosystem said to be one-way?

• Why must most food chains have the greatest biomass at the producer level, and then smaller and smaller biomasses as you go up the food chain?

• How can the distribution of matter (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorous, carbon, water) in the ecosystem affect the number and types of organisms the ecosystem can support?

• What is the role of decomposers and producers in biogeochemical cycles?

• What factors determine the carrying capacity of an ecosystem? What happens to the population size and growth rate when the carrying capacity is reached?

• How has the human population continued to grow so large?

• How is the evaluation of a scientific theory different from the evaluation of a belief system?

• How does evolution differ from a change in an individual?

• What are sources of random, heritable variation in populations?

• What is the difference between microevolution and macroevolution?

• Why does evolution occur rapidly on new islands or after large geological changes?

• What are some natural selective agents?

• What is the evidence that populations have changed over time and that new species can arise by evolution?

• What are some common characteristics (nutrient requirements, molecular composition, structures, etc.) found in all living things, and how do they provide evidence for provide the common ancestry of life forms?

• What is the evidence that genetic variation in natural populations is random and that populations do not change in order to better fit their environment?

• Contrast LaMarck’s idea of Evolution by Acquired Characteristics with Darwin’s view of Evolution by Natural Selection.

• Give an example of a trait that may be adaptive in one environment, but not another.

• Give an example of microevolution that has been observed.

• Explain why different related species on newly formed islands are believed to provide evidence of recent macroevolution.

• How does chance play a role in changing gene and phenotype frequencies in populations?

• How is the existence of single prokaryotic cells as the earliest known fossils consistent with the Theory of Evolution?

• What are homologous and vestigial structures and how do they support the idea of a common ancestry of life forms?

• How is it consistent with evolutionary theory that existing organisms that are more similar have a most recent common ancestor appearing later in the fossil record than existing organisms that are more different?