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. Six Points Each.

1. During fertilization,

____D_____    a. A diploid cell splits into haploid/monoploid cells
                        b. Two diploid cells fuse into a haploid/monoploid cell
                        c. A haploid/monoploid cell split into diploid cells
                        d. Two haploid/monoploid cells fuse into a diploid cell
                        e. I guess it’s too late to drop the course...

                            ...haploid sperm + haploid egg cell...

2. Glucose is split into pyruvate during

____B_____    a. Krebs / Citric Acid Cycle                                 b. Glycolysis
                        c. Electron Transport Chain                                 d. Calvin Cycle
                                            e. The latest Penn & Teller magic special

                            ...the pyruvate feeds into the Krebs Cycle...

3. Bioaccumulation is

____B_____    a. Purely a way for toxins to kill organisms
                        b. A process that allows organisms to get enough nutrients
                        c. Used in the production of beer
                        d. The important first step in photosynthesis
                        e. Another one of those terms I’m forgetting by nightfall

                            ...it does figure in a, but that's not what the process is actually for...

4. An organism that goes through alternations of generations

____C_____    a. Always has a larval form that changes drastically to an adult form
                        b. May reproduce sexually or asexually - whatever’s better
                        c. Always follows a sexual phase with an asexual one and vice versa
                        d. All of the above
                        e. Yells at itself over its taste in music, clothes, etc.

                            ...match the term to the definition.

5. Which is true?

____D_____    a. More species and biomass are autotrophs
                        b. More species and biomass are heterotrophs
                        c. More species are autotrophs and more biomass is heterotrophs
                        d. More species are heterotrophs and more biomass is autotrophs
                        e. So autotrophs are weird cars and scientists go to biomass on Sundays...

                            ...the autotrophs are the bottom of the food chain and so weigh more
                                than all the levels above them, but there are more niches for
                                consumers in the world than producers.

6. Oxygen debt builds up in

____C_____    a. Anaerobic ecosystems                                     b. Plant cells
                        c. Muscle cells                                                    d. Carotenoids  
                                        e. Accounting records of many hospitals

                            ...just a feature of the system.

7. During the early stages of the formation of life on earth, what would be the most likely result if molecules were trapped in lipid bubbles?

____B_____    a. They would stop functioning
                        b. They would develop a better system in the contained space
                        c. They would use the bubble to swim with
                        d. They would better access environmental energy
                        e. They would qualify for a special Jerry Springer Show

                            ...the isolation both protects them from molecules trying to tear them
                                apart for materials and allows the development of a contained,
                                coordinated chemistry.

8. When protein molecules are broken down

____C_____    a. All parts are used in respiratory pathways  
                        b. All parts are removed as wastes  
                        c. The carbon parts go into respiration and the nitrogen parts become waste  
                        d. The nitrogen parts go into respiration and the carbon parts become waste  
                        e. It’s really tough to find a garage that can fix them

                            ...the carbon parts can be used for energy in the Krebs Cycle, but not
                                    the nitrogen parts, at least not directly.

9. The role that a species plays in the world is its

____B_____    a. Ecoposition             b. Niche              c. Link             d. Homology
                                                        e. Only chance to make the big bucks

                            ...match the definition to the term.

10. Which has a codon on one end and an attachment for an amino acid on the other?

____A_____    a. Transfer RNA                     b. DNA                     c. Enzyme 
                        d. Messenger RNA              e. Sounds like sitting down would be a problem

                            ...it connects to mRNA codon by codon and builds protein amino
                                acid by amino acid

11. Beer and milk are both sites of

____A_____    a. Anaerobic respiration                     b. Light-independent reactions  
                        c. Aerobic respiration                        d. Light-dependent reactions  
                                                    e. White "mustaches"

                            ...anaerobic organisms produce the alcohol and bubbles in beer and
                                acid that makes milk sour.

SHORT ANSWER. 

Answer any ten of the following questions for 7 Points Each.
Note: if you answer more than ten, only the first ten will be corrected.

1. Name two features that both aerobic respiration and photosynthesis have exactly in common.

        ...not a great question - the "exactly" makes it tricky.  But they both have electron transport chains, and they both produce ATP and electron carrier molecules.

