SC 135 - First Exam - 2000

SC 135 - First Exam 2000

MULTIPLE CHOICE.

On the line to the left, place the letter of the choice that best answers the question.
NOTE: "e" answers are never the correct answer. Three Points Each.

1. In an ecosystem, what happens to the energy of sunlight?

                    a. It just supplies heat to keep water liquid
                    b. Once in the system, it recycles again and again
                    c. It gets lost as it works its way up the food chain
                    d. It gets used, but only by plants
                    e. It, um, makes daytime, right-?

...it enters the food chain, converted to sugar bonds by photosynthesis in plants, and as it
moves up the chain the energy gradually "leaks" out of metabolism as heat

2. In testing a new pain reliever, you have subjects assign numbers to the strength of their pain, so that

                    a. Qualitative data is made quantitative
                    b. Quantitative data is made qualitative
                    c. The variable is valid
                    d. There’s a proper control
                    e. Your assistants can work on their fingers and toes

...pain isn't really a measure-by-numbers thing until someone forces it to be

3. In modern classification systems, close relationships between groups imply that they have

                    a. The same roles in an ecosystem
                    b. Basic physical similarities
                    c. Evolved from common ancestors recently
                    d. All the same cells
                    e. Probably gotten really sick of each other

...modern biology is mostly based on assumptions about evolution anyway

4. Which term most closely connects to the mistake of expecting all dogs to be like one particular dog?

                    a. Lack of control                     b. Anecdotal evidence
                    c. Indirect observation              d. Emergent properties
                                            e. Poochie problems

...which is taking a single small bit of evidence and applying it too broadly

5. When experimental results disagree with the original hypothesis, this goes under what heading, according to classic Scientific Method?

a. Confounding factors b. Nonevidence
c. Control d. Null hypothesis e. Things to ignore

...one of those definitions you need to know

6. Which is an example of spontaneous generation?

                    a. Baby snakes hatching from eggs
                    b. Amebas dividing
                    c. A scar forming where a wound was
                    d. Snails forming from rocks on a stream bottom
                    e. Politicians changing positions

...life from non-life (or totally unrelated life, like fish from fallen leaves or maggots from meat)

7. A classic control test must duplicate the experimental test except for

                    a. How data is collected                             b. The results
                    c. The basic procedure                              d. The variable
                                    e. You have to use different background music

...another definition

8. All of the energy-using chemical reactions in an organism are combined in

a. Its overall weight b. Its respiration c. Its metabolism
d. Its waste production e. Some pipes somewhere

...yet another definition

9. Which best describes peer review?

                    a. You check other scientists' work while designing an experiment
                    b. You have co-workers in the lab check your results as you record them
                    c. Each step in designing your experiment is checked by your supervisor
                    d. You write up your results and have other scientists check them
                    e. I guess a peer isn’t somebody who wets the bed, then...

...this is not a great question, because d is classic peer review, but the others
are also types of peer review

10. Which study is most obviously an example of applied science?

                    a. Using genes to treat asthma
                    b. Rain forest contribution to rainfall
                    c. Analyzing an ancient mummy
                    d. Subatomic particles in deep space
                    e. Science ointment

...science with a clear usefulness (opposed to pure science, done with no use
in mind)

11. A treatment which is like a real treatment but actually does nothing:

a. Sham b. Mimic c. Copy control
d. Placebo e. A pretty rotten joke

...definition

12. A mutation is a

                    a. Particular type of protein                     b. A change in genetic code
                    c. A new blend of parents' traits              d. Trait of asexual reproducers only
                                    e. Driving force for about 1000 bad movies

...definition

SHORT ANSWER.

Answer any eight of the following questions for 4 Points Each.
Note: if you answer more than eight, only the first eight will be corrected.
PARTIAL CREDIT IS POSSIBLE.

1. What is the most current, widely-accepted definition of a species?

A group of organisms that under natural conditions reproduces only within the group

2. a) Why is it wrong for scientists to say their results "proved" something? b) What should they say instead?

a) There always could be another explanation that hasn't been thought of.

b) They are finding evidence or support for an idea rather than proving it

3. What exactly is an allele?

It's a particular variation of a gene code.

4. In order to be considered properly "scientific," what two traits should a good hypothesis have?

It should be predictive

It should be testable

5. From a biological standpoint, for a mouse, a mushroom, or a mulberry tree, what is the purpose of respiration?

It converts energy in sugars into energy more usable by the cells

6. In science, what is an artifact?

It's a result from the process of the experiment instead of the variable

7. Match each to the general role played in the ecosystems:

Animals: Consumers

Plants: Producers

8. Briefly explain how cells, organs, and tissues relate to each other.

Tissues, collections of cells with particular types of functions, are combined into organs with particular special functions

9. Why is it important to use large experimental groups? (Think about what confounding factor gets less as the group gets bigger.)

