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WorksheetsBiology 1620 Midterm Study Questions
Total questions: 90
Worksheet time: 23hrs 30mins
Which is NOT a scientific theory for how organic compounds appeared on earth?
They came from outer space.
Primitive bacteria introduced them.
Lightning striking water caused them to form.
They were formed near volcanoes.
In 1953, Miller and Urey tested a hypothesis relating to the origin of life. What step in the origin of life were they interested in?
The development of a genetic code.
The origin of protocells.
The formation of organic compounds.
The polymerization of organic macromolecules.
Scientists discovered that dripping a mixture of water and compounds important to living organisms on hot clay, ________________ were spontaneously generated.
Protocells, including the phospholid bilayers
Polymerized macromolecules
Nucleotides
Amino Acids
Which of the following macromolecules can act as both a genetic code and a catalyst in the replication of genetic codes, suggesting it played an important role in the origin of life.
DNA
Ribosome
RNA
Protein
Which of the following organisms is least likely to show up in the fossil record?
Scorpion
Bird
Slug
Snail
Which of the following methods would be the most precise way to age a fossil horse that wasn't more than 70,000 years old?
Analyzing petroglyphs of the horse made by ancient native peoples
Relative position in the sedimentary rock
Uranium dating
Carbon dating
When did Eukaryotes appear in the fossil record?
2.5 bya
545mya
3.5bya
4.6bya
The branch of biology specifically focused on determining an organism's evolutionary relationships is known as:
Systematics
Archaeology
Taxonomy
Classification
Who really got the ball rolling in regards to the scientific naming of organisms?
Aristotle
Plato
Charles Darwin
Carolus Linnaeus
In which level of the classification hierarchy would you find the group Mammalia?
Order
Genus
Class
Family
Which level of classification represents the most similar group of species?
Family
Domain
Genus
Order
If two sister taxa and a more distantly related species are group without their common ancestor, what kind of grouping is generated?
Polyphyletic
Monophyletic
Homeostatic
Paraphyletic
Which trait of prokaryotes makes a straightforward linear, branching tree of life unlikely?
Horizontal Gene Transfer
Asexual Reproduction
Sexual Reproduction
Vertical Gene Transfer
Only minke whale meat may be legally sold in Japan. If scientists generate a monophyletic clade that includes two types of humpback whales and one sample taken from a Japanese market, what has most likely occurred?
The Japanese government is conducting a sting operation to determine who will unknowingly purchase illegal whale meat.
Humpback whale meat is being sold illegally.
Minke whale meat was contaminated with Humpback whale DNA.
Scientists were sloppy and incorrectly placed the sample in a clade with Humpback whales.
The branch lengths of all phylogenetic trees closely correspond to time.
True
False
Lamarck introduced the idea of "Descent with Modification" before Charles Darwin.
True
False
Which experience in Darwin's life was most useful to him in the formulation of his theory of Evolution?
Medical School at Edinburgh.
The voyage of the Beagle.
Elementary school at Shrewsbury.
Clergy school at Cambridge.
In South America, Darwin experience an earthquake that raised the land at sea-level. This experience provided Darwin with evidence supportive of his theory from which branch of academia?
Geology
Biogeography
Island Studies
Anatomy
Different species of this organism from different islands in the Galapagos provided Darwin with support for his theory by showing that species change as they colonize new areas.
Green Iguana
Mockingbird
Penguin
Marine Iguana
Due to the young age, geology, and location of the Galapagos Islands, what can we conclude is the most likely mechanism used by iguanas to get to the islands from mainland South America?
Being carried by humans via canoes.
Swimming after evolving the ability to survive in the ocean.
Rafting on a large mass of vegetation, such as a tree.
Walking across a connecting land bridge during a recent ice age.
Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace are most noted for their discovery of:
The idea that species acquire traits during their lifetime that they pass on to their offspring.
The second law of thermodynamics as it relates to the ecological requirements of aquatic zebra mussels.
The mechanism for evolution: Natural Selection.
The theory that species change over time.
