Biology Study Guide EOYT 2011

Introduction to Life - We move by means of muscles, and our nerves control them. - Living things respond to stimuli, picked up by our receptors. - Living things grow. - Assimilation is substances being taken in from the outside becoming part of us. - etc etc etc. Human Reproduction - Testes in Scrotal sac produce sperm. Sac = to regulate heat. - Testes made up of sperm tubules where sperms are made. - Epididymis stores sperm (lies alongside testes in scrotal sac). - Sperm duct = tube from epididymis to urethra. - Urethra = tube running down penis through which urine or sperm travels. - Glans = top of penis, highly sensitive and protected by foreskin. - Removed foreskin = circumcision. - Seminal Vesicle and Prostate gland also connected to urethra. - These glands produce a fluid keeping the sperms alive = semen. - Impossible to urinate and ejaculate at same time. - There are two ovaries produce eggs in the female reproductive system. - Fallopian Tube connects ovaries to uterus. - The uterus is where babies develop, also known as the womb. - Lower end of uterus is known as the cervix. - The cervix opens into the vagina. The cervix produces watery mucus when an egg is shed from the ovaries. This helps the sperms swim to the uterus. - Female equivalent of the penis is called the clitoris. - Urethra and vagina do not have the same entry/exit. - For sperms to reach the egg, intercourse must take place. - Erection of penis is brought about by increase of blood pressure in penis. - Ejaculation = reflex in which the semen is expelled from urethra with force. - Orgasm = pleasurable feeling coming with ejaculation. - Sperms can stay alive for 8 days, but only fertilize an egg 2-3 days.

- After fertilization, the egg divides up into a little ball of cells that moves down the Fallopian tube to the uterus, and sinks into the soft lining. This is called implantation. - The ball of cells is called an embryo. - Sperm is very small and has a head with nucleus and a tail to make it swim. - Egg is much bigger. - Sperms are made in the testes, and eggs in the ovaries - Eggs and sperms known as gametes. - Testes and ovaries known as gonads. - Fusion of egg and sperm is called fertilization. - Fertilized egg is called a zygote. - Boys and girls start producing gametes in puberty. - Puberty is brought on by sex hormones. - Androgens = male sex hormones - Estrogens = female sex hormones - Gonad-Stimulating-hormones from the pituitary gland stimulate these hormones. - Menstruation = bleeding caused by lining of uterus breaking down. - Menopause = no longer menstruating. - Menstrual cycle = cycle in which egg is shed from ovary and uterus thickened results in egg and broken down uterus being flushed out. - Graafian Follice = protective structure around developing egg in ovary. - Ovulation = process in which egg is popped into the oviduct from ovary. (Uterus is all built up and prepared for a fertilized egg). - Yellow body = Graafian follicle stays behind and develops into a solid object also known as the corpus luteum. - About 2 weeks after ovulation, the yellow body withers away and the uterus lining is flushed out. - The menstrual cycle is controlled by hormones. - The ovary produces estrogen, which is responsible for the uterus to repair itself after menstruation. - The yellow body produced a hormone called progesterone, which causes the lining of the uterus to thicken and become full of blood vessels. - If the egg is not fertilized, the two hormones stop being produced, and as a result the lining of the uterus breaks down and menstruation occurs. - When a woman is pregnant, she does not suffer from menstruation. This is because the yellow body will stay in the ovary and keep on producing progesterone. As a result, the lining of the uterus stays intact and thickens itself more and more. - Embryo develops into a fetus over time. - Embryo surrounded by a thin membrame called the amnion. - This membrane encloses a cavity called the amniotic cavity. - Umbilical cord is attached to the belly of the fetus.

