AP BIOLOGY STUDY GUIDE

SKELETAL AND MUSCULAR SYSTEMS

1. Describe the contraction of a striated muscle.

2. List the various functions carried out by the skeleton and give a specific example of bones that carry out each function.

3. What are the main functions of bones? Give an example of a bone serving each purpose.

4. What is the function of the Haversian canals?

5. Describe some of the tissues that may be part of a joint. What are their functions?

6. Describe the kinds of joints found in the body.

7. Proper diet alone does not insure good teeth and healthy bones. What other factors are involved.

8. Explain why an organism with an internal skeleton must have a highly developed nervous system.

9. Describe a theory of muscle contraction.

10. Name the three types of muscle tissues.

11. Why are muscles often found in opposing pairs in the body?

12. Outline the chemical changes that occur in the leg muscles of a mile runner from the time the starter's gun is fired until the runner is completely recovered.

13. How does fermentation in skeletal muscles differ from yeast fermentation?

14. In what ways does the physiology of a skeletal muscle fiber resemble that of a motor neuron? In what ways does it differ?

15. Distinguish between tetanus and tonus in skeletal muscles.

16. How can you reconcile the graded response of skeletal muscles with the all-or-none law?

17. Oxalic acid forms an insoluble precipitate with calcium ions. What would happen to (a) the size of the action potential and (b) the strength of contraction if oxalic acid were introduced into an isolated muscle fiber?

18. What would be the effect on the size of the end plate potentials of bathing an isolated nerve-muscle preparation (from a frog) with a solution containing each of the following: (a) neostigmine (which inhibits the action of acetylcholinesterase), (b) d-tubocruarine (which competes with acetylcholine [ACh] for binding sites on the muscle membrane), (c) hemicholinium (which interferes with the synthesis of ACh within the nerve endings), (d) only 1/10 the normal concentration of sodium ions found in the extracellular fluid, (e) ouabain (which blocks the active transport of both sodium and potassium ions), (f) decamethonium (which mimics the action of ACh but is not hydrolyzed by acetylcholinesterase)? What would be the effect of each of the above on the size of any action potentials generated?

19. Myofilaments can contract forcefully, pulling membranes attached to the two ends toward one another. Myofilaments cannot expand, however, pushing membranes attached to the two ends of a myofilament apart. Why is it that myofilaments can pull but not push?

20. How does a walking cast speed up the repair of a bone fracture?