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Biology 140 Anatomy & Physiology Final Exam Study Guide
Biology 140 Anatomy & Physiology Final Exam Study Guide
This guide covers the standard high-yield material for the topics you listed. Because I do not have your instructor’s notes, objectives, or review sheet, use it as a framework and compare it with your class materials for exact terminology and emphasis.
How to use this for a 100-question final
Prioritize:
Functions and locations — What does a structure do, and where is it found?
Sequences — Know processes in order, especially digestion, breathing, muscle contraction, and endocrine feedback.
Comparisons — For example, endocrine vs. exocrine, arteries vs. veins, skeletal vs. smooth muscle, and sympathetic vs. parasympathetic nervous systems.
Cause and effect — Predict what happens when a hormone, organ, tissue, or pathway is impaired.
Diagrams and histology images — Practice identifying structures from appearance and position.
Endocrine system
Core idea
The endocrine system uses hormones released into the blood to regulate slower, longer-lasting processes such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, stress responses, and fluid balance.
Know these structures and hormones
Hypothalamus: Connects the nervous and endocrine systems; controls the pituitary and helps maintain homeostasis.
Pituitary gland: Often called the master gland, although it is controlled by the hypothalamus.
Anterior pituitary: growth hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and prolactin.
Posterior pituitary: releases antidiuretic hormone and oxytocin made by the hypothalamus.
Thyroid gland: Thyroid hormones increase metabolic activity; calcitonin lowers blood calcium.
Parathyroid glands: Parathyroid hormone raises blood calcium.
Adrenal cortex: Produces cortisol, aldosterone, and adrenal androgens.
Adrenal medulla: Produces epinephrine and norepinephrine during sympathetic activation.
Pancreas: Insulin lowers blood glucose; glucagon raises blood glucose.
Pineal gland: Produces melatonin and contributes to sleep-wake rhythms.
Thymus: Supports development of T lymphocytes, especially earlier in life.
Gonads: Produce sex hormones and reproductive gametes.
High-yield principles
Negative feedback reverses a change and stabilizes the internal environment.
Steroid hormones usually cross cell membranes and affect gene transcription.
Peptide hormones usually bind membrane receptors and activate second-messenger pathways.
Distinguish hyposecretion from hypersecretion and connect each to its likely effect.
Exocrine system
Core idea
Exocrine glands release secretions through ducts onto an epithelial surface or into a body cavity. Endocrine glands are ductless and release hormones into interstitial fluid and blood.
Examples
Sweat glands
Sebaceous glands
Salivary glands
Tear glands
Mammary glands
Exocrine pancreas
Glands of the stomach and intestines
Secretion methods
Merocrine: Product leaves by exocytosis; the cell remains intact.
Apocrine: The apical portion of the cell pinches off.
Holocrine: The entire cell breaks apart to release its secretion; sebaceous glands are the classic example.
Common comparison
Respiratory system
Main functions
Moves oxygen into the body and carbon dioxide out.
Helps regulate blood pH.
Produces sounds.
Supports smell.
Helps condition incoming air by warming, humidifying, and filtering it.
Air pathway
Nasal cavity → pharynx → larynx → trachea → primary bronchi → smaller bronchi → bronchioles → alveolar ducts → alveoli.
Structures to identify
Epiglottis: Helps prevent food from entering the larynx during swallowing.
Larynx: Voice box.
Trachea: Supported by cartilage rings and lined with ciliated epithelium.
Alveoli: Thin-walled sites of gas exchange.
Pleura: Membranes surrounding the lungs.
Diaphragm: Main muscle of quiet inspiration.
Mechanics of breathing
Inspiration occurs when thoracic volume increases and pressure inside the lungs decreases.
Quiet expiration is mostly passive and occurs when respiratory muscles relax.
External intercostal muscles assist inspiration.
Forced expiration uses internal intercostals and abdominal muscles.
Gas exchange and transport
Oxygen diffuses from alveoli into pulmonary capillaries.
Carbon dioxide diffuses from blood into alveoli.
Most oxygen is transported bound to hemoglobin.
Most carbon dioxide is transported as bicarbonate ions.
Carbon dioxide affects pH because it participates in the reaction forming carbonic acid and hydrogen ions.
Control
The medulla and pons help regulate breathing. Chemoreceptors respond especially to carbon dioxide, hydrogen ion concentration, and oxygen levels.
Integumentary system
Functions
Protection from physical, chemical, and biological damage
Prevention of water loss
Temperature regulation
Sensation
Vitamin D production
Excretion of small amounts of waste
Immune defense
Skin layers
Epidermis: Outer layer; avascular keratinized stratified squamous epithelium.
Dermis: Connective tissue layer containing blood vessels, nerves, glands, and hair follicles.
Hypodermis: Not technically part of the skin; contains loose connective tissue and adipose tissue.
Epidermal strata, deep to superficial
Basale → spinosum → granulosum → lucidum, when present → corneum.
Stratum basale: Stem cells and melanocytes; new keratinocytes form here.
Stratum spinosum: Strong connections between cells.
