MYP Honors Biology Cell Biology Study Guide

Review the following note handouts and homework assignments. Pay special attention to any
corrections I have made to your answers, because those are areas where you most likely need to study
more!
Biology Week 2: Cells and the Cell Cycle
Cell Vocabulary Ch. 4
Cell Membrane Ch. 4 (Homework)
Modeling: Limits to Cell Size
Chapter 9 Cell Size (Homework)
Making Exchanges Throughout the Body (Homework)
Plant Cell Review Worksheet
Cell Structure and Function Laboratory
Homeostasis Note Sheet

Answer the following questions and make sure you can complete the 'Be able to...' and 'Explain...'
statements. If you can't, then spend some more time studying your related notes and homework! Try to
come up with several differences or features where asked, and write your explanations in complete
sentences. This is not homework, but by writing out your ideas and explanations you will be better able
to remember this information and use it to solve new problems than if you just thought about the
answers.
Definition of Life - What features help us to define life? What are the three components of cell theory?
Cell Types - How are prokaryotic organisms different from eukaryotic organisms, and what are some
examples of each? Which kind of organism came first? Why do mitochondria and chloroplasts have
their own DNA? How can you tell animal and plant cells apart?
Organelles - Know all of the organelles and their functions as included on the Cell Vocabulary notes.
Be able to infer a specialization or function of a cell given features of its organelles. Know the general
arrangement of organelles within a cell (for instance, what organelles tend to be located near each
other, and what are free-floating in the cytoplasm).
Cell Membranes - Be able to explain the arrangement of phospholipids and proteins (channel and
transport) in the lipid bilayer structure of cell membranes. Why are cell membranes a bilayer (which
ends are hydrophilic and which are hydrophobic)? What kinds of molecules can easily pass through
membranes? What molecules require active transport? How are active and passive transport different?

Water/Solute Movement - Explain in what direction water will move by osmosis, depending on
varying concentrations of solutes inside and outside of a cell. In what direction will solutes move
between areas of high and low concentration? What is a concentration gradient?
Surface-to-Volume Ratio Recall that this is the total surface area divided by volume. Remember
the relative surface-to-volume ratios of large cells and small cells, and be able to figure out how the
ratio could change if a cell changes in size or shape. Why is surface-to-volume ratio important for the
functioning of cells, tissues and organs?
Homeostasis What is homeostasis? What are some important internal conditions that your body
regulates? Be able to describe how unicellular organisms (like bacteria) differ from multicellular
organisms when interacting with their environment and maintaining homeostasis.