Extra Credit STAAR: Taxonomy & Biomolecules

A team of students encounters an unknown organism in a field while conducting a biodiversity study. Some students think the organism is a plant, while others think it is a fungus.

Which question should the students investigate to classify the organism correctly?

• Is there a cell wall around the cells of the organism?

• Is there nervous tissue present in the organism?

• Does the organism perform photosynthesis?

• Does the organism reproduce sexually?

A student wants to use the Venn diagram to show the characteristics of two kingdoms of organisms. The characteristics that the two kingdoms share will be listed in the shaded area where the circles intersect. Which of these is a characteristic that the student should list in the shaded part of the diagram?

• heterotrophic

• mobile

• prokaryotic

• multicellular

You are given the above information about cell. What conclusion can be drawn from this information?

• It is a single plant cell

• It is a fungal cell

• It is a protista cell

• It is an animal cell

Arthropods are joint-legged animals. Spiders, crabs, pill bugs, centipedes, and millipedes

are examples of the many types of arthropods. Which of these arthropods are most closely

related?

• Arthropods of the same family

• Arthropods of the same class

• Arthropods of the same genus

• Arthropods of the same species

The relationships among different orders of millipedes are shown in the cladogram. Based on this cladogram, which statement best describes relationships among millipede orders?

• Stemmiulida is more closely related to Merocheta than Penicillata is to Merocheta.

• Spirostreptida is more closely related to Glomerida than Sphaerotheriida is to Glomerida.

• Polyzoniida is more closely related to Glomeridesmida than Sphaerotheriida is to Glomeridesmida.

• Merocheta is more closely related to Glomeridesmida than Glomerida is to Glomeridesmida.

Organisms are classified today using the Linnaean system, and the following table shows the taxonomic classification of two marine organisms living along the Pacific Coast.

Taxonomic classification is important to marine biologists because it provides a way to -

• prove that marine evolution occurs

• discover and name every marine organism on Earth

• designate Latin as the universal language of marine biology

• identify marine organisms and find evolutionary relationships between them

Proteins and polysaccharides are polymers. These polymers are formed by dehydration synthesis. Which statement correctly identifies a difference in the structure of proteins and polysaccharides?

• Only polysaccharides are comprised of repeating units of cytosine, adenine, guanine, and thymine.

• Only proteins are formed from amino acids joined by peptide bonds.

• Only polysaccharides can be folded and twisted to very specific shapes.

• Only proteins can be large molecules with thousands of subunits.

Which of the following biomolecules typically contains both nitrogen and phosphate?

• Lipid

• Protein

• Nucleic Acid

• Carbohydrate

An advertisement for a health supplement for dogs claims to build lean muscle and strengthen tendons and ligaments, as well as provide energy. Which two biomolecules must the supplement contain to provide these benefits?

• Carbohydrates and lipids

• Proteins and carbohydrates

• Nucleic acids and carbohydrates

• Lipids and nucleic acids

The diagram represents one way an enzyme can be inhibited. (View Image)

Which statement explains the effect of an inhibitor on an enzyme?

• A substrate will be able to bond with the enzyme.

• The enzyme will likely be attacked by immune cells.

• The enzyme will be unable to produce more enzymes.

• A substrate will be unable to attach to the enzyme.