Study Guide for Midterm
21 March 2000
Biology 115 - Dr. Howard

How to study for the midterm:

The glib answer is, learn everything we've covered. But I'd like to provide something a little more useful than that.

• Recognize what the high points are. It's easy to fall into the habit of treating everything in Mader as if it were all of equal importance. This is wrong, both in an absolute sense and in terms of what I personally expect you to cover. The high points are the major themes that you need to have gotten straight, namely
  1. Biological systems obey the laws of chemistry
  2. The human body contains stabilization mechanisms that promote homeostasis.
  3. Digestion provides energy and building-blocks for the materials out of which the body is made.
  4. Circulation provides for transport of metabolites from where they are synthesized or taken in to where they're needed. The circulatary system also participates in temperature regulation and removal of wastes.
  5. The lymphatic system participates in immunity and transports substances away from the tissues on which they originate.
  6. Respiration enables passage of oxygen from the lungs where it is taken in from the outside air to the outlying tissues, where it is used in oxidative phosphorylation to provide energy. It also allows for passage of carbon dioxide from the outlying tissues back to the lungs.
  7. The skeletal system holds up the body and enables movement.
  8. The muscular system performs movement and holds the body in appropriate positions.
  9. The nervous system provides for homeostasis and for thought. It includes the central and peripheral nervous system; for other purposes the relevant division is between the conscious and the autonomic system.
  10. Human senses detect mechanical pressure (touch), chemicals (smell and taste, light (vision), and changes in air pressure (hearing). These stimuli are transmitted through the nervous system and evince responses.
  11. The endocrine system produces hormones that participate heavily in numerous feedback systems; these maintain homeostasis and trigger changes.
  12. The reproductive system in both males and females contains several specialized organs. It is heavily involved in endocrine-based feedback mechanisms.

• Focus on the biochemistry and the biophysics. Organismal biology and ecology are unquestionably important, but they're not my field. I'm going to tend to ask more questions about the chemistry and physics of human systems than about organs or ecosystems.

• Learn definitions.This is dry but unavoidable. Definitions are useful not only in providing them explicitly but also in filling in the blanks on anatomical and microscopic charts.

• Use the questions in the textbook and the CD. The problems in Mader and her lists of important terms are worth going over. The practice quizzes on the CD are good reviews.

• Study together. It's fun, and it gives you a tool for reviewing the factual material by quizzing one another.

• Come to Kevin Pei's review session on Monday 20 March from 2 to 5pm or some subset thereof.

Format of the Midterm:

• Sixteen multiple-choice questions, for 0.5 points each: 8 points.
• Eight definitions, for 0.5 points each: 4 points.
• Six fill-in-the-blanks, for 0.5 points each: 3 points.
• Three diagrams with items to identify, for 1 point each: 3 points.
• Six short-answer questions, for 1 point each: 6 points.
• Three paragraph-length answers, for 2 points each: 6 points.
  There will actually be four or five questions given; you should write about three of them.