Objectives for Communities and Ecosystems

Objectives for Communities and Ecosystems:

_______CE 1. Define species, habitat, population, community, ecosystem and ecology.

_______CE 2. Distinguish between autotroph and heterotroph.

_______CE 3. Distinguish between consumers, detritivores and saprotrophs.

_______CE 4. Describe what is meant by a food chain, giving three examples, each with at least three linkages (four organisms).

_______CE 5. Describe what is meant by a food web.

_______CE 6. Define trophic level.

_______CE 7. Deduce the trophic level of organisms in a food chain and a food web.

_______CE 8. Construct a food web containing up to 10 organisms, using appropriate information.

_______CE 9. State that light is the initial energy source for almost all communities.

 _______CE 10. Explain the energy flow in a food chain.

_______CE 11. State that energy transformations are never 100% efficient.

_______CE 12. Explain reasons for the shape of pyramids of energy.

_______CE 13. Explain that energy enters and leaves ecosystems, but nutrients must be recycled.

 _______CE 14. State that saprotrophic bacteria and fungi (decomposers) recycle nutrients.

 _______CE 15.  Distinguish between primary and secondary succession and give an example of each type of succession.

_______CE 16. Explain the effects of living organisms on the abiotic environment with reference to the changes occurring during ecological succession to climax communities.

Objectives for Populations

Objectives for Populations:

____P1. Define population

____P2. Describe methods for estimating population size and density.

____P3. Identify factors that influence the density and distribution of populations.

____P4. Explain how population size changes over time and identify causal factors.

____P5. Outline how population size is affected by natality, immigration, mortality and emigration.

____P6. Draw and label a graph showing a sigmoid (S-shaped) population growth curve.

____P7. Explain the reasons for the exponential growth phase, the plateau phase and the transitional phase between these two phases.

____P8. List three factors that set limits to population increase.

Phylogeny & Cladistics

This has been a busy week!  We tried a new lab and started transitioning from 'cookbook' labs to investigations where you need to work as a group to develop the procedure.  We will continue doing this for the remainder of the term.

I will be away on Friday and Saturday, but Mr. Hansen and Mr. Jordan are covering your classes.  Your assignment for class is posted below:

In class you will be given a handout on constructing cladograms.  You were told to bring your computer so you can look up information about the species in the activity.  If you need a tutorial on phylogeny click here! 

By the end of this week and this activity in particular, you should be able to do the following:

Objectives for Week 3:

·         Connect the process of evolution with the structure of a phylogeny.

·         Compare relatedness of organisms using a phylogeny.

·         Recognize the applications of phylogenetic information across biological disciplines.

·         Construct a cladogram for a given group of organisms that reflects the most likely shared ancestry.

Evolution Objectives - Week 2

Week 2: Objectives for Evolution

Modules: 70, 71

___________EV1. Define evolution _______

___________EV2. Outline the four types of evolution _______

__________ EV3. Outline the components required for natural selection ______

_________ EV4. Calculate fitness and changes to fitness using mathematical models. _______

_________EV5. Explain the relationship between mutation, adaptation and natural selection. Give an example in your answer. ________

________EV6. Identify examples of physical and behavioral adaptations in a diverse group of organisms.  _______

__________EV7 . Explain two examples of evolution in response to environmental change; one must be antibiotic resistance in bacteria ______

_______EV8. Discuss the definition of the term species _______

_______ EV9. Describe three examples of barriers between gene pools ________

_______ EV10. Compare convergent and divergent evolution. _________

Population Genetics Objectives - Week 1

Week 1: Population Genetics:

________ PG.1. Explain how a change in allele frequency is evolution.

________ PG. 2 Describe different mechanisms by which allele frequencies can change, including natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.

________PG. 3 Differentiate among stabilizing, disruptive, and directional selection.

________ PG 4. Give an example for each type of selection and explain how this example illustrates that type of selection.

________ PG 5. Compare founder effect and bottleneck effect

________ PG 6. State the assumptions made when the Hardy–Weinberg equation is used.

________PG 7 Describe the assumptions that underlie the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and also the conditions under which the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium applies.

_______PG 8 Calculate allele, genotype and phenotype frequencies for two alleles of a gene, using the Hardy–Weinberg equation.

Objectives for DNA Structure, Replication, Transcription & Translation

_________ D1. Outline DNA nucleotide structure in terms of sugar (deoxyribose), base and phosphate. _____

_________ D2. State the names of the four bases in DNA _____

 _________ D3. Outline how DNA nucleotides are linked together by covalent bonds into a single strand. ____

_________ D4. Explain how a DNA double helix is formed using complementary base pairing and hydrogen bonds. _____

___________D5. Draw and label a simple diagram of the molecular structure of DNA. _____

___________D6. Explain DNA replication in terms
of unwinding the double helix and separation of the strands by helicase, followed by formation of the new complementary strands by DNA polymerase. _____

___________D7. Explain the significance of complementary base pairing in the conservation of the base sequence of DNA. _____

___________D8. State that DNA replication is semi- conservative. _____

___________D9. Compare the structure of RNA and DNA. _____

___________D10. Outline DNA transcription in terms
of the formation of an RNA strand complementary to the DNA strand by RNA polymerase. _____

__________D11. Describe the genetic code in terms of codons composed of triplets of bases. _____

_________ D12. Explain the process of translation, leading to polypeptide formation. _____

_________D13. Discuss the relationship between one gene and one polypeptide. _____

Objectives for Genetics

______G1. Define gene, allele and genome. _______

______G2. Define genotype, phenotype, dominant allele, recessive allele, codominant alleles, locus, homozygous, heterozygous, carrier and test cross. _______

______G3. Determine the genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring of a monohybrid cross using a Punnett grid (square). _______

______ G4. State that some genes have more than two alleles (multiple alleles). _______

______ G5. Describe ABO blood groups as an example of codominance and multiple alleles. _______

______ G6. Explain how the sex is determined in humans. _______

______ G7. State that some genes are present on the X chromosome and absent from the shorter Y chromosome in humans.

______ G8. Define sex linkage. ______

______G9. Explain how scientists can use crossover frequency to determine the position of alleles on a chromosome _______.

______ G10. Describe the inheritance of colour blindness and hemophilia as examples of sex linkage. _______

_____ G11. Explain that female carriers are heterozygous for X-linked recessive alleles. _____

_____ G12. Deduce the genotypes and phenotypes of individuals in pedigree charts. _______

______G13. Explain the consequence of a base substitution mutation in relation to the processes of transcription and translation, using the example of sickle-cell anemia. ________