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Biology STAAR Writing Practice

Total questions: 29

Worksheet time: 36mins

Name
Class
Date
1.
Use the diagram answer the question.
What is a fitting description for this diagram?
a)
A Food Chain
b)
An Ecosystem
c)
A Food Web
d)
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
2.

Use the diagram to answer the question in a complete sentence.

The Mayfly is a food/energy source for which organisms?

4 lines
3.
What is the best explanation for an energy pyramid?
a)

It shows the FLOW of energy from one organism to the next. 

b)

It shows HOW much energy flows through a food web

c)

It shows the MEMBERS in a single organism

4.
True or False. In this Food Web Pyramid the consumers on each level only get about 10 percent of energy that the plants have stored.
a)
True
b)
False
5.

The deer, grasshopper, and bird are all examples of primary consumers on this food pyramid. What is another description for the way they obtain energy?

a)

decomposers

b)

omnivores

c)

carnivore

d)

herbivore

6.
In Australia the farmers had a problem with beetles eating the sugar cane. So they introduced the cane toad to control that population. Instead of eating the beetles, they ate the source of food and other organisms. What would be a possible consequence of this?
a)
The other organisms attacks the toad population
b)
The ecosystem would be destroyed
c)
The cane toads would get too much food and die
d)
The food web was changed by this one organism
7.

Put this food chain in the correct order

a)

Grass

b)

Rabbit

c)

Snake

d)

Hawk

1)
2)
3)
4)
8.

Select every organism that counts as a secondary consumer (some organisms can be both a secondary and tertiary consumer)

9.

What does the arrow in a food chain represent?

4 lines
10.
Question Image

Match each organism with the correct trophic level

a)

Producer

1.

Grass

b)

Primary Consumer

2.

Squirrel

c)

Secondary Consumer

3.

Insect Eating Bird

d)

Apex Predator

4.

Mountain Lion

e)

Decomposer

5.

Bacteria

11.
Question Image

Match the trophic level with the producer/consumer

a)

Trophic Level 1

1.

Producer- Autotrophic

b)

Trophic Level 2

2.

Primary Consumer

c)

Trophic Level 3

3.

Secondary Consumer

d)

Trophic Level 4

4.

Tertiary Consumer

e)

Trophic Level 5

5.

Apex Predator-Quaternary Consumer

12.

Match the producer/consumer level with what they eat

a)

Producers

1.

Sun, water, CO2

b)

Primary Consumers

2.

Herbivores

c)

Secondary Consumers

3.

Carnivores

d)

Tertiary Consumers

4.

Omnivores

e)

Apex Predators

5.

Can eat anything below them

13.

How much energy is passed along every trophic level increase?

a)

50%

b)

25%

c)

100%

d)

10%

14.

In your own words, what is the best explanation of a food web?

4 lines
15.

In your own words, what is the best explanation of an energy pyramid?

4 lines
16.

Label the parts of the DNA strand:

A. ​ (a)  

B. ​ (b)  

C. ​ (c)  

D. ​ (d)  

Choose from the below words
Hydrogen Bond
Phosphate Group
Deoxyribose Sugar
Nitrogen Base
17.

Protein synthesis means "to build" proteins. Place the following terms in order from start to finish in the process of protein synthesis.

a)

DNA

b)

Transcription

c)

mRNA

d)

Translation

e)

Protein

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
18.

The sequence of nitrogenous bases in DNA varies from organism to organism. Why is the sequence of bases in DNA most important?

a)

It provides the instructions for the traits of an organism

b)

Allows the DNA to have the shape necessary for replication

c)

Prevents mutations from occurring during DNA replication

d)

Helps form the sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA molecules

19.

Which type of mutation is illustrated in the image below?

a)

substitution

b)

insertion

c)

deletion

d)

frameshift

20.

Which type of mutation is demonstrated in the image below?

a)

missense

b)

nonsense

c)

insertion

d)

deletion

21.

Somatic cell mutation affects the ​ (a)   .

Gamete cell mutation affects ​the ​ (b)   .

Choose from the below words
organism
offspring
host
22.

Match the following Mutations

a)

Deletion

1.

Entire sequence shifts to the left

b)

Insertion

2.

Entire sequence shifts to the right

c)

Substitution

3.

One Nucleotide is swapped for another

d)

Point

4.

Only one nucleotide is affected

e)

Frameshift

5.

More than one nucleotide is affected and entire sequence shifts

23.

Match the following Mutations

a)

Missense

1.

Causes chance in amino acid sequence ; results in different protein

b)

Nonsense

2.

Causes an amino acid to change into a "STOP" codon

c)

Silent

3.

Has no effect on amino acids or proteins

24.

What type of mutation is this?

a)

Point

b)

Frameshift

25.

What type of mutation is this?

a)

Substitution

b)

Deletion

c)

Insertion

26.

What type of mutation is this?

a)

Nonsense

b)

Missense

c)

Silent

27.

Muscular dystrophy (MD) refers to a group of genetic disorders whose major symptom is muscle wasting.  The genetic disorder occurs because of a mutation in the gene sequence as seen in the image below. Which type of mutation is shown in the image?

a)

Point Mutation

b)

Frameshift

c)

Nonsense

d)

Missense

28.

If more than one nucleotide are affected in a frameshift mutation, can this change an amino acid made? How many?

a)

Yes, only one

b)

No, none

c)

Sometimes, possibly many

29.

What is the difference between the effect of a point mutation and a frameshift mutation?

4 lines