Question:
Question for Bio experts?
Cade
2010-08-30 15:46:26 UTC
So far in my class we are doing A LOT of chemistry. It was not a prereq,so 1 week into the class and I'm completely lost. I have NEVER had exposure to this kind of science which is why I registered for Bio *101* to START ME OFF.

However we are on the periodic table, talking about atoms, doing cell structure.. I know this does involve chemistry but this is ALL we have done. I am confused because I have never had complicated math or chem before. Is this normal or what?

I know everything has atoms but because it is biology I was expecting to learn about things on the living side.. (ex not learning about metals..) im just not sure what I should be expecting here. My teacher keeps saying "this is very easy stuff" class after class and i'm not sure about what is easy about using chem, metrics, greek & latin words along with (hopfully) learning biology eventually. This is all new to me...
Four answers:
?
2010-08-30 17:34:58 UTC
The frustrating thing for many students is that teachers often forget how much they know and how they learned what they know, assuming more knowledge and experience on the students' part than is really fair. I'm sorry to say that this is something every student must cope with, and every teacher is different (sometimes, you just have very smart academic who's a bad teacher!). I'd like to provide some general advice, and a few pointers to aid you in absorbing all of the chemistry you'll need to now even without having taken a chemistry course.



First, in general, I advise you to look something up and ask questions when you see anything on a slide or on the board or in your book that doesn't make any sense to you whatsoever. If you are COMPLETELY lost on a concept, get help! Universities provide many sources of help these days, and you can always hire a tutor. Plus, you have this site and the whole of the internet at your fingertips! Don't just gawk at a page of new and mysterious information, try everything you can think of to understand and never hold back a question.



Second, in regards to the chemistry concepts you're likely to encounter in biology 101, most of it will be the fundamentals. You need to know what an atom is, and what we mean when we say "element," and what a molecule is, and the difference between covalent, ionic, and hydrogen bonds (and possibly Van der Waals forces). You will need to understand that chemical bonds are all about the movement and exchange of electrons between atoms. You need to understand that an electron always has an energy level associated with it and that this energy can be harnessed from a reaction (this will come up when you study the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain). You need to understand that some reactions are favorable and happen on their own, while others are unfavorable and need an external source of energy to proceed (this is largely what ATP is used for in a cell, as you will learn later). You will encounter strange diagrams like this: http://www.biologyreference.com/images/biol_03_img0318.jpg that won't make any sense to you because they are diagrams made with skeletal and lewis structures and Haworth projections, which are familiar to the chemist but meaningless to the novice student of biology; try to understand them anyway, it will make your life easier in the long run. It's a lot to take in, but work hard and it will slowly begin to make sense.



In regards to math, the most you'll need to do is add, subtract, multiply and maybe divide fractions. I doubt you'll even need to understand exponential and logarithmic functions; it's high-school arithmetic and I guarantee that you can do it, or if you don't know how you can learn in 15 minutes.



I think it's critical that you try to understand everything in context for now. For example, you can understand that the electron transport chain harnesses the energy of electrons to move hydrogen nuclei (protons) against their concentration gradient in the mitochondria of animal cells WITHOUT understanding that what is occurring is basically a redox reaction like those seen in voltaic cells. Yes, that understanding makes the electron transport chain easier to understand, but if you lay the foundational knowledge now you can piece together a more complete understanding later in your education. Take a chemistry course! If you're not ready, take a precalculus course and you'll be set! What's the harm in a little more knowledge?
Jub B
2010-08-30 16:06:42 UTC
As mentioned you will be expected to take chem classes with biology. These will be real Chem classes (like organic Chem there is a fun class). The chemistry part of biology is not that complicated it deals more about basics which is very important.



Moving from high concentration to low concentration. Water is polar and enables life to happen. Proteins have a charge and "curl" up to have hydrophobic and hydrophobic parts facing away from and towards water respectively.



In chemistry you are expected to understand what is going on at a chemical level. The number of molecules involved and how they lead to the known reaction on a molecule level, the energy given off etc. In biology class you are expected to get the concept (that the cell has a charge and what that means to the cell not what that means to the molecule)
Kevin
2010-08-30 15:52:36 UTC
Sorry to bring bad news but get used to it lol. Chemistry and biology go hand in hand in many respects. In college if you major in bio or chem it really doesn't matter because 90% of the courses are the same.



Atoms and molecules = biology. All things are composed of molecules and it is only fair to understand things at the most fundamental level before moving on to the big picture.



That stuff is easy. My advise is to not be intimidated. Just read with an open mind and you will be fine. If you let the book / class intimidate you then you will block yourself from a wealth of knowledge.
Patricia
2016-04-21 03:47:44 UTC
volume- the holding capacity of an object or container length- how long something is desity- how many molecules that are in a specific area independent variable- the difference between the control group and the experimental group dependent variable- the variable that is determined by the independent variable you can only change 1 variable per experiment a control group is the group, solutions, set, etc... that is not effected/ exposed to the variable.... ex. a placebo


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