This cord runs to the placenta, which is attached to the lining of the uterus. It has numerous villi which stick into blood spaced in the wall of the uterus. The barrier separating the fetuss blood from the mothers blood is very thin. As the fetus blood passes through the placenta, it picks up oxygen and dissolved food substances from the mothers blood. Antibodies pass through to the fetus this way too. Pregnant women should visit he antenatal clinics where doctors to make sure everything is all right examine them. The time between conception and birth is called the gestation period. The first sign that the baby is about to be born is called labour. After birth the umbilical cord of the baby is cut off, and the scar left over is the belly button. Meanwhile the placenta is flushed out of the vagina. This is called afterbirth. Caesarian cut = cutting open wall of abdomen to get baby out. Birth control = limiting the amount of children = preventing pregnancy. Methods preventing pregnancy often involve contraception. There are many ways to prevent pregnancy, such as through the use of a condom, having sex in the safe period, using a cap or diaphragm (barricade preventing sperm from entering through cervix), spermicides, or the pill (a pill preventing eggs from being produced in the ovaries.) Sterilization also prevents you from getting pregnant. Using protection, or a condom, can avoid STDs. Some STDs are: syphilis, gonorrhea, urethritis, genital herpes, hepatitis, HIV (explained in notes)

Plant Reproduction The ring of small green leaves on a flower are called sepals and protect the flower. The inner rings of leaves on a flower are called the petals and often are brightly colored. The stamens are situated in the innermost ring and look like pins. In the center of the plant you find the carpel, and its club-shaped. The flower is situated at the end of a stalk, slightly swollen called the receptacle. Flowers produce nectar, which is a sugary substance. The stamens constitute the male part of the flower. They each have a knob at the top known as the anther, and it has 4 pollen sacs in which pollen grains (equivalent of sperms) are formed. The rest of the stamen is known as the filament. The carpel constitutes the female part of the flower. It consists of a slightly swollen stigma on the top, then a slender stalk called the style, and a swollen ovary. Inside the ovary there is a small body called the ovule, containg a little bag called the embryosac, and inside of there the egg cell. Small hole in the embryosac is known as the micropyle.

Most flowers follow the basic plan, but do not necessarily have the same shape or color. The process by which the pollen grains are conveyed from the anther to the stigma is called pollination. Once pollination has occurred, the pollen grain sends out a snake-like outgrowth called a pollen tube. Towards the tip of the pollen tube there is a male nucleus equivalent to the sperm head. Fertilization happens when the male nucleus fuses with the egg cell in the ovule. The endosperm surrounding the embryo develops and supplies it with food. The ovule itself becomes a seed after fertilization, and the wall around it hardens to become a seed coat. The ovary around the ovule in the meantime becomes the fruit. To finish off the process, water is drawn out of the seed so they become very dry. They then become dormant. Wind-pollinated flowers = flowers dependent on the wind to spread pollens to end up on their stigmas. Insect-pollinated flowers = flowers dependent on insects to spread pollens to end up on their stigmas. Self-pollination = pollen land on stigma of SAME plant. Cross-pollination = pollen land on stigma of other plant better because it creates more variety (better for the species). Some flowers stamens and carpels arent developed at the same time no self-pollination possible. Some flowers stamens and carpels have different lengths lesser chance of self-pollination. Some flowers are only male and only have stamens, and others are only female and thus only have carpels. Each seed is attached to the pod by a short seed stalk, and it is surrounding by a touch seed coat. A black scar makes the position of the seed stalk, and just above this is the micropyle (small hole). Inside the seed coat is the embryo, consisting of a baby shoot, or plumule, a baby root, or radicle, and a pair of thick wing-like structures called the seed leaves or cotyledons. Germination = process of seed turning into a photosynthesizing plant. Seedling = young plant straightened up with leaves open. Seeds contain a food tissue called endosperm. Hypogeal germination = germination in which cotyledons stay under ground. Epigeal germination = germination in which cotyledons lifted out of the soil with the growing shoot. Seeds can survive for a very long time because they are dormant. Water, oxygen, suitable temperatures, and light are needed for a seed to germinate. Fruits are the part of the plant that surrounds the seed(s). Its job is to help disperse the seeds, ensuring they are spread over a as large area as possible. There are fleshy and dry fruits.

