SC 139 - First Exam 2004

Answer Key

MULTIPLE CHOICE. 

On the line to the left, place the letter of the choice that best answers the question.
Three Points Each. NOTE: "e" answers are never the correct answer.

 

                    1. Which is a clear example of post-modernism applied to science?

___D___          a. Darwin took many notes during his voyage
       
                     b. Lamarck saw evolution as a progress toward perfection
   
                         c. Lyell explained processes in the past in terms from the present
   
                         d. Leewenhoek developed a non-prisming magnification lens
   
                         e. I’d like to whack something with a post right about now

                          ...look for an idea that was clearly affected by the culture of the time -
                              Lamarck (and most people of the time) thought that humans were 
                                     God's Great Creation, and saw Nature's processes s supporting 
                              that idea.

 

                    2. Because of Alfred Russel Wallace,

___D___          a. The role of mutations were understood
                        b. An entire world of tiny organisms became known
                        c. We have a cell theory
                        d. Darwin published his theory about evolution
                        e. I have one more dead guy to remember

                          ...Darwin had been discussing his ideas, but had avoided publishing to
                                duck the controversy he knew they would bring.  Wallace's paper
                                with similar theories forced Darwin to get his own out there.

 

                    3. An electron beam, compared to a light beam,

___B___          a. Penetrates material easier                 b. Produces better resolution
                        c. Requires cheaper glass lenses          d. All of these
                                    e. Just sound more, like, modern, y’know-?

                          ...the beam is smaller, so it can be focused on smaller things, but it's
                               weaker, so a is wrong, and focussing is done with magnets, so c
                               is wrong.

 

                    4. Cells seem to have size limitations because, in general, ______ increases 
                                    much faster than _______ as cells get larger

___A___          a. Volume...surface area                         b. Metabolism...movement
                        c. Surface area...volume                         d. Movement...metabolism
                                                     e. Spending...income

                          ...it's a physical relationship - size increase makes the active insides of
                             a cell big at a faster rate than the surface, needed to move the things
                             the inside is working with in and out.

 

                    5. Uniformitarianism allows explanations for things that

___C___          a. Are very small                                 b. Are hard to organize
                        c. Happened in the past                       d. Extremely chaotic
                                        e. Require everyone to dress the same

                          ...it's  way to understand the past by assuming that basic processes 
                             worked the same way there.

 

                    6. Thomas Malthus’ important ideas can be labeled as

                        a. Natural control of overpopulation
                        b. The inheritance of acquired characteristics
___A___          c. Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny
                        d. Speciation through isolation
                        e. Boring stuff that really old guys can tell us

                          ...he was worried about Europe's human overpopulation, but to avoid
                              controversy discussed how Natural populations are controlled.

 

                    7. Which is an allowable species name?

___D___          a. Johnathanida Edwarda                         b. howardus deanus
                       
c. wesli Clarki                                           d. Johnius kerrius
    
                        e. Whatever you can call them and they don’t bite you

                          ...follow the rules:  italics (all), first word capitalized (a, d), second
                              word not capitalized.  Proper name basis doesn't matter.

 

                    8. The power of a control test is how it

___B___          a. Repeats the experiment                     b. Provides a comparison
                        c. Gives better measurements                d. Works with living things
                                                e. Gives, um, you know, control

                          ...by removing the variable in the control test, it shows you what effect
                             the variable actually has in the experimental test.

 

                    9. Which is an example of spontaneous generation?

___D___          a. Viruses causing disease                 b. Elephants becoming mammoths
                        c. Bones becoming fossils                 d. Horsehairs becoming worms
                                    e. Every generation likes to think it’s more spontaneous

                          ...Life from Nonlife.  Worms from hairs (which some folks still believe), which aren't alive.

 

                    10. The fossil record in a particular location often "skips" long periods of time, 
                                    during which 

___A___      a. That region was dry land                b. That region had no major lifeforms
   
                     c. No evolution occurred                    d. All of these
   
                     e. The payments were missed and the records were repossessed

                          ...most fossil beds were once sediments on the bottom of bodies of water,
                              but that only accumulates when they're wet.

 

                    11. Traits that link butterflies, bats, and airplanes are based upon

___B___          a. Taxonomy             b. Analogy            c. Ideology 
                        d. Homology                        e. Splattiness

                          ...they are linked by a similar function - flight.  But it's all through
                             different underlying structures, so they are not homologous. 

 

                    12. Sectioning is a process often needed for

___A___          a. Transmission microscopes                           b. Evolution
                        c. Scanning microscopes                                 d. Field Study
                                                        e. Orange consumption

                          ...it's thin-slicing  specimen so the microscope beam can be transmitted
                             through it.

 

 

SHORT ANSWER. 

Answer any eight of the following questions for 4 Points Each.
Note:
if you answer more than eight, only the first eight will be corrected.
You can get partial credit on these answers.

1. Darwin saw the relationship between organism types on a mainland and nearby islands as varying with an extent according to what features of the islands?

How near to the mainland they were 

(farther tended to be more different)

How similar the climates were

(less similar tended to be more different)

2. What is meant by the term colonial organism?

      ...organisms that normally group together, doing different jobs within the group, but with individuals that can live independently if they had to.  With single-celled types, it's kind of a link between single- and multi-celled. 

3. What are two features or abilities that eukaryotes have but prokaryotes don’t?  There are several.

Have nucleus.
Have many complex parts.
Have 2-ended chromosomes.

