SC 135 - First Exam 2000

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-?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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?

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

3. What exactly is an allele?

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

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

6. In science, what is an artifact?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15. Define what is meant by a colonial organism.

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?

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

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.

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

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

6. For asexual reproduction, fill in the following:

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.

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.