Biology of Humans

Appendices

Appendix 2. Hints for Applying the Concepts Questions

Chapter 1

1. Each part of the question asks about a different group of Swedish children. Choose the correct group from the key and look at the line on the graph of the appropriate color.

2. Design an experiment with a control group and an experimental group.

3. What is an epidemiological study? What groups of children might you compare?

4. Consider the questions on pages 10-11.

Chapter 2

1. What functions do triglycerides perform in your body?

2. Cellulose is an important form of dietary fiber.

3. Consider the following qualities of water: polarity, heat of vaporization, and high heat capacity.

4. Consider the harmful effects of radiation on the body.

Chapter 3

1. Anesthetics need to cross the plasma membranes of nerve cells.

2. Mitochondria process energy for cells, and thus they occur in large numbers in cells with a high demand for energy.

3. Which element of the cytoskeleton is involved in cell division?

Chapter 4

1. Does cartilage have a blood supply?

2. What physiological mechanisms raise body temperature? What physiological mechanisms lower body temperature?

3. Where is connective tissue found?

Chapter 5

1. What happens to bone density if there is no stress placed on the bone?

2. What kind of activity builds bone density?

3. What structure would indicate that the bone was still capable of growth?

Chapter 6

1. What role does acetylcholine play in muscle contraction?

2. What causes tendinitis? How is it treated?

3. What role do calcium ions play in muscle contraction?

4. Are fast twitch or slow twitch fibers darker in color? How do the properties of fast twitch fibers differ from those of slow twitch fibers?

Chapter 7

1. What effect does an inhibitory neurotransmitter have on the postsynaptic neuron?

2. What would happen if a neurotransmitter were not removed from the synapse?

3. What factors cause ions to cross the membrane during an action potential? What role do potassium ions play in the action potential?

4. What role does the myelin sheath play in the conduction of an action potential?

5. Why is the resting potential important?

Chapter 8

1. What are the functions of the spinal cord? Would loss of any of the functions due to injury have varying effects depending on the location of injury?

2. What is the function of the sympathetic nervous system?

3. What structure of the brain is important in transferring short-term memory to long-term memory?

Chapter 9

1. In what type of vision are distant objects seen more clearly than nearby objects?

2. What part of the ear is responsible for equilibrium?

3. How would loud sounds affect the organ of hearing in the inner ear?

4. What changes when you change your focus from an object in the distance to a nearby object?

Chapter 10

1. Cortisone is a glucocorticoid.

2. Which internal system of communication is relatively slow? Which is relatively fast?

3. Theresa's symptoms and the timing of their onset suggest melatonin may be involved.

4. What hormones are produced by the adrenal cortex?

Chapter 11

1. Are the white blood cells that are produced in leukemia functional?

2. What regulates the circulating number of red blood cells?

3. What is the function of red blood cells? How is iron related to the ability of red blood cells to carry out their function?

4. Which antibodies against antigens on red blood cells does Raul have?

5. What could happen if either of Elizabeth's babies had Rh + blood?

6. What are the functions of platelets?

Chapter 12

1. What would be the result if a blood clot were lodged in a small blood vessel in the heart?

2. What happens in the lymph nodes when you get sick?

3. The pressure that propels blood through the arteries is equal to the pressure against the arterial walls. What force generates this pressure? What is the relationship between high blood pressure and atherosclerosis?

4. What happens if the valves do not close properly?

Chapter 13

1. Is a vaccine effective immediately?

2. How specific is the immune response?

3. What role do helper T cells play in the immune response?

4. How long does it take antibodies to form after the first exposure to an antigen?

5. In an organ transplant, what would happen to the transplanted cells if they had very different self (MHC) markers from the recipient's?

Chapter 14

1. What factors regulate breathing rate and tidal volume?

2. What is the function of the cilia in the respiratory tubules?

3. What happens to Juan's blood level of carbon dioxide when he holds his breath? How would this affect his breathing?

4. Does inhalation or expiration involve muscle contraction? Which is a passive process?

Chapter 15

1. What role does the pancreas play in digestion?

2. What is the relationship between diarrhea and water reabsorption?

3. What would cause skin to develop a yellow tone? What might the cause of the yellow skin tone have to do with a tattoo?

4. What substance is released into the small intestine when fatty food enters the small intestine?

Chapter 16

1. Consider the role of the external urethral sphincter in urination.

2. Beer is a diuretic.

3. Consider the functions of the kidneys and the ways to replace these functions.

4. Which region of the nephron is involved in filtration?

Chapter 17

1. When making your recommendation for a means of contraception consider its effectiveness in preventing pregnancy, this couple's need for protection against STDs, and the health effects of the means of contraception.

2. What happens to the endometrium during menstruation?

3. What is the function of FSH?

4. What does warm temperature have to do with sperm count?

Chapter 18

1. What might pelvic inflammatory disease have done to Tanya's oviduct?

2. How does fetal circulation differ from circulation after birth?

3. Consider the concept of critical periods in development.

4. Consider the hormones involved in milk production and ejection.

5. Consider the potential role of free radicals in aging.

Chapter 19

1. What is nondisjunction?

2. Look at Figure 19.2.

Chapter 20

1. Colorblindness is a sex-linked trait.

2. What are the genotypes of George and Sue? Use a Punnett square to determine the expected results from a cross with those genotypes.

3. Recessive alleles are not expressed.

4. A recessive trait is only expressed in the homozygous condition.

5. Use a Punnett square to determine the outcome of the cross.

Chapter 21

1. What is the start codon? What is the stop codon? What amino acids do the other codons code for?

2. Translate each of the mRNA strands. Remember that more than one codon can code for the same amino acid.

3. Are any bands present in a father, but absent in both the mother and the child?

Chapter 22

1. Describe the evidence in support of evolution.

2. Consider chemical evolution and the conditions of the early Earth.

3. What characteristics distinguish primates from other mammals?

4. Tay-Sachs disease is caused by a recessive allele.

5. Consider misconceptions about human evolution.

6. Review major anatomical changes that occurred over the course of human evolution.

Chapter 23

1. On average, what percentage of the energy available at one trophic level is available to the next level?

2. What happens to mercury as it moves up the food chain?

3. Average rainfall and temperature largely determine the organisms found in a given location.

Chapter 24

1. What will happen to the size of each population as the prereproductive individuals reach reproductive age?

2. a. What factors regulate population size?

b. How might Asian carp affect factors regulating the population size of other species of fish?

3. How would spending differ between a young, growing population and an aging population?

4. The size of the population influences how quickly individuals are added to the population.