Questions to guide your reading and studies:

Use these questions as a guide to what you should be learning and concentrating on in your text.  You should always write out the answers to the essay questions, read them (get a partner to read them too), and grade them according to this grading rubric (the same one I'll use and that folks grading your MCAT essays will use!).  Your book has more information in it than you need...indeed more than you can learn in one year.  Your book will help you the most if you use it as a resource to look up more information about a particular topic or question.  Don't hesitate to be reading about material that is not in the current chapter we are covering if you have a question about it.  For example, if we are talking about the role of mutations in natural selection and you don't exactly remember what a mutation is, look it up and read about it. 

I'll list the questions by chapter from your text  I will also give you some sample essay questions that I want you to write out answers and bring to class (these questions will appear on the discussion link of Web CT too).  I will continue to add questions to this list, so check back later.

EXAM 1

1.  To what extent are humans in a technological society exempt from natural selection? 

2. Imagine that you are a medical doctor, and are in practice to maintain the health of your human patients.  However, you begin to wonder if the fact that throughout the great majority of our evolutionary history we lived in very different environmental conditions (i.e., 200,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago) than now could have resulted in mal-adapted bodies for our modern world.  Work on a list of potential medical problems that you think might be due to the fact we are adapted to live in the stone ages, yet live in a technological modern world.  Answer this question using references and information you can find on the WWW by searching for Darwinian Medicine.

3. An orange grower discovered that most of his trees were infested with mites that were sucking the cell contents from the leaves.  He sprayed the trees with insecticide, which killed 99% of the mites.  Five weeks later, most of the trees were infested again, so he sprayed again, using the same quantity of the same insecticide.  This time, only about half the mites were killed.  Explain why the spray did not work as well the second time. 

4. What were the two main points in Darwin's "The Origin of Species"

Chap 1. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Chap 21.  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,

Chap 22. 1-4, 7,8,9,10 

EXAM 2

chap 26. 10, 14

chap 40  1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15; plus evolution connection

chap 42.  1, 2, 5, 17,

        plus: 1.   Trace the flow of blood through a 2, 3, and 4 chambered heart

                    2.   We have seen how vertebrates have evolved to live on land through the evolution of legs, amniotic eggs, and internal fertilization.  Now, trace how cardiovascular systems have evolved to live on land.  What selective factors can you identify that would favor the development of three and four chambered hearts, instead of the 2 chambered hearts of fish?

chap 44  4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, plus evolution connection

chap 48  1, 2, 3,7, 11, 12, plus evolution connection

For the 22 Mar lecture on Reproduction of plants and animals, go over the notes, and look at the figures in the text that are cited in the notes. 

Here's the things I asked you to remember at the start of  class on tuesday:

1.   how animals acquire energy and matter to fuel their life. 

2.   differences in how  aquatic and terrestrial animals exchange matter with the environment  and have energy demands. 

3.   how body size impacts surface area:volume and how that impacts energy demands and matter exchange 

4.   how mobile terrestrial animals adapt not only new ways to move (running on land, flying) compared to their fish ancestors, but also require adaptations for more efficient circulatory and respiratory structures.  

EXAM 3  (updated with new hints on 18 April 2005)

chap 35. 6

chap 36. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 15 

chap 29. 5, 11, 12,  and the Evolution Connection question

chap 30. 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13,

chap 32. 5, 7,  and the Evolution Connection question

chap 33. 2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15,

chap 34. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 

Essay hints:  The overall theme that ties things in this test together is how the physiological adaptations that allowed plants and animal to colonize land are seen in the different animal and plant (the two kingdoms with  terrestrial phyla) phyla.  Learn about these adaptations and which plant and animal phyla have and which don't.  For example, what are the three problems I mentioned in lecture that both plants and animals face as they move onto land?  How are these problems solved?  

FINAL

chap 50  1, 3, 8, 12, 14

chap 54   2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 14,   

Now, some comprehensive ideas to focus on for the final exam.

• natural selection--can you describe how natural selection works including the role of mutation, the potential for exponential growth by populations, competition among the individuals in a population, and time.  Remember that what caused you the most problems at the beginning of the semester was the role of mutation...I haven't forgotten that so make sure you understand mutations.  
• phylogeny--do you understand what a phylogeny is? and a cladogram?  do you understand the relationship between phylogeny and the taxonomic naming system of Linnaeus (KFCOFGS)?  do you know what evidence is used to construct phylogenies? do you know what homologous and analogous mean?
• metabolism and energy--do you understand how organism size impacts surface area to volume ratios and its metabolism?  do you understand how different organisms (plants, animals, fungi) acquire energy and matter?  do you understand how the energy demands of an animal impact the physiological systems (which ones?)  that supply matter and process energy?
• physiological adaptations to living in water or on land--can you identify the problems faced by organisms (plants and animals) as they evolved to live on land? can you describe the physiological and anatomical adaptations that plants and animals have for terrestrial life?  can you contrast those terrestrial adaptations with those shown by organisms that remained adapted to living in water? where do organisms (can you name some) that returned to live in water after evolving to live on land fit in?
• can you trace some of the adaptations discussed above through the major phyla of plants and animals? can you identify the traits associated with the major phyla in the Kingdoms of Plants and Animals?
• can you trace the flow of energy and cycling of matter (carbon and nitrogen)  through an ecosystem? can you describe how humans alter the flow of energy and cycling of matter? can you describe how the distribution of energy on the planet earth impacts the NPP of ecosystems?