Which of the following statements best explains Darwin's theory of descent with modification by means of natural selection?
The appearance of new traits is coincident with the appearance of environmental conditions to which those traits are favorable.
Survival and reproduction of the fittest.
As organisms change their behavior, their physical and genetic traits will better match their surroundings, leading to adaptation.
Survival of the fittest.
The wing of a bird and the wing of a bat developed via convergent evolution. Which of the following is the best term to describe these traits?
Analogous Morphologies
Molecular Analogies
Molecular Homologies
Homologous Morphologies
Height and mass are both examples of this kind of trait.
Discrete
Quantitative
What is the major source for changes to the sequence of DNA within a gene?
Gene Duplication
Fertilization
Mutations
Sexual Recombination
Which is the best definition for the term "population"?
All individuals of a single species found throughout the earth.
All individuals of a species that live in the same area, that interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
All individuals of all species in a given area, assuming they can produce fertile offspring within their own group.
All individuals of a species in a given area, even if they are unable to produce fertile offspring via interbreeding.
Which of the following is NOT an assumption of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium?
Mutations do not occur.
Natural selection is occurring.
Random mating is occurring.
It is a very large population.
The tendency for a small population that colonizes a new island to have a drastically different genetic makeup compared to its mainland relatives is known as:
The Founder Effect
The Bottleneck Effect
The Reproductive Outlier Effect
Sexual Selection
Suppose in a population of flowers, in which the homozygous dominant individuals are red, the heterozygotes are pink, and the homozygous dominant individuals are white, there are 64 red, 32 pink, and 4 white. Assuming the population is in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, what ratio of the alleles are recessive?
0.04
0
0.20
0.80
What is the term for the selective event in which the extremes of a trait have increased survival and reproduction?
Stabilizing Selection
Dysfunctional Selection
Directional Selection
Disruptive Selection
All but which of the following prokaryote traits differ from eukaryote traits.
Unique flagella
Most have cell wall
DNA is the genetic code.
Nucleoid
Heterocysts in Anabaena allow for the division of labor among cell types. The regular cells convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates, while the heterocyst convert which abundant atmospheric gas into an organic compound?
Phosphorus
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Which of the following structures is necessary during conjugation?
Pilus
Fimbriae
Test
Flagellum
This specific small piece of genetic material found in some bacteria can be given to other bacteria via conjugation. It conveys antibiotic resistance.
R Plasmid
Nucleoid
F Factor
Nucleus
Prokaryotes are, on average, ____ times smaller than eukaryotes.
50
10
2
100
Which of the following body shapes is NOT common in prokaryotes?
Spiral
Cuboidal
Spherical
Rod-shaped
Penicillin breaks through the peptidoglycan cross-linkages in which bacterial group?
Gram-negative
Gram-positive
Bacteria reproduce or share genetic information in all but which of the following ways?
Transformation
Binary fission
Conjugation
Meiosis and fertilization
This protist is known for causing red tides.
Amoeba
Brown algae
Dinoflagellate
Parabasalid
The SAR clade is named after all but which of the following groups:
Alveolates
Archaea
Rhizaria
Stramenophiles
In the scientific skills exercise, we learned that the wheat mitochondrion shares the following percentages of DNA with the listed species:
M. capricolum 35%
A. nidulans 34%
A. tumefaciens 48%
E. coli 35%
Which of the bacteria is most likely to be closely related to the ancestor of the mitochondria?
E. coli
A. tumefaciens
A nidulans
M. capricolum
Phycoerythrin is the red pigment in red algae. Which of the following statements about it is true?
It is the only pigment involved in photosynthesis in the organism.
It insulates the algae from the pressure of great depths.
It prevents ice crystal formation in algae living at great depths.
It enables the algae to photosynthesize at great depths.
Diplomonads sometimes contain mitosomes, which are reduced forms of which cell organelle (and which can lack the critical electron transport chain, resulting in anaerobic respiration needs)?
