Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Biology

Critical Thinking Questions

BiologyCritical Thinking Questions

20.

In your everyday life, you have probably noticed that certain instruments are ideal for certain situations. For example, you would use a spoon rather than a fork to eat soup because a spoon is shaped for scooping, while soup would slip between the tines of a fork. The use of ideal instruments also applies in science. In what situation(s) would the use of a light microscope be ideal, and why?

21.

In what situation(s) would the use of a scanning electron microscope be ideal, and why?

22.

In what situation(s) would a transmission electron microscope be ideal, and why?

23.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these types of microscopes?

24.

Antibiotics are medicines that are used to fight bacterial infections. These medicines kill prokaryotic cells without harming human cells. What part or parts of the bacterial cell do you think antibiotics target? Why?

25.

Explain why not all microbes are harmful.

26.

You already know that ribosomes are abundant in red blood cells. In what other cells of the body would you find them in great abundance? Why?

27.

What are the structural and functional similarities and differences between mitochondria and chloroplasts?

28.

In the context of cell biology, what do we mean by form follows function? What are at least two examples of this concept?

29.

In your opinion, is the nuclear membrane part of the endomembrane system? Why or why not? Defend your answer.

30.

What are the similarities and differences between the structures of centrioles and flagella?

31.

How do cilia and flagella differ?

32.

How does the structure of a plasmodesma differ from that of a gap junction?

33.

Explain how the extracellular matrix functions.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Feb 14, 2022 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.