Stratum granulosum: Keratinization becomes prominent.
Stratum lucidum: Found only in thick skin.
Stratum corneum: Dead, flattened, keratin-filled cells.
Cells and structures
Keratinocytes: Produce keratin.
Melanocytes: Produce melanin.
Merkel cells: Touch sensation.
Dendritic cells: Immune defense.
Eccrine sweat glands: Important for cooling.
Sebaceous glands: Produce sebum; commonly associated with hair follicles.
Wound healing
Inflammation is followed by tissue formation and remodeling. Severe burns can cause major fluid loss, infection risk, and impaired temperature regulation.
Digestive system
Main functions
Ingestion → propulsion → mechanical digestion → chemical digestion → absorption → defecation.
Organ sequence
Mouth → pharynx → esophagus → stomach → small intestine → large intestine → rectum → anal canal.
Accessory organs: teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.
Key organs
Mouth: Begins mechanical digestion and carbohydrate digestion.
Esophagus: Moves food by peristalsis.
Stomach: Stores and mixes food; begins significant protein digestion; secretes hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor.
Small intestine: Main site of chemical digestion and nutrient absorption.
Large intestine: Absorbs water and electrolytes; forms feces.
Liver: Produces bile, processes absorbed nutrients, detoxifies substances, and stores glycogen.
Gallbladder: Stores and concentrates bile.
Pancreas: Releases digestive enzymes and bicarbonate into the small intestine.
Small intestine regions
Duodenum → jejunum → ileum.
Villi and microvilli greatly increase absorptive surface area. Blood capillaries absorb many water-soluble nutrients; lacteals absorb most dietary fats.
Important secretions
Salivary amylase begins starch digestion.
Pepsin begins protein digestion in the stomach.
Pancreatic enzymes digest carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and fats.
Bile emulsifies fats; it is not itself a digestive enzyme.
Regulation
Gastrin: Promotes stomach activity and acid secretion.
Secretin: Promotes bicarbonate release and reduces stomach activity.
Cholecystokinin: Promotes pancreatic enzyme secretion and gallbladder contraction.
Muscular system
Muscle types
Skeletal muscle organization
Muscle → fascicle → muscle fiber → myofibril → sarcomere.
A sarcomere extends from one Z disc to the next. Thin filaments contain actin; thick filaments contain myosin.
Sliding-filament mechanism
A motor neuron releases acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction.
The muscle fiber membrane generates an action potential.
The sarcoplasmic reticulum releases calcium ions.
Calcium binds troponin.
Tropomyosin moves away from actin’s binding sites.
Myosin binds actin and performs power strokes.
ATP allows myosin to detach and reset.
Calcium is pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum for relaxation.
During contraction, the sarcomere shortens. The actin and myosin filaments themselves do not become shorter.
Other concepts
A motor unit is one motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it controls.
Muscle force increases through motor-unit recruitment and changes in stimulation frequency.
ATP is required for cross-bridge cycling and for calcium reuptake.
Rigor occurs when ATP is unavailable and myosin cannot detach from actin.
Bones and skeletal system
Functions
Support, protection, movement, mineral storage, blood-cell formation, and fat storage.
Bone cells
Osteoblasts: Build bone.
Osteocytes: Mature bone cells that maintain the matrix.
Osteoclasts: Resorb or break down bone.
Bone structure
Compact bone: Dense outer bone organized into osteons.
Spongy bone: Trabeculae with spaces that often contain bone marrow.
Periosteum: Outer connective tissue covering.
Endosteum: Lines internal bone surfaces.
Medullary cavity: Space containing marrow in many long bones.
Long bone anatomy
Epiphysis → metaphysis → diaphysis. The epiphyseal plate is the growth region in a growing bone; it becomes the epiphyseal line after growth stops.
Bone formation and remodeling
Intramembranous ossification: Forms many flat bones.
Endochondral ossification: Replaces a cartilage model and forms most bones.
Bone remodeling responds to mechanical stress and helps regulate blood calcium.
Fracture repair
Hematoma → fibrocartilaginous callus → bony callus → remodeling.
Calcium regulation
Parathyroid hormone raises blood calcium by increasing bone resorption, kidney calcium conservation, and activation of vitamin D. Calcitonin generally opposes this effect.
Blood
Components
Plasma: Liquid portion containing water, proteins, nutrients, ions, gases, and wastes.
Formed elements: Red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Red blood cells
Carry oxygen using hemoglobin.
Lack a nucleus when mature.
Have a biconcave shape that increases surface area.
Are produced in red bone marrow.
Their production is stimulated by erythropoietin, mainly released by the kidneys when oxygen levels are low.
White blood cells
Neutrophils: Rapid phagocytic response, especially against bacteria.
Lymphocytes: Adaptive immunity; includes B cells and T cells.
Monocytes: Become macrophages or related cells in tissues.
Eosinophils: Parasites and allergy-related responses.
Basophils: Release histamine and other inflammatory mediators.
Platelets and hemostasis
Vascular spasm → platelet plug formation → coagulation.
