7/8^th Grade Science Final Exam Study Guide May 2009

 

Cell Structure and Function

Vocabulary

• Microscope
• Magnification
• Cell wall
• Organelles
• Cell membrane
• Nucleus
• Endoplasmic reticulum
• Golgi body
• Vacuole
• Ribosome
• Mitochondria
• Chloroplast
• Endoplasmic reticulum
• Cytoplasm
• Protein
• Amino acids
• Enzyme
• Carbohydrate
• Lipid
• Nucleic acid
• Diffusion

 

Main Ideas

1. What is the cell theory?
2. What role do the cell membrane and nucleus play?
3. What functions do the other organelles perform?
4. How do bacterial cells differ from plant and animal cells?
5. How do materials move in and out of cells?

 

Cell Processes and Energy

Vocabulary

• Photosynthesis
• Pigments
• Chlorophyll
• Stomata
• Autotroph
• Heterotroph
• Respiration
• Cell cycle
• DNA replication
• Interphase
• Mitosis
• Chromosome
• Chromatid
• Cytokinesis

 

 

Main Ideas

1. What happens during photosynthesis?
2. How does the sun supply living things with the energy they need?
3. What happens during respiration?
4. How are photosynthesis and respiration related?
5. What events take place during the three stages of the cell cycle?
6. What is the role of DNA replication?

 

Genetics: The Science of Heredity

Vocabulary

• Heredity
• Genetics
• Purebred
• Genes
• Alleles
• Recessive allele
• Dominant allele
• Hybrid
• Punnett square
• Phenotype
• Genotype
• Homozygous
• Heterozygous
• Codominance
• Meiosis
• Messenger RNA
• Transfer RNA
• Mutation

 

Main Ideas

1. What factors control the inheritance of traits in organisms?
2. How do geneticists use Punnett squares?
3. What role do chromosomes play in inheritance?
4. What events occur during meiosis?
5. What is the “genetic code”?
6. How does a cell produce proteins?
7. How do mutations affect an organism?

 

Modern Genetics

Vocabulary

• Multiple alleles
• Carrier
• Sex-linked gene
• Pedigree
• Genetic disorder
• Selective breeding
• Inbreeding
• Hybridization
• Cloning
• Genetic Engineering
• Gene therapy
• Genome

 

Main Ideas

1. Why do some human traits show a large variety of phenotypes?
2. Why are some sex-linked traits more common in males than females?
3. How do geneticists use pedigrees?
4. What causes genetic disorders?
5. How are genetic disorders diagnosed?
6. What are three ways in which an organism’s traits can be altered?
7. What is the goal of the Human Genome Project?

 

Changes Over Time

Vocabulary

• Species
• Adaptation
• Evolution
• Scientific theory
• Natural selection
• Variation
• Fossil
• Petrified fossils
• Mold
• Cast
• Relative dating
• Absolute dating
• Radioactive elements
• Fossil record
• Extinct
• Half-life
• Gradualism
• Punctuated equilibrium
• Homologous structures
• Branching tree

 

Main Ideas

1. How did Darwin explain the differences between species on the Galapagos Islands and on mainland South America?
2. How does natural selection lead to evolution?
3. How do new species form?
4. How do most fossils form?
5. How can scientists determine a fossil’s age?
6. What evidence from modern day organisms can help scientists determine evolutionary relationships among groups?

 

A Trip through Geologic Time

Vocabulary

• Sedimentary rock
• Carbon film
• Trace fossil
• Paleontologist
• Law of superposition
• Extrusion
• Intrusion
• Fault
• Unconformity
• Index fossil
• Atom
• Element
• Geologic time scale
• Era
• Period
• Invertebrate
• Vertebrate
• Mass extinction
• Mammal
• Reptile
• Amphibian

 

Main Ideas

1. What are the different kinds of fossils?
2. What does the fossil record tell about organisms and environments of the past?
3. What is the law of superposition?
4. How do geologists determine the relative age of rocks?
5. How are index fossils useful to geologists?
6. What happens during radioactive decay?
7. What can be learned from radioactive dating?
8. What is the geologic time scale?
9. What are the different units of the geologic time scale
10. What were the major events in the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras?