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BI 171 - First Exam - 2004
Answer Key
Multiple Choice.
Place the letter of the choice that best answers the question on the line to the left.
Two Points Each. NOTE: "e" answers are never the correct answer.
___C___ 1. Which is a proper species name?
a. biologus difficultus
b. collegia Johnstownia
c. Tummius acheius d. Crazius
Questionus
e. Georgie
...needs to follow the capitalization rules.
___B___ 2. Which would be linked to the most
variation?
a. Sexual, low chromosome number
b. Sexual, high chromosome number
c. Asexual, low chromosome number
d. Asexual, high chromosome number
e. The one that varies the most
...by "mixing" genes, sexual produces
varied offspring,
and how much variety the mix has depends on how
many pieces the DNA is cut into - the number of
chromosomes.
___A___ 3. The critical aspect being tested in an experiment becomes the
a. Variable
b. Control
c. Result
d. Conclusion
e. Royal pain in the process
...It's the definition matched to the term.
___D___ 4. The phase "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" is originated with a scientist who studied
a. Fruit flies b. Fossils c. Pea plants
d. Embryos
e. Really big and obscure words
...if you understand the phrase, you'd know
that the first
word refers to the process of embryo development.
___B___5. Compared to the number of amino acids in its coded protein, the number of
bases
in the gene sequence would be about
a. Twice as much
b. 3 times as much
c. 10 times as much d. The same
e. As understandable as anything on this exam
...each codon that determines one amino
acid is 3 bases long in
the DNA.
___B___6. In order to view them in a transmission scope, human organs must be
a. Optimized and reduced
b. Sectioned and stained
c. Replicated and linked
d. a, b, and c all must be done
e. Stuffed and mounted
...they have to be thin enough to let the beam
through,
but stained enough to present a contrasty image.
(yes, there's no such word as "contrasty")
___A___7. A role or job filled by a species in an ecosystem:
a. Niche b. Ecofunction
c. Ration
d. Level
e. Are they minimum wage?
...match the definition with the term.
___D___8. Which is most likely to leave a nice, continuous
fossil record?
a. A species of tree
b. A species of dinosaur
c. A species of desert tortoise
d. A species of clam
e. The one with the fossil recording contract
...Best done by an ocean-dwelling animal that
has hard parts and
is fairly common.
___A___9. Industrial espionage often has devices stolen from the competition - the thieving
company believes that by taking the device apart, they'll be able to tell exactly
how it works. This idea is called
a. Reductionism
b. Isolationism
c. Puzzlement
d. Homologizing
e. American ingenuity at work
...It's the idea that you can understand the
whole completely
if you understand how all of the parts work.
___D___10. When taxonomic disagreements are raised, what changes are usually made?
a. Both group names and taxonomic levels about equally
b. Nothing is allowed to be changed
c. Group names
d. Taxonomic levels
e. If it's a nice disagreement, folks might change their minds...
...much easier to shift a group's position in
the heirarchy
than to change the name everyone knows it by.
___B___11. One usually sees a three-dimensional surface with a
a. Transmission microscope
b. Scanning microscope
c. Electron microscope d. Light microscope
e. Pair of weird dorky glasses on
...Since the imaging beam bounces off the
surface, the
surface of the object you see.
___A___12. If your experiment involves counting fleas, your data is
a. Purely quantitative b. Quantitative converted to qualitative
c. Purely qualitative d. Qualitative converted to quantitative
e. A little icky
...you are counting something countable, not
assigning
numbers to something that really can't be counted
directly.
___D___13. In genetic linkage, ______ are linked _______.
a. Traits...to specific genes b. Genes...to specific traits
c. Alleles...to dominance
d. Genes...on chromosomes
e. Exams...to acute depression and other forms of insanity
...term linked to definition.
___C___14. The most common peer review occurs during
a. Experiment design b. Running the experiment
c. Publishing the experiment
d. Public hearings
e. Nightmares involving nakedness
...Many scientists have limited access to
peers, but journals
employ them to review manuscripts.
