For each concept, you need to be able to describe:

1. What does it mean/How does it work?

2. Why is it important/How does it fit into the bigger picture?
3. What is an example from a case study, experiment, or organism?

General concepts

1. Biology as a second language

2. Biology is all about structure and function.
3. Organisms want to maintain homeostasis.
4. Homeostasis is maintained by negative feedback loops, and forcibly reset by positive feedback
loops.
5. Electrons are the unit of energy transfer.
6. Biological processes are step-by-step. If one step is broken, the steps afterwards do not happen.

Unit 1 Key Concepts (8-11%)

1. Water is polar and can thus form hydrogen bonds.

2. Water’s life-sustaining properties have to do with its polarity and capacity to form hydrogen
bonds.
3. PCHON: The key elements of life
4. Macromolecules are polymers made of many monomers.
5. Carbon is the basis of every macromolecule.
6. Which macromolecules use nitrogen and phosphorus?
7. Hydrolysis vs. dehydration synthesis
8. Structure and function of carbohydrates
9. Saturated vs. unsaturated lipids
10. Phospholipids are amphipathic
11. The 4 levels of protein structure (VERY IMPORTANT)
a. Primary structure = amino acid sequence
b. Secondary structure = non-R group hydrogen bonds can make alpha helices and beta
pleated sheets
c. Tertiary structure = R-group interactions
d. Quaternary structure = Polypeptides are made of multiple subunits
12. The directionality of nucleic acids
13. DNA vs. RNA
14. Parts of a nucleotide