Fibrin stabilizes the clot. Clotting factors participate in a cascade that ultimately converts fibrinogen into fibrin.
Blood types
A red blood cells have A antigens and anti-B antibodies in plasma.
B red blood cells have B antigens and anti-A antibodies.
AB red blood cells have both antigens and neither anti-A nor anti-B antibodies.
O red blood cells have neither A nor B antigens and have both antibodies.
Rh-positive blood has the Rh antigen; Rh-negative blood lacks it.
For transfusion questions, match donor red-cell antigens with the recipient’s plasma antibodies.
Brain and nervous system
Major brain regions
Cerebrum: Conscious thought, sensory perception, memory, language, and voluntary motor control.
Frontal lobe: Planning, judgment, personality, voluntary motor control, and speech production.
Parietal lobe: Somatic sensory processing and spatial awareness.
Temporal lobe: Hearing, memory, and language comprehension.
Occipital lobe: Vision.
Cerebellum: Coordination, balance, and motor learning.
Brainstem: Midbrain, pons, and medulla; controls many vital functions and contains major pathways.
Diencephalon: Includes the thalamus and hypothalamus.
Thalamus: Major relay station for sensory information.
Hypothalamus: Homeostasis, autonomic control, endocrine regulation, temperature, hunger, thirst, and biological rhythms.
Protection
The skull, meninges, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood-brain barrier protect the brain.
Meninges, superficial to deep: dura mater → arachnoid mater → pia mater.
Neuron signaling
A stimulus can produce a graded potential. If threshold is reached, an action potential travels along the axon. At a synapse, neurotransmitters cross the synaptic cleft and influence the next cell.
Divisions of the nervous system
Central nervous system: brain and spinal cord.
Peripheral nervous system: nerves and ganglia.
Somatic division: skeletal muscle control and conscious sensation.
Autonomic division: smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands.
Sympathetic division: fight-or-flight.
Parasympathetic division: rest-and-digest.
Special senses
Vision
Light pathway: cornea → aqueous humor → pupil → lens → vitreous humor → retina.
Rods: Dim-light vision; no color detail.
Cones: Color vision and high visual acuity.
Fovea centralis: Sharpest vision.
Optic disc: Blind spot where the optic nerve exits.
The lens changes shape for focusing through accommodation.
Hearing
Sound pathway: external ear → auditory canal → tympanic membrane → ossicles → oval window → cochlea.
The cochlea converts mechanical vibrations into nerve signals. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti.
Equilibrium
Semicircular canals detect rotational or angular acceleration.
Utricle and saccule detect linear acceleration and head position relative to gravity.
Taste and smell
Chemoreceptors detect dissolved chemicals. Taste receptors are located in taste buds. Olfactory receptors are located in the olfactory epithelium.
General sensory receptors
Mechanoreceptors: touch, pressure, vibration, stretch, hearing, and balance.
Thermoreceptors: temperature.
Nociceptors: pain.
Chemoreceptors: chemicals.
Photoreceptors: light.
Histology and tissue identification
Four primary tissue types
Epithelial tissue
Classify epithelium by number of layers and shape of the apical cells.
Simple squamous: one thin layer; diffusion and filtration.
Simple cuboidal: secretion and absorption.
Simple columnar: absorption and secretion; may contain goblet cells.
Stratified squamous: protection from abrasion.
Pseudostratified columnar: appears layered but every cell touches the basement membrane; often ciliated and associated with goblet cells.
Transitional: stretches; urinary system.
Connective tissue
Loose areolar: wrapping and cushioning.
Adipose: energy storage and insulation.
Dense regular: parallel collagen fibers; tendons and ligaments.
Dense irregular: irregular collagen fibers; dermis and organ capsules.
Cartilage: firm but flexible matrix.
Bone: mineralized matrix.
Blood: fluid matrix.
Muscle tissue
Skeletal: striations, peripheral multiple nuclei, voluntary control.
Cardiac: striations, branching cells, central nuclei, intercalated discs.
Smooth: no striations, central single nucleus, spindle-shaped cells.
Nervous tissue
Neurons conduct electrical signals. Neuroglia support, protect, nourish, and maintain the environment around neurons.
Final rapid-review checklist
Before the exam, make sure you can explain:
Endocrine versus exocrine glands
Negative feedback and hormone target cells
The path of air and the mechanics of ventilation
How oxygen and carbon dioxide are transported
The epidermal strata in order
The path of food and the functions of accessory organs
Sliding-filament contraction and the role of calcium and ATP
Osteoblasts versus osteoclasts and the stages of fracture repair
Blood components, leukocyte functions, clotting, and blood types
Brain lobe functions and sympathetic versus parasympathetic effects
Rods versus cones and the path of sound
How to identify the four tissue types and common epithelial tissues
Best last-minute strategy
Do not reread every chapter passively. Spend most of your time drawing pathways from memory, labeling diagrams, comparing similar structures, and answering practice questions without notes. Any item you miss becomes a short targeted review rather than a reason to restart the entire chapter.