{"id":11603,"date":"2016-09-04T17:11:17","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T22:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grockit.com\/blog\/?p=11603"},"modified":"2020-09-11T20:42:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:42:53","slug":"whats-tested-on-the-dat-biology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/dat\/whats-tested-on-the-dat-biology\/","title":{"rendered":"What's Tested on the DAT: Biology"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first subtest of the Survey of Natural Sciences<\/a> on the DAT is Biology. Questions 1\u201340 test such DAT topics as anatomy and physiology, developmental biology, cell and molecular biology, genetics, evolution, ecology, behavior, and the diversity of life. Many test takers feel confident with their biology knowledge, but that means differentiating yourself from your peers<\/a> is even more difficult. You’ll need to answer the majority of the Biology questions correctly in order to earn a good score on the DAT, which means understanding the content and having good test-taking strategies are extremely important for this section.
\n 
\n

Biology Content on the DAT<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nThe American Dental Association (ADA) has published a DAT User’s Manual on their Dental Admission Test (DAT) page<\/a> that establishes\u00a0what content can be tested on the DAT. The following outlines the exact content you will need to know for the Biology\u00a0section, and the numbers in parentheses reflect\u00a0how many questions that primarily test that\u00a0subject are likely to be on any given DAT administration. Note that many questions require knowledge from more than one content area listed, and some questions also require knowledge from General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, or other fields, so having a well-rounded background will still be helpful.
\n
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n

Cell and Molecular Biology\u00a0(13)<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Origin of Life
\n\u2022\u00a0Cell Metabolism and Enzymology
\n\u2022 Cellular Processes
\n\u2022\u00a0Thermodynamics
\n\u2022 Organelle Structure and Function
\n\u2022\u00a0Mitosis and Meiosis
\n\u2022\u00a0Cell Structure
\n\u2022\u00a0Experimental Cell Biology
\nDiversity of Life\u00a0(5-Kingdom System) (3)<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Monera
\n\u2022\u00a0Plantae
\n\u2022\u00a0Animalia
\n\u2022 Protista
\n\u2022 Fungi
\nEvolution, Ecology, and Behavior\u00a0(4)
\n<\/strong>\u2022\u00a0Natural Selection
\n\u2022\u00a0Population Genetics
\n\u2022\u00a0Cladistics
\n\u2022\u00a0Population and Community Ecology
\n\u2022\u00a0Ecosystems
\n\u2022\u00a0Animal Behavior<\/p><\/div>
\n

Vertebrate Anatomy and Physiology\u00a0(9)<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Integumentary
\n\u2022\u00a0Skeletal
\n\u2022\u00a0Muscular
\n\u2022\u00a0Circulatory
\n\u2022\u00a0Immunological
\n\u2022\u00a0Digestive
\n\u2022\u00a0Respiratory
\n\u2022\u00a0Urinary
\n\u2022\u00a0Nervous
\n\u2022\u00a0Endocrine
\n\u2022\u00a0Reproductive
\nDevelopmental Biology\u00a0(4)<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Fertilization
\n\u2022\u00a0Descriptive Embryology
\n\u2022\u00a0Developmental Mechanisms
\n\u2022\u00a0Experimental Embryology
\nGenetics (7)<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Molecular Genetics
\n\u2022\u00a0Human Genetics
\n\u2022 Classical Genetics
\n\u2022\u00a0Genetic Technology<\/p><\/div>
\n 
\n

Studying Biology for the DAT<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nIn the past, most Biology questions on the DAT were based heavily on assessing test takers\u2019 memories\u00a0of discrete biological facts with a particular focus on the molecular basis of life. However, the test\u00a0makers are now moving away from that reductionist viewpoint and toward an integrative approach\u00a0that focuses on biological systems as wholes, including the complex interactions within them. This\u00a0means that the test rewards both breadth of knowledge and the ability to make connections. Learn\u00a0both approaches; you\u2019ll still need to memorize a wide range of biology facts, but you\u2019ll also need to\u00a0understand how those pieces work together.
\nTo help you learn this wide range of material, it\u2019s important to use a wide range of methods while\u00a0studying<\/a>. Even after studying\u00a0you may\u00a0still see questions on your official test about content that doesn’t look familiar at first. That won\u2019t be\u00a0a problem, though, because you\u2019ll be able to figure out the answers to those types of questions using\u00a0critical thinking: bringing different ideas together to determine the correct answers and eliminating impossible choices. You may see a question about a particular enzyme you didn’t learn about, but you\u00a0can still use information in the question about where it is produced and your knowledge of other\u00a0molecules with similar names to find the correct answer. For example, if a question asks you about\u00a0carboxypeptidase formed in the pancreas but you can\u2019t remember its function, you can take what you\u00a0do know to infer that coming from the pancreas means it acts in the small intestine. And since peptid refers\u00a0to peptide bonds, carboxypeptidase must help digest proteins. So together this means it digests proteins in the small intestine, which is likely reflect in the correct answer.
\nAdditionally, don\u2019t neglect to keep a broad focus on the interactions within\u00a0and among biological systems. It\u2019s important to know that aldosterone is produced by the adrenal\u00a0cortex and increases salt reabsorption in the nephrons, but it\u2019s even more valuable to realize that\u00a0damage to the adrenal glands (in the exocrine system) can cause low blood pressure (in the circulatory\u00a0system). By making these connections, not only will you be prepared to answer challenging integrative\u00a0questions on Test Day, but you\u2019ll also ensure you have a solid knowledge of the basics as well.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first subtest of the Survey of Natural Sciences on the DAT is Biology. Questions 1\u201340 test such DAT topics as anatomy and physiology, developmental biology, cell and molecular biology, genetics, evolution, ecology, behavior, and the diversity of life. Many test takers feel confident with their biology knowledge, but that means differentiating yourself from your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11603"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36357,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11603\/revisions\/36357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}