CLEP Natural Sciences study plan

Draw and label the stages of mitosis and meiosis, then state the chromosome number at each checkpoint.

Distinguish genotype from phenotype by working 15 monohybrid and dihybrid crosses from parental genotypes to offspring ratios.

Explain how DNA replication, transcription, and translation connect a gene to a protein product.

Compare aerobic respiration and photosynthesis by tracing ATP and electron flow in each.

Solve pedigree problems involving autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, and X-linked inheritance.

Classify representative organisms into the major kingdoms and domains using structural and reproductive criteria.

Summarize the evidence for evolution from fossils, comparative anatomy, and molecular data.

Describe how natural selection changes allele frequencies in a population over generations.

Identify Earth's internal layers and relate plate boundary types to earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building.

Interpret a rock cycle diagram and classify 10 sample descriptions as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.

Explain the greenhouse effect, atmospheric circulation, and how ocean currents redistribute heat.

Sequence the major events of the geologic time scale and place the origin of life and major extinctions on it.

Calculate population growth using exponential and logistic models and predict carrying capacity effects.

Diagram energy flow and nutrient cycling through a food web, including trophic levels and decomposers.

Contrast primary and secondary succession and predict community changes after a disturbance.

Explain speciation mechanisms and distinguish them from extinction and adaptive radiation.

Write electron configurations and predict bonding type from periodic trends in electronegativity and ionization energy.

Balance 15 chemical equations and classify each as synthesis, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement, or combustion.

Draw Lewis structures for common molecules and predict their geometry and polarity.

Describe radioactive decay modes and write balanced nuclear equations for alpha and beta decay.

Apply the laws of thermodynamics to heat engines and explain why entropy limits efficiency.

Solve kinematics and Newton's law problems involving force, mass, acceleration, and momentum.

Distinguish conduction, convection, and radiation and relate phase changes to latent heat.

Relate wave frequency, wavelength, and speed, and describe reflection, refraction, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Describe stellar evolution from nebula to main sequence to end state, keyed to stellar mass.

Compare the solar system's formation theory with observed properties of planets, asteroids, and comets.

Distinguish galaxies by type and explain redshift as evidence for an expanding universe.

Identify the fundamental particles and forces in the standard model at an introductory level.

Review every domain using a weighted checklist and flag the three weakest areas.

Complete two timed full-length practice sets and log errors by domain.

Re-teach each flagged weak area in writing without notes.

Memorize the constants, formulas, and classification schemes most often tested.