2. In order to qualify as "living," what two abilities did the first living molecules have to have?

        ...they had to be able to reproduce themselves and to evolve.  And to self-organize.  All other "life features" came later.

3. Define each.

4. Carotenoids reflect    red       and    yellow  (and orange)   light frequencies.

    Carotenoids absorb        green         and      blue         light frequencies.

5. Why are most ecosystems best shown by a food web rather than a food chain?

        ...because most species eat enough variety to be in different places on different chains, connecting several of them.

6. What exactly is a Barr body, and why are they produced?

        ...it is a deactivated X chromosome in female (mammals), allowing males and females to express X genes equally.

7. Briefly describe the "space seed" hypothesis.

        ...the first Life on Earth originated somewhere "out there," and was carried to the young Earth on meteors.

8. How is the process of Meiosis I different from the process of mitosis?

        ...homologous pairs are matched together, pulled as pairs into the equator, and then separated in anaphase, but the chromosomes stay double-stranded.

9. How is the process of Meiosis II different from the process of mitosis?

        ...the cells that divide are haploid rather than monoploid.

10. Minerals commonly play what role in enzyme systems?

        ...they are often cofactors.

11. When RNA is picking up a gene code, how does it "know" where to stop?

        ...there is a codon that marks the end of a gene.

12. What is activation energy?

        ...Energy needed to get a chemical reaction started.

13. Briefly explain the idea of Occam’s Razor.

        ...this is the idea that if many explanations for a phenomenon are available, the simplest explanation is the most likely to be the right one  (this is an assumption and appears to not be entirely true).

14. Where inside a cell is the Krebs/Citric Acid Cycle done?

        ...this part of aerobic respiration is done in the mitochondrion.

15. If the temperature is too warm or the pH is too extreme and an enzyme doesn’t work as well, what exactly happens inside an enzyme molecule?

        ...Hydrogen bonds are disrupted and the molecule loses its functional shape ("denaturing" is what is happening, but not enough by itself to answer this question).

16. When the Earth was a place for chemical evolution, what were two abilities that would make a particular chemical a better competitor?

        ...there are more than two - an ability to grab raw materials better, to put them together faster, to reproduce more quickly, to somehow inhibit other competing molecules - a lot of things that would work with advanced organisms competing in the same food chain.

Show an overview, with compounds and energy types, of the following reactions:

17. Aerobic Respiration:

18. Photosynthesis:

Answer any four of the following questions for 16 Points Each.
Note: if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.

1. Show, in a labeled drawing, the cells (from a single starting cell) produced by the following processes:

2. Number the following steps in the order that the current Heterotroph Hypothesis puts them:

3. For each of the stages of photosynthesis, give the name of the reaction and three things that happen then.

4. What are four distinctly different things that a typical cell headed eventually for a division does during interphase?

5. Briefly describe three different ways that a molecule can inhibit the action of an enzyme. Include what it does and how doing that shuts the enzyme off.

6. Briefly describe the steps (there are at least six) that can lead to the deaths of most life in a shallow pond.

7. At the points labeled with the stars, attach the appropriate labels from this list:

          High Frequency          \                 Visible Range  !!!!!!!       /           Low Frequency    
               *                              *   *          *                                    *        *
      X-Ray            UltraViolet  Violet   Blue                          Red      InfraRed

8. For each of the four stages of mitosis, give the name of the phase (in order!) and then describe one thing that only happens during that particular phase.

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.

Briefly explain the implications (don’t just define the terms) of E = mc². Five Points.

For warm-bloodedness over cold-bloodedness, for Four Points Each, give one metabolic:

Advantage:

The Heterotroph Hypothesis "solved" a major specific problem that faced theories about the first living things. What was it? Five Points.

What are two features, for four points each, of deep-sea hydrothermal vents that makes them very good candidates as sites of the first living things?

How could the basic chemistry for photosynthesis develop in the deep ocean where light from the Sun can’t reach? Eight Points.

You weigh a potted plant. One month later, you weigh it again and it has gained significant weight. Where exactly did the weight come from? Five Points.

Plants both release oxygen and then use it in aerobic respiration. Why is there so much "left over" for the world’s consumers? Five Points.

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs - where on Earth did it hit? Four Points.

What was missing from the study sheets (ands wound up here only in the optional question parts)?  Four Points.