The larger the group, the less impact pure Chance has on the results

10. Most fossils are remains that wound up in what situation soon after the organism’s death?

Sunk to the bottom of a body of water

(Buried is a possibility - in sediments or sand or mud, etc.)

11. What are two completely different classes of observation methods?

DIRECT

INDIRECT

12. Give one example of an trait found in a plant that specifically came about as a evolutionary adaptation to plant-eaters.

There are several - poisons, bad taste, spines, sticky sap, hard fibers, etc.

13. Explain what makes a double-blind study "double blind."

Neither the subjects nor the doctors / researchers treating the subjects know who's getting the experimental treatment or the control (placebo, usually) treatment

14. Briefly explain why Evolution by Natural Selection depends upon variety in a population.

Individuals best suited to conditions are "selected" by having the best chance to survive and reproduce - but with no variety, if all individuals are the same, there can be no selection

15. Define what is meant by a colonial organism.

Individuals can live on their own but actually live in large collections, dividing up duties.

LONG ANSWER.

Answer any four of the following questions for 8 Points Each.
Note: if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.
PARTIAL CREDIT IS POSSIBLE.

1. There are general characteristics that all living things have in common. What are four?

Made of at least one cell

(Remember, made of cells isn't quite right because it can be just one)

Able to reproduce, passing traits on to offspring using DNA

Go through growth & development to reach reproductive stage

Use and transform energy / Have metabolism

Able to respond to their environment

Able to evolve

Have forms that relate to their function

2. What are four different ways (just name them) that are used to determine relatedness of different organisms?

Compare anatomy	Link ancestors
Compare chemistry (Metabolic, DNA, proteins)	Compare embryos
Compare behaviors	Compare ecological relationships

3. For four of the five Kingdoms given in the textbook, name the Kingdom and give the trait or (more commonly) the combination of traits that make members of that Kingdom absolutely different from members of the other Kingdoms.

The books have added a sixth...

MONERA	Prokaryotes - bacteria
ARCHAEA	Prokaryotes - found in extreme environments
PROTISTA	Eukaryotes - single cells or collections of very similar cells
PLANTAE	Eukaryotes - multicelled photosynthesizers
AMIMALIA	Eukaryotes - multicelled consumers with internal digestion
FUNGI	Eukaryotes - multicelled consumers with external absorption

4. Name and briefly define the four levels of interactions that exist above the individual organism.

POPULATION	All organisms of the same species in an area
COMMUNITY	All organisms in an area
ECOSYSTEM	All factors, living and nonliving, in an area
BIOSPHERE	All the places on Earth where life exists

5. Males make sperm and females make egg cells. In what three ways are the two basically different?

Sperm	Egg cells
Much smaller	Much larger (carry yolk)
Produced in much larger numbers	Fewer made
Have ability to get to egg cells	Need to be reached by sperm

6. For asexual reproduction, fill in the following:

Definition:	Offspring are genetic copies of parent
Disadvantage: Explain briefly.	Lack of variety makes them vulnerable to harmful changes
Main feature that "balances out" the disadvantage	Production of huge numbers both spreads them out (changes miss some) and produces some variety through mutations

7. For each type of model used in experiments listed below, give one advantage and one disadvantage over the situation it’s standing in for.

Model	Advantage	Disadvantage
Animal	Cheaper and more ethical than using humans	Don't always react as humans would
Computer	Can mimic very complex systems with no loss of life	Limited by knowledge of systems

NO KEY FOR BONUS QUESTIONS.

Answer as many as you are able. Wrong answers will not result in points being lost from the main exam.
According to the hypothesis presented in class, what do the cloud fairies do? Three Points.

Why, apparently, do South Sea Islanders have such bizarre sexual practices? Four Points.

When people first suggested that fossils were the remains of now-extinct animals, why was it said that, according to the Bible, that was impossible? Four Points.

What kind of relationship exists in a symbiosis? Four Points.

What unusual (for a plant) trait do Ginkgo trees have? Three Points.

If a modern-day animal seems awfully similar to its distant, fossilized ancestors, what does that imply about the animal’s ecosystem? Four Points.

Of the major groups (phyla) of animals, what sorts of animals are considered most closely related to our phylum, the Chordates? Five Points.

Briefly describe the sequence of events that set up dinosaur footprints to become fossilized. Four Points.

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