Biology 107

Study Guide: Animal Nutrition I.

Chapter 41

1. What is the difference between undernourishment and malnourishment? Can a person be both obese and malnourished at the same time? What are some of the risks of obesity?
2. What is the difference between an essential nutrient and a nonessential nutrient? What are the four classes of essential nutrients?
3. What are the two categories of vitamins? Which group is most easily stored in the body? What is the most common function of vitamins?
4. Vitamin C is necessary for the formation of collagen. How does a vitamin C deficit lead to the symptoms of scurvy? What are the diseases arising from deficiencies of vitamin B₁ and vitamin D? What are the symptoms of these diseases?
5. Define digestion and describe why it is a necessary process.
6. Distinguish between intracellular and extracellular digestion.
7. Explain why intracellular digestion must be sequestered in a food vacuole, and give examples of organisms which digest their food in vacuoles.
8. What is a gastrovascular cavity? How does a gastrovascular cavity contribute to the absorption of nutrients?
9. What are the differences between a complete digestive tract and a gastrovascular cavity? Describe some distinct advantages that complete digestive tracts have over gastrovascular cavities.
10. Why can’t most animals derive nutrition from woody plants with high cellulose content?