Life Science: Structure, Function, and Diversity
What this domain tests
Living things share features: they are made of cells, grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce, and need energy. Know that cells are the basic unit of life, and that some organisms are single-celled while others are many-celled with specialized parts. Understand that structure relates to function: a bird's hollow bones suit flight, a fish's gills take oxygen from water, and a cactus's thick stem stores water.
Systems and classification
Know the main body systems and their jobs, such as the skeletal system for support, the circulatory system for transporting materials, and the respiratory system for gas exchange. Understand that organisms are classified into groups by shared traits, and that traits are inherited from parents while some features are shaped by environment.
Traps to watch for
Questions often swap a structure with its function, such as saying leaves exist to hold the plant up. Another trap is treating a learned behavior as inherited, or assuming all organisms have the same organs. Watch for answers that describe a single example as a rule.
Rule of thumb
Ask "what job does this part do?" for every structure. For example, a duck's webbed feet are a structure whose function is pushing water, which helps it swim. That pairing of part and job is usually the correct answer, and it explains why organisms in similar environments often have similar structures even when unrelated.