___D___15. Experimental results that are produced by some procedural error within the
experiment and not by the variable are called
a. Manipulations b. Nulls c. Process quirks
d. Artifacts e. Oopsies
...definition and term.
___B___16. Dominant alleles are "dominant" based upon
a. The likelihood of their being passed on
b. The effects of their proteins
c. The advantages gained from their traits d. All of these
e. Complex and fairly perverse games played in Nature
...purely the effects in the next
generation. Since it comes from
the coded protein, it has no effect of the code itself.
___B___17. The idea that all "beasts of the air" are related is
a. Classification by homology
b. Classification by analogy
c. Systematics d. Cladistics
e. Perfectly reasonable to me - isn't it-?
...lumped together based on function rather
than form.
___C___18. Light microscopes have clear advantages over electron microscopes in the areas of
a. Resolution and simplicity of use
b. Resolution and expense
c. Simplicity of use and expense
d. Magnification and resolution
e. Well, obviously they weigh less...
...those are about the only advantages.
Short Answer. Pick NINE questions to answer in the spaces provided.
NOTE: if you answer MORE than nine, only the first nine will be corrected.
Four Points each. Partial credit is possible.
| 1. What are two ways that viruses break the basic "rules of Life"? |
No internal metabolism
No growth or development phase
|
Often not cellular |
| 2. The nature of a DNA molecule allows it to do what two things that are essential for genetic
material? |
Can be used to carry complex codes
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Can be accurately
copied |
3. Briefly explain how PostModernism is applied to modern science.
...scientists
(and their science) are influenced by their beliefs and prejudices.
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4. Technically, why is it considered wrong for a taxonomic group to be polyphyletic?
...group members should all be derived from one
ancestral form (be monophyletic) - this isn't true in a
polyphyletic group.
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| 5. Fill in the other DNA strand base sequence -
G T G C A A C T G C A C
__C__A__C__G__T__T__G_A_C__G__T__G_____ |
6. What makes a trait epigenetic?
...it can be passed on, but it isn't DNA-based. |
| 7. The two features that a good scientific hypothesis needs to have - |
Needs to be predictive.
(NOT predictable!) |
Needs to be testable. |
| 8. Briefly give the most widely-accepted theory for why cells rarely get very big.
...as cells get bigger, the processes going
on in their volume increases faster than the exchange surfaces
- they can't get nutrients or get rid of wastes as efficiently
if they're beyond a certain size.
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| 9. In chronological order, which Kingdoms were - |
First &
Animals &
Second? Plants
(maybe rocks)
|
Third & Fungi
&
Fourth? Protista |
10. What abilities makes an organism colonial? (Define the term.)
...individuals that can live independently
join together, split up various jobs, and exist like one large
organism.
|
| 11. Two different types of ways to make indirect observations - |
Through other people's observations
told to you.
Through written sources. |
Through devices |
12. Briefly describe the process of sexual selection.
...traits that provide success in
reproduction - finding mates, producing offspring, etc. - are
favored, and passed on preferentially to offspring.
|
| 13. Put the following groups in proper order, working from
smallest to largest - Class,
Family, Genus, Kingdom, Order, Phylum, Species, Subfamily. Always
pay attention to the order specified! |
| 1
Species |
3 Subfamily |
5 Order |
7 Phylum |
| 2
Genus |
4 Family |
6 Class |
8 Kingdom |
| 14. The rate at which a particular species evolves is most affected by what other two rates? |
|
Rate at which the environment changes |
Rate
at which a type of organism reproduces |
15. Describe one feature that tends to characterize "soft" sciences but not "hard" sciences.
...it's easier to define terms and measure
things in "hard" sciences.
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16. What, in general, are confounding factors? Define, do not give examples!
...things that happen in experiments, NOT the
variable, but that still could affect the results.
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Long Answer. Select and answer completely any four of the following questions.
Note: if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.