Chloroplast
Endoplasmic reticulum
Nucleus
Mitochondria
Which of the following is the best generalization of protists?
Mostly unicellular
Mostly mixotrophic
All mixotrophic
All unicellular
The process of engulfing another cell that subsequently becomes a mutualistic organelle is known as:
Phagocytosis
Endothermy
Endosymbiosis
Pinocytosis
Approximately how many species of plants are known to exist today?
500,000
10,000
1,000,000
290,000
Which is the closest relative of plants?
Red Algae
Charophytes
Brown Algae
Chlorophytes
Which is not an adaptation to life on land?
Photosynthesis using carbon dioxide.
Stomata in the leaves.
Protective coatings for spores.
Sturdy stem structures.
Early plants likely benefited from mycorrhizae, which __________.
Provided a ready-made, rootlike system of filaments in the soil.
Increased carbon dioxide uptake from the air.
Increased nitrogen fixation in root nodules of the plant.
Blocked against ultraviolet radiation, which is more prevalent on land.
During the moss life cycle, which of the following is the predominant multicellular life-stage, on which the other life-stage must depend for survival?
Haptophyte
Lycophyte
Sporophyte
Gametophyte
Which of the following correctly shows how the fern life cycle differs from the moss life cycle?
Water isn't required for sperm transport from the antheridium to the archegonium in ferns.
The gametophyte stage of ferns is much reduced compared to the sporophyte stage.
The gametophyte stage in ferns is diploid.
The sporophyte stage of ferns is much reduced compared to the gametophyte stage.
Which group of vascular, seedless plants once dominated the forests of earth, but it now is found only as small forms such as the quillwort?
Monilophytes
Lycophytes
Hornworts
Liverworts
Which is the correct definition of a seed?
A spore, surrounded by a protective coat.
The germination cell for any plantlike organism.
A spore, surrounded by food, protected by a coat.
An embryo, surrounded by food, in a protective coat.
Microsporangia release microspores, which ultimately develop into _____ in seed plants.
The male gametophyte
The stigma
The female gametophyte
The pollen coat
Which part of the seed is wholly provided by the female gametophyte?
Food
Pollen grain
Seed coat
Embryo
Which of the following is NOT true of the tough, woody structure we call a pine cone?
It contains the ovules.
It is where the megaspores undergo meiosis.
It is where the microspores undergo meiosis.
It is the site of fertilization of the egg cell by the sperm.
Which is one possible reason the angiosperms have succeeded better than the gymnosperms (at least during the last 66 million years)?
They can produce seeds without the use of vascular tissue.
They do not have to expend energy in making sugar-rich fruits.
They have insect and other living pollinators.
They have tougher cuticles and smaller leaves.
What is the most likely reason for the Gymnosperms taking over the land from the seedless plants?
The dinosaurs became more common.
The climate became wetter.
The gymnosperms had flowers, which increased their reproductive success.
The climate became drier.
Which of the following is NOT a gymnosperm?
Cycad
Mormon Tea
Oak Tree
Redwood Tree
Which habitat is the stronghold of today's Gymnosperms?
The Temperate Grassland of the Great Plains.
The Taiga Forest of Canada and Siberia.
The Temperate Forest of the Eastern USA and Europe.
The Amazon Rainforest of South America.
Which of the following is a feature of plants that leads to their much greater individual diversity when compared with animals?
Indeterminate Growth
Determinate Growth
Asexual Reproduction
Sexual Reproduction
Which of the following is NOT a major goal of roots for the plant as a whole?
Energy Acquisition
Water Acquisition
Mineral Acquisition
Structural Stabilization
Plants like strawberries have modified stems called ______, which send off baby plants to reproduce the plant asexually.
Rhizomes
Tubers
Stolons
Apical Meristems
Which of the following is NOT a major goal of leaves for the plant?
Energy Acquisition
Water Acquisition
Transpiration
Carbon Dioxide Acquisition
Based on your knowledge of monocot and eudicot leaf structure, which of the following plants is a eudicot?
