The different seasons of the year are due to 

•  The tilt of the earth's axis as it travels around the sun

•  The distance of the earth to the sun at different times of the year due to the elliptical shape of the orbit

•  The rotation of the earth around the sun

•  The gravitational pull of the moon as it travels around the earth

Which one of the following abiotic factors likely determines the types of organisms found in Utah's Great Salt Lake?

• sunlight

• salinity

• temperature

• all of these factors are correct

Which major forest biome consists mostly of coniferous trees (pine, spruce, fir)?

•  Tropical rainforest

• Taiga, or boreal forest

•  Temperate deciduous forest

• Tropical dry forest

Which feature most makes the deep sea biome different from all others?

• the life there does not depend on photosynthesis

• there are no predators

• there is no life

• there are no prokaryotic organisms

Which of the following is the most important factor that determines whether an area is a desert?

• lack of nutrients in the soil

• elevation

• heat

• Lack of water

 Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the Arctic tundra?

•  high latitude

•  permafrost

•  contains coniferous trees

• contains mosses and lichens

• short growing season for plants

How does the energy change within the steps of a food chain?

• Most of the energy is at the base of the food chain and there is less energy as you move up the food chain.

• The secondary consumers have more energy for hunting than the primary consumers.

• The energy is concentrated at the top of the food chain, in the secondary consumers, like humans.

• all over the above

What does the table tell us about the relationship between births to young mothers and total fertility rate?

• If women start having babies young, they have more babies.

• The higher the percentage of women who are giving birth between 15-19 years of age, the higher the total fertility rate.

• Both of these answers are correct.

• Neither are correct

When you study a population, you might study

• the competition for habitat between two species of snails

• the effect of fertilizer on a group of plants of different species

• the number of seeds of a single species that germinate (sprout and grow) each season

• climate patterns in a given area

What does carrying capacity mean?

• This is related to logistic growth of a population. The carrying capacity is the number at which the population levels off and stops moving upward.

• Carrying capacity is the number of individuals an area can sustainably support

• Carrying capacity is the point when a population's growth graph stops going upward and starts to bend to look like a horizontal line.

• Carrying capacity is an idea that Gause figured out in the early 1900s when he studied Paramecia. Only so many could live in a beaker. That number was the beaker's carrying capacity.

• All of the above are correct.