Are capable of existing in multi-celled systems.

4. What is the basic purpose of sectioning?

     ...this was kind of already asked in #12 above (that's a mistake), although this is a different question.  It's done so a transmission microscope beam can go through a specimen. 

5. Either define or give an example of convergent evolution.

     ...this is where two unrelated living things have similarities based adapting similar answers for similar evolutionary conditions.  Like the same fishy (hydrodynamic) shape in tuna, dolphins, and squid, or a wormy shape good for burrowing that shows up in at least six totally different groups of animals.

 

6. The early idea that fossils represented species from the past led to an idea that seemed totally contrary to religious teachings, but no longer is an issue. What idea was it?

    ...the idea that types of animals (created for Eden, which is why it was seen as blasphemous) could go extinct, implying that something was wrong with them.

 

7. In the classification system of cladistics, when do family trees "split"?

    ...the splits happen when certain key traits are assumed to have appeared.

 

8. Two features eukaryotes have but prokaryotes don’t have.  This one should have been "opposite," so it wasn't a repeat of #3 above.  The difference here is the word features, which means physical features.

 

 

9. Briefly define what, in general, confounding factors are.

    ...these are items that are not the variable but which can affect (confound) the results of your experiment.

10. Put the following in order from smallest to largest: Class, Family, Genus, Kingdom, Order, Phylum, Species, Superorder.  Might be best to work backwards from #8 here...

1  Species

2  Genus

3  Family

4  Order

5  Superorder

6  Class

7  Phylum

8  Kingdom

11. What is adaptive radiation?

     ...a number of new species evolve from one starting group by changing to exploit different niches in the same location.

 

12. Explain why the concept of artificial selection was important to forming a theory of evolution.

    ...it showed a way that "types" of living things could be dramatically altered over time by selectively breeding them (evolutionary theory just looked for another method of selection).

 

13. What is the current biological definition of a species?

    ...a group that, under natural conditions, only breeds within its group.

 

14. What is the function of homeogenes?

    ...they affect the very basic body plans that are laid out during early embryo development.

 

15. Name one structure found in plant cells but not in animal cells.

    There are several, but the one we discussed is the cell wall.

 

LONG ANSWER. 

Answer any four of the following questions for Eight Points Each.
Note:
if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.
You can get partial credit on these answers.

1. Give three points about Nature that everyone could agree were true, which sets up Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

More offspring are made than will live to make their own offspring.

In any group, individuals vary.

In different situations, some individuals will have advantages based on their variations, while others will have disadvantages.

2. For any four of the six basic Kingdoms, give the name of the Kingdom, then enough features to completely distinguish it from any of the others.

 Archeans

Prokaryotes, simple, found mostly in extreme environments

Monerans

Prokaryotes, more advanced, very very common.

Protistans

Eukaryotes, mostly single-celled or collections of very similar cells.

Plants

Eukaryotes, multi-celled, producers capable of photosynthesis* 

Fungi Eukaryotes, multi-celled, consumers that absorb nutrients through outer surfaces
Animals Eukaryotes, multi-celled, usually mobile, consumers that break down & absorb nutrients internally
* - NOT the only group where photosynthesis is found!

3. Give four different materials that can surround an organism and help produce a fossil much later.

Sediments (body of water)

Sand (sandstorm)

Mud (mudslide)

Tar (tar pit)

Sap (amber) Volcanic ash (NOT lava!)

4. The four rules of the Cell Theory -

All living things are made up of at least one cell.

Cells only come from other, related cells.

Cells are the smallest unit that can really be considered alive.

Cells are more similar than different.

5. Give the steps necessary to bring about a change in species by Natural Selection. Don’t take the number of lines available as matching the number of steps - this is more like lined paper.

As an environment changes, those individuals with advantages under the new

conditions have a better chance to survive, reproduce, and pass their advantages

on to their offspring.  Offspring pick up mixes of advantages, and those with the

best mixes live to reproduce and pass them on.  Over time, as advantageous traits

to the new environment become common in the group, the "typical" individual  

may be so different from the old "type" that a new species can be recognized.

6. For Jean Baptiste de LaMarck - name or describe

His theory that                  Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics -
is no longer accepted            Traits developed through a lifetime can be passed
at all -                                      to offspring.

His theory that                 Drive for Perfection -
often affects how                  Evolution is part of a plan, all moving toward a perfect
people still feel -                   final Creation with Man in charge.

NO KEY FOR BONUS QUESTIONS. 

Answer as many as you are able. Wrong answers will not result in points being lost from the main exam. You can get partial credit on these answers.

What was the third Kingdom to be set up? Three Points.

 

When Francesco Redi ran his first meat - maggot experiment, what was "wrong" with the first trial? Three Points.

 

 

Why are field studies a common approach in biology? Three Points.

 

 

Many of the early developments in microscopes happened in which century? Three Points.

 

 

How is the label we got from Robert Hooke applied differently from what he originally named? Three Points.

 

 

Why was Indonesia a great place to come up with a theory of evolution? Three Points.

 

 

What, according to most books, is the term "vestigial organ" supposed to mean? Three Points.

 

What is a likely different explanation for vestigial organs? Three Points.

 

 

What observations led to the expression "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny"? Three Points.

 

 

Other than make it bigger, what does a standard lab microscope do to the image of a specimen? Three Points.


 
     

 

Michael McDarby.

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