Seven Points Each. Partial credit is possible.
| 1. Fill in for any three developments in the history of genetics. They need to be in
chronological order. |
| DEVELOPMENT |
Research Organism or Researcher |
|
Basic rules, terms; dominance
& recessiveness |
Pea plants;
Mendel |
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Mutations can change traits |
Fruit flies / Drosophila |
|
Genes code for particular protein
types |
Neurospora /
Bread mold |
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DNA is all that's necessary to build
systems |
Phages / viruses |
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DNA structure; how it uses a 3-base code to represent
amino acids in proteins |
Watson & Crick |
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Finding sequence of all human DNA |
Human; Human
Genome Project |
| 2. What are four different provisions of the Cell Theory? |
| All
organisms are made up of at least one cell. |
|
Cells are the smallest things that can be considered alive. |
|
Cells only come from pre-existing related cells. |
|
Cells are, overall, more similar than different. |
| 3. Give four general traits found in virtually all living things |
| Genetic
coding systems (DNA-based) |
|
Dynamic, energy-using metabolisms (protein-based) |
|
Reproduction |
|
Growth & development |
| Cells |
| Interaction
with environment |
| Evolution |
| 4. Briefly describe (don't just name) three already-been-written concepts that influenced the
development of Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. |
| Changes
over time can be gradual but profound (uniformitarianism) |
|
The are natural controls over populations (Malthus) |
|
Domestic breeds can be changed by selecting which individuals mate
(artificial selection) |
|
Fossils show ancient forms are related to modern ones but are
different |
| Successful
traits can be passed on and change later generations (Lamarck) |
| 5. For four of the six "basic" Kingdoms, give the Kingdom's name, then give enough of the
features connected to that Kingdom to make its members distinct from those in the other 5. |
|
Archaea |
Unicellular, no
cell nucleus, found mostly in "extreme" environments. |
|
Monera |
Unicellular, no
cell nucleus, in most common environments. |
|
Protista |
Unicellular
(mostly), nucleated cells. |
|
Plantae |
Multicellular, can
photosynthesize. |
|
Animalia |
Multicellular, gain
nutrients through internalizing, usually able to move around. |
|
Fungi |
Multicellular
(mostly), gain nutrients through outer surfaces, usually made up of
fibers (hyphae). |
| 6. According to Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, what are the steps that
produce new species? |
|
Environment begins to change |
|
Individuals better suited to new conditions are more likely to
survive and reproduce |
|
Traits of better-suited individuals are more common in next
generation, and in one after that, etc. |
|
Advantageous traits become widespread, change basic
"type" of group enough for it to labeled a new species. |
|
7. Give the following for sexual reproduction - |
| BASIC DEFINITION
|
Offspring
are a genetic mix from 2 sources (not necessarily 2 parents, and
not necessarily involving males & females!) |
ADVANTAGE
compared to asexual |
Much
greater variation among individuals |
DISADVANTAGE
compared to asexual |
Not
able to exactly reproduce successful forms |
| 8. Just in general, what are three principal features of the Scientific Method approach? |
| Particular
rules should be followed |
|
Process depends upon observation, hypothesis, and testing |
|
Logical reasoning should be followed |
| Supernatural
explanations, since they cannot be tested, are not acceptable |
| Tests
should be reproducible, including comparable results |
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Key for BONUS QUESTIONS. Answer as many or as few as you wish. You can't lose points on the rest
of the exam by getting these wrong. Partial credit is possible.
Which sub-discipline of biology is primary based upon statistics? Three Points.
There is a local colonial organism that shows up distinctly in our environment - where is it found,
and what effect does it have there? Four Points.
Some organisms have been around a long time without appearing to change much. What usually is
the reason for this? Three Points.
What error made people think that aluminum pots might be linked to Alzheimer's disease? Three
Points.
In physics, what particularly makes a rule a "Law"? Three Points.
Based upon the idea of descent with modification, which feature of a classic mermaid is least
likely to have arisen (assuming a human ancestor)? For Four Points, explain your answer,
remembering that humans are related to dolphins and manatees.
What's the relationship between the language
of a subscience and its age? Three Points.
Other than its classic definition, what does the
term vestigial often wide up meaning? Three
Points.
What circumstance led to childhood diseases
becoming particularly adapted to children?
Four Points.
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