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Africa Midpoint Assessment Review

Total questions: 23

Worksheet time: 13mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which statement best explains why different plant species are found at different water depths as represented in the diagram below?

a)

Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, typically beginning with photosynthetic organisms.

b)

In any particular environment, the growth and survival of organisms is affected by physical conditions.

c)

Plants on land are higher up the food chain than plants under water.

d)

Plant cells and some one-celled organisms contain chloroplasts.

2.

What are the abiotic factors that characterize a forest ecosystem?

a)

light and biodiversity

b)

temperature and amount of available water

c)

types of procedures and decomposers

d)

pH and number of heterotrophs

3.

A stable pond ecosystem would not contain

a)

materials being cycled

b)

oxygen

c)

decomposers

d)

more consumers than producers

4.

Which statement best describes a situation where competition occurs in an ecosystem?

a)

A deer outruns an attacking wolf.

b)

A deer, during the winter, consumes tree bark

c)

A deer and rabbit consume grass in a field.

d)

A deer and a rabbit are both startled by a hawk flying overhead.

5.

Base your answer on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon

In the early 1800s, the passenger pigeon was the most abundant bird species in North America. These pigeons traveled in flocks sometimes larger than a billion birds. The enormous flock sizes helped protect them from predation by foxes, lynx, owls, and falcons. It also helped them outcompete other animals (squirrels, chipmunks) for chestnuts and acorns, their main food source.

Unfortunately, this flocking behavior made the passenger pigeons easy targets for the people who killed them for food. The invention of the telegraph to broadcast flock locations to hunters and the expansion of the railroads to ship the pigeons to new food markets had devastating results. By the 1890s, their numbers had dwindled dramatically, with flocks only numbering in the hundreds. In 1914, the passenger pigeon became extinct when the last member of the species died at the Cincinnati Zoo.


A direct result of the rapid decline of the passenger pigeon population was most likely

a)

an increase in owl and falcon populations

b)

an increase in chipmunk and squirrel populations

c)

a decrease in fox and chipmunk populations

d)

a decrease in squirrel and chestnut tree populations

6.

Base your answer on the information and graphs below, and on your knowledge of biology. The diagrams below show the number of fish in a lake and the average water temperature in the lake for the months of May through October.During certain times of the year, bears feed heavily on a population of fish in a lake. At other times of the year, the bear population feeds primarily on fruits, berries, and insects.

a)

an evolutionary tree

b)

a food chain

c)

an electrophoresis gel

d)

a food web

7.

The diagram represents three human body systems. Which row in the chart below correctly shows what systems A, B, and C provide for the human body?

a)

1

b)

2

c)

3

d)

4

8.

A weightlifter has spent years building his muscular strength. His newborn daughter has normal strength for a baby. Which statement best explains this situation?

a)

A daughter inherits most of her traits from her mother. The daughter's muscles are unlikely to resemble her father's.

b)

The weightlifter's wife probably did not lift weights. Both parents must have this trait before the baby can inherit it.

c)

Babies do not have strong muscles. The daughter's muscles will be unusually strong in a few more months.

d)

The weightlifter's highly developed muscles resulted from exercise. A characteristic such as this will not be inherited.

9.

Identical twins were separated at birth and raised by two different families. Years later, one twin was a physically fit member of the cross-country team, and the other twin was overweight with slightly higher-than-normal blood pressure. The differences in these twins could be explained by the fact that

a)

the genes in the two individuals are completely different

b)

in twins, each individual inherits genes from only one parent

c)

the DNA bases in twins combine differently

d)

the environment can influence the expression of genes

10.

Base your answer on the passage below and on your knowledge of biology.Green sea slugs are animals that live in water and have developed the ability to produce their own chlorophyll. These creatures can also pass this ability to make chlorophyll to their offspring. Once the offspring have one meal of algae, they are able to make food using sunlight. This one meal provides the baby slugs with the chloroplasts needed to make use of the chlorophyll, and they are able to produce their own food in the future.The best explanation for why sea slugs are able to pass on this ability to make food to their offspring is that

a)

the gene for making algae is in all their body cells

b)

making food is beneficial, so the slugs needed to mutate

c)

the environment causes the slugs to become green

d)

the gene for chlorophyll production is part of their DNA

11.

Lobsters are crustaceans related to crayfish, crabs, and shrimp. Most lobsters are a reddish brown color, but on rare occasions, they can be orange, blue, or even multicolored. These color differences can be caused by

a)

genetic variations

b)

different numbers of offspring

c)

overpopulation and excessive resources

d)

the instability of the ecosystem

12.

Eye color, hair color, and skin color often vary from person to person and even within a family. One explanation is that

a)

the glucose units in a DNA molecule are often rearranged

b)

the genetic material of the female parent has the most influence on offspring

c)

the inherited traits of individuals are determined by different gene combinations

d)

some extra parts of genetic material are often gained during fertilization

13.

Which phrase best describes a gene?

a)

a segment of a DNA molecule found only in the body cells of an organism

b)

a segment of a DNA molecule found only in the gametes of an organism

c)

a segment of a DNA molecule that contains the instructions for producing a trait in an organism

d)

a segment of a DNA molecule that contains the instructions for producing all the characteristics of an organism

14.

Animals and green plants are similar in that they

a)

both carry out heterotrophic nutrition

b)

all produce offspring by asexual reproduction

c)

both use DNA to transmit hereditary information to offspring

d)

all require oxygen to carry out photosynthesis

15.

Base your answer on the diagram and on your knowledge of biology. The diagram represents trophic levels in an ocean environment.


The organisms found at the second trophic level of this pyramid would be

a)

producers

b)

decomposers

c)

carnivores

d)

herbivores

16.

One characteristic of a stable ecosystem is

a)

a high number of predators

b)

an interdependence of organisms

c)

a lack of biodiversity

d)

an increase in human interference

17.

What would happen to the bird if the green fish died out?

a)

the bird population would grow

b)

the bird population would die out

c)

the smaller fish will die out

18.

The area in which an organism naturally lives is its

a)

niche

b)

habitat

c)

adaptation

d)

community

19.

Rabbits are the __________ of foxes.

a)

Competition

b)

Niche

c)

Predator

d)

Prey

20.

If a scientist uses the letter C to represent the trait of curly hair in dogs, then Cc would be considered a(n)

a)

allele

b)

phenotype

c)

genotype

d)

homologous

21.

Ladybugs stalk, catch, kill, and eat insects known as aphids. Lady bugs are the _________________ and aphids are the __________________

a)

competitor, niche

b)

scavenger, decomposer

c)

prey, predator

d)

predator, prey

22.

A scientist wrote, "Matching a lion cub's alleles to the alleles of all possible parents lets you identify exactly who the parents are." This testable statement is an example of a(n)

a)

theory

b)

scientific law

c)

hypothesis

d)

scientific question

23.

Humans have many different hair and eye colors as well as different blood types. Genes come in different versions to express these traits. The alternative forms are known as

a)

loci

b)

chromosomes

c)

phenotypes

d)

alleles