Wheat
Maple Tree
Corn
Iris
Which tissue type protects the plant on the outside?
Ground
Dermal
Vascular
Connective
Xylem is responsible for sending ___________ from the roots to the leaves.
Oils and Sugars
Water and Minerals
Energy and Minerals
Sugars and Water
Leaf cells that focus on photosynthesis are most likely:
Xylem Cells
Parenchyma
Collenchyma
Sclerenchyma
Which bulk flow response is hypothesized to speed up the flow of sugar in the phloem?
Negative Pressure
Transpiration
Positive Pressure
Root Pressure
Which of the following does NOT open up the stomata via guard cell regulation?
Putting the plant out in sunlight.
Pumping potassium ions into the guard cells.
Pumping potassium ions out of the guard cells.
Hydrating the plant.
Which property of water keeps them connected in a column from roots to leaves, enabling bulk transport upwards?
Tension
Cohesion
Negative Pressure
Adhesion
Which cells contain the Casparian Strip, which blocks the flow of water and minerals in the root?
Megasporangium
Endodermis
Periderm
Epidermis
Which route allows water to flow along the hydrophilic cell walls?
Symplastic
Apoplastic
Endodermal
Protoplasm
A plant cell in a hypotonic solution would:
Become turgid
Lyse
Become flaccid
Plasmolyze
Which of the following is true of water potential?
Water potential is equal to 1MPa at sea level.
Solute potenial is always positive.
Water will flow from a low water potential to a high water potential.
Water will flow from a high water potential to a low water potential.
Why do Venus Fly Traps and Genlisea plants need to capture and digest animals?
To obtain energy.
To obtain carbon.
To obtain water via the animals' bodily fluids.
To obtain essential elements.
Which soil particles are the largest, creating air pockets between them in the soil, which is a benefit to plant roots?
Sand
Silt
Clay
Dirt
Which is the best definition for humus, and important component of topsoil?
Weathered rocks and minerals dissolved in the soil.
Nematodes and Bacteria.
Decaying organisms and organic matter.
Living organisms such as insects and roots.
Loam is considered the best soil for plants because it:
Contains no clay, only sand and silt.
Contains mostly silt, with only limited amounts of sand and clay.
Contains only sand, which is great for minerals.
Contains equal amounts of sand, silt, and clay.
What do plants secrete to assist with cation exchange in the soil?
Nitrate ions.
Sodium ions.
Water.
Hydrogen ions.
Recently, we have attempted to reclaim soil contaminated by toxic chemicals through which process:
Phytoremediation
Erosion control
Adjusting soil pH
Irrigation
What is the benefit the plant gains when Rhizobium bacteria enter via an infection thread and form a clump of bacterioids?
A consistent source of nitrogen.
Calcium ions via cation exchange.
Increased absorption of water and minerals via mycorrhizae.
Carbohydrates for energy.
Which is true of all transgenic plants?
They are the result of the hybridization of two closely related plants.
They produce toxins to kill pests.
They are resistant to plant diseases.
They have a gene from a different species.
Which of the following is NOT a mechanism for asexual reproduction?
Fragmentation
Apomixis
Mitosis
Meiosis
What is the predominant mechanism for seed dispersal in dandelions and maple trees?
Water
Animal transport
Wind
None of the above
Which part of the plant emerges first from the seed?
Cotyledon
First true leaves
Shoot Apex
Radicle
Which part of the flower becomes the fruit, generally?
Ovary
Stigma
Ovule
Sepal
What is unique about angiosperm fertilization?
Two sperm cells fertilize the female gametophyte, generating two zygotes. One zygote dies.
Two sperm cells fertilize the female gametophyte; one the egg cell, the other forms a 3n cell that becomes the endosperm
One sperm cell fertilizes the egg cell, and another sperm reproduces via mitosis to become endosperm.
Three sperm cells fertilize the female gametophyte, forming the endosperm.
How many cells are within a pollen grain?
2
4
1
3
What part of the flower is mainly for its protection during development?
Stamen
Sepal
Petal
Style
