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AP Biology - Laboratory review

OpenStax Biology for AP — Preface and Contents — AP BIOLOGY Revision Notes & Topical Questions

5 min read 7 parts Lesson 2 of 3 Unit quiz

📚 AP BIOLOGY Hub / Topical Revision
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OpenStax Biology for AP — Preface and Contents — AP BIOLOGY notes: State the four Big Ideas of AP Biology, the properties of life and the levels of biological organisation.Big Idea 1 — the process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.Big Idea 2 — biological systems…

  • Big Idea 3
  • Big Idea 4
  • Independent variable
  • Replicates
  • Water potential: Ψ
  • Enzyme rate

Section 1 of 7Big Ideas of AP Biology

Big Idea 1
  • Big Idea 1 the process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.
Big Idea 2
  • Big Idea 2 biological systems use free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce and maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Big Idea 3
  • Big Idea 3 living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to information essential to life processes.
Big Idea 4
  • Big Idea 4 biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions have complex properties.

Section 2 of 7Properties of life

Properties of life
All living organisms share order, sensitivity or response to the environment, reproduction, adaptation, growth and development, regulation, homeostasis, energy processing and evolution.
Viruses attack living organisms and reproduce, but they do not meet all the criteria for life.

Section 3 of 7Levels of organisation

Levels of organisation
Atoms and molecules form organelles, which form cells.
Cells form tissues, tissues form organs, and organs form organ systems.
Organisms form populations, communities, ecosystems and the biosphere.

Section 4 of 7Investigation design

Independent variable
  • Independent variable what changes.
Dependent variable
  • Dependent variable what is measured.
Constants
  • Constants what is kept the same.
Control
  • Control the comparison treatment.
Replicates
  • Replicates repeated trials.

Section 5 of 7Key laboratory relationships

Water potential: Ψ
Ψs + Ψp, with Ψs = −iCRT.
What the symbols mean: Ψ = water potential (kPa) · Ψs = solute potential (zero or negative) · Ψp = pressure potential (kPa); water moves from higher to lower Ψ
Enzyme rate
Enzyme rate change in product (or substrate) ÷ time, taken from the linear part of the graph.
Sordaria map distance
(% asci with crossing over) ÷ 2, where 1 map unit = 1% recombination.
Hardy-Weinberg
Hardy-Weinberg p + q
1 and p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1.
DNA is negatively charged and moves to the positive electrode in electrophoresis.

Section 6 of 7Key terms

TermMeaning
Big IdeaOne of four unifying themes of AP Biology.
HomeostasisMaintenance of stable internal conditions.
Independent variableVariable deliberately changed in an investigation.
Dependent variableVariable measured in an investigation.
Genetic driftRandom change in allele frequencies.
Water potentialMeasure of the tendency of water to move; Ψ = Ψs + Ψp.

Section 7 of 7Exam technique

1
Treating viruses as clearly living — they lack some characteristics of life
2
Saying water moves toward low solute concentration — it moves toward high solute concentration
3
Giving map distance as the percentage of crossover asci — divide by 2
4
Predicting DNA moves to the negative electrode — it moves to the positive electrode

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