False fleshy fruits are soft parts of a plant that have swollen other than the ovary, usually the receptacle. Examples are apples and strawberries. Examples of dry fruits are pods, (bean and peas family). Fruits that release their seeds by splitting open are known as dehiscent fruits. Indehiscent fruits do not split open and rely on insects and wind to disperse the seeds. Perennating organs are organs enabling plants to carry on from one year to the next. Vegetative reproduction = reproduction by means of perennating organs. A runner is a branch of the main stem that lengthens and creeps along the surface of the ground. Roots grow down from it at intervals. Types of vegetative reproductions are: bulbs (swollen leaves on a flat stem, e.g. onions), corm (swollen vertical stem, e.g. crocus), taproots (swollen main roots, e.g. carrot), rhizomes (swollen horizontal stem, e.g. iris), stem tubers (swollen tips of a horizontal underground stem, e.g. potato), and root tubers (swollen fibrous roots, e.g. dahlias). Layering is the process in which gardeners produce new shrubs by bending down a young branch of a shrub and pressed into the soil. Naturally layering plants exist too. They sent out branches that touch the soil and send out roots. This side branching is called stolons. Grafting is a process involving placing the cut stems of two plants in contact with each other so that the tissues grow together and become continuous. Budding is the process in which a T-shaped slit is cut in the bark of the stock, and then you insert the bud of the other plant in this slit. Budding enables a larger number of new plants to be grown on a single stock plant. Pros of vegetative reproduction = not dependent on pollination and seed dispersal, no need for a dormant period. Cons of vegetative reproduction = no place for improvement in plants because there is no genetic variation.

Cell division Homologous chromosomes = pair of exactly alike looking chromosomes. Chromosomes contain genes, which determine the individuals characteristics, such as eye color and nose shape. Each gene controls a specific characteristic. Cells divide in two different ways, mitosis, and meiosis. Mitosis division applies to growth and asexual cells. Meiosis division applies to sex cells. Mitosis = Chromosomes become visible

Each chromosome produces a replica of itself, original + replica is called a chromatid The chromosomes line up across the middle of the cell The chromatids separate and move to opposite ends of the cell and the cell starts to split into two The chromatids become the chromosomes of the two daughter cells; the cell has finished splitting, and we now have two cells each of which contains the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell. Meiosis = The chromosomes shorten and fatten and become visible. Each chromosome produces a replica of itself Homologous chromosomes come together and arrange themselves across the middle of the cell. Homologous chromosomes part company and move to opposite ends of the cell, which starts to split into two. The cell has finished splitting and the chromosomes arrange themselves across the middle of the two daughter cells. Second division the chromatids now separate from each other and the two cells start to split. The cells have finished splitting so we finish up with a total of four cells each of which contains half the original number of chromosomes. Haploid = cell with only have the full number of chromosomes. Diploid = cell with the full number of chromosomes.

Chromosomes & Genes Genes consist of a chemical substance called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. Double helix = the double latter of DNA molecule. DNA contains a set of coded instructions, which tell the organism how to develop. These instructions form the genetic code.

Variation & Evolution The kind of variation, where there is a gradual transition between two extremes, is called continuous variation. Species are in a process of slow and gradual evolution.

Ecology Weed -> tadpoles -> water beetles is an example of a food chain. Top carnivore = animal that comes at the end of the food chain. Producers in the food chain make the food. Consumers get their food by eating other organisms. Pyramid of numbers = drop in numbers at each level in food chain. Pyramid of biomass = drop in total mass of living material at each level of food chain. Food web = diagram summarizing feeding relationships. Decomposers break down dead bodies -> decay Community = environment in which different species live together.

Ecological niche = each species occupies a particular position in the food web. Organisms interacting with the environment and other organisms is called an ecosystem. Water cycle:

Carbon cycle:

Nitrogen cycle: