SC 139 - Second Exam 2004

Questions' Numbers are Links to the spots in the online book that discuss the concepts.  Some non-linked numbers represent things discussed only in class.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. 

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

 

1.  Which is the proper definition of sexual reproduction?

                    a. Offspring are a product of two parents
                    b. Male and female get together and produce offspring
_______      c. Offspring are a genetic mix of two sources
                    d. All of these are equally good
                    e. The approach widely preferred by surveys

 

2. Evolution rates should be both gradual and punctuated because they should follow the rate of

_______      a. Environmental change                     b. Mutations
                    c. Allele frequency change                  d. Genetic drift
                                   e. Hmmm...um, the stock market?

 

3. In most land plants, individuals are both male and female, a condition that can be called

_______      a. Asexual                     b. Dioecious                     c. Monoecious
                    d. Ambisexual                         e. Highly confusing on Valentine’s Day

 

4. Type species or ecospecies occupy

_______      a. The same group in a classification system
                    b. Different niches in a single ecosystem
                    c. Spots on a single food chain
                    d. The same niche in different ecosystems
                    e. Only the cheapest ecosystems, which makes them cranky

 

5. The organic materials in primordial soup came from

_______      a. Plants                     b. Animals                     c. Space dust
                    d. Bacteria                         e. The Chowder Family

 

6. Which fits best with current theories about Earth’s earliest life?

_______      a. Some of the earliest cell forms are still around today
                    b. The first molecule systems were probably pure protein
                    c. Protocells probably formed in the ocean depths
                    d. All of these are equally likely
                    e. The real estate prices were really low then

 

7. Which system was not possible before photosynthesis became widespread?

_______      a. Digestion                                         b. Reproduction
                    c. Aerobic respiration                          d. Evolution
                                e. The Dewey Decimal System

 

8.  Which describes the eventual fate of a small group split off from a large population?

_______      a. Genetic drift                                 b. Adaptive radiation
                    c. Founder effect                             d. Isolation matrix
                                        e. Ah, who needs ‘em anyway?

 

9. Stromatolites are

_______      a. Chromosome structures                     b. Rock formations
                    c. Extremely old fossils                         d. Dominant genes
                                    e. The diet version of something-or-other

 

10.  Linkage between genes refers to their

_______      a. Making proteins used in the same processes
                    b. Similarities when compared between related organisms
                    c. Codes and the proteins made from the codes
                    d. Being together on the same chromosomes
                    e. Being front-page material on the Enquirer

 

11.  Panspermia is an idea that connects

_______      a. Reproduction & gender                 b. Evolution & isolation
                    c. Meteors & Life                             d. Alleles & traits
                    e. My mind to an extremely weird food preparation

 

12.  When DNA is used as a molecular clock, the "ticks" of the clock are

_______      a. Mutations                     b. Direct products of radioactive decay
                    c. New species                 d. Brand new protein products 
                                        e. We have ticks on our DNA???

 

 

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.
You can get partial credit on these answers.

1. What are two examples of different types of memes?

 

 

2. What two pre-existing systems might have combined to produce the first photosynthesis system?

 

 

3. Mutation effects - put these in order from most to least likely: bad, good, neutral.

 

 

4.  For asexual reproduction -

BASIC
DEFINITION -

ADVANTAGE
OVER
SEXUAL -

5.  For a high chromosome number -

ADVANTAGE

 

DISADVANTAGE

6.  For sexual reproduction -

BASIC
DEFINITION -

ADVANTAGE
OVER
ASEXUAL -

7.  Two different energy sources or types that might have been used by the first living systems -

 

 

8.  What two specific advantages do asexual reproducers get from producing large numbers of offspring (it increases survival chances, but why?)

 

 

9.  Define alternations of generations (but don’t use any of those words in the definition).

 

 

10.  Although they wouldn’t have needed them at first, what are two features that the Earth’s first living systems eventually had to develop?

 

 

11.  When an allele appears to be dominant, what is actually going on? (What’s the biological process that makes an allele dominant?)

 

 

12. Briefly explain the "plant problem" that slowed down First Life Theory before the heterotroph hypothesis.

 

 

13. What are two different ways that molecules undergoing chemical evolution might gain a competitive advantage over other molecules?

 

 

14.  Briefly describe how one of the two types of genetic redundancy works.

 

 

 

LONG ANSWER. 

Answer any four of the following questions for Eight Points Each.
Note: if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.
You can get partial credit on these answers.

1. How do the basic sex cells differ? Give three sets of differences.

SPERM

EGG CELLS

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  What are four different circumstances that are thought to lead to mass extinctions?

 

 

 

 

3.  What are four different conditions that a population must have for the Hardy-Weinberg Law to apply to it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Briefly describe the two different methods for figuring out how old a fossil is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Describe (don’t just give a simple label!) four different isolating situations that can lead to the evolution of new species from the same starting group.

 

 

 

 

 

6.  For the very first "living" systems, what basic requirements have to be met - what sort of features should the systems have to be considered "living"?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to Answer Key

BONUS QUESTIONS. 

Answer as many as you are able. Wrong answers will not result in points being lost from the main exam. You can get partial credit on these answers.

What is the Nemesis theory of mass extinctions? Three Points.

 

 

Why is disease not a major factor in producing mass extinctions? Three Points.

 

 

Briefly explain how low chromosome numbers may sometimes produce offspring similar to what asexual reproduction would produce. Five Points.

 

 

Why is mitochondrial DNA more useful to evolutionary studies than "regular" DNA from a nucleus? Four Points.

 

 

What type of researchers were Hardy & Weinberg? Three Points.

 

 

Although he got some credit for evolution theory, Alfred Russel Wallace really is considered the originator of what science specialty? Three Points.

 

 

What material, still found today, might have given the first living systems a place to organize on? Three Points.

 

 

What feature in the fossil record indicates when photosynthesis became common on the Earth? Three Points.

 


 		 
     

Michael McDarby.

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