SC 139 - First Exam 2005

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. The modern definition of a species depends upon

___C___         a. Ability to produce offspring only
                      b. Ability to produce offspring that can then produce offspring
                      c. Reproductive behavior in Nature
                      d. Particular genetic differences
                      e. They just make this stuff up, really

            ...it's who they're willing to mate with under natural conditions.

 

2. Between single-celled and multi-celled, there are _______ organisms.

___B___         a. No living                     b. Colonial                     c. Bipolar
                      d. Fungus                                     e. Indecisive

            ...with individuals that can live independently but tend to band together
                  and split up the jobs (also done by some multicellular animals).

 

3. Specimens look the most three dimensional through

___A___         a. A scanning microscope               b. A transmission microscope
                      c. A light microscope                     d. An electron microscope
                                            e. Those funny cardboard glasses

            ...since the imaging system involves reflection of a beam from a surface,
                   that 3-dimensional surface is what's seen.

 

4. Traits that are analogous but not at all homologous often result from

___D___         a. Sharing an ancestor             b. Divergent evolution             c. The same cells
                      d. Convergent evolution        e. Traits that should have stayed away from the dictionary

            ...solving the same problem with similar adaptations, but using different underlying
                structures to get there.

 

5. Selective breeding of domestic animals and plants is also called

___C___         a. Ontogeny             b. Survival of the fittest             c. Artificial selection
                      d. Culling                                e. The lucky and the unlucky

            ...although it was around long before Darwin, it has picked up a name related
                to but set apart from his "natural selection."

 

6. The most common form of peer review happens at which stage?

                      a. Designing the experiment
                      b. Running the experiment
___C___         c. Publishing the results
                      d. Drawing conclusions from the results
                      e. Whenever you least expect it - they’re like parents that way

            ...it can happen at the other steps, but often peers aren't around then - they
                are purposely part of the publishing process, though.

 

7. In the phrase ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, the first word means

___D___         a. Family history             b. Evolutionary background             c. A replay
                      d. Embryo development            e. That you can use your togeny to put stuff on

            ...the whole phrase is for the once-accepted idea that embryo development
                    replays evolutionary development.

 

8. Fitness in evolution refers to

___A___         a. Relative advantages             b. Perfection            c. Pure strength
                      d. Health                                        e. How snug the jeans are

            ...how well does something fit into its current environment?

 

9. Which is the proper species name?

___C___         a. sillius questionus                               b. Choicea Annoying
                      c. Examus trickius                                 d. Murderus Instructorus
                                            e. Can we name them after pop stars?

            ...Binomial nomenclature rules:  2 words, both italicized, first capitalized, second not.

 

10. Darwin’s ideas were based on uniformitarianism in that he thought that evolution

___B___         a. Affected everything equally
                      b. Was a slow and gradual process
                      c. Had worked differently in the distant past
                      d. Would eventually make everything the same
                      e. Was a silly idea, but it would make him the Big Bucks

            ...uniformitarianism assumed that if the Earth had changed, the changes matched
                rates you could see today - slow and gradual.

 

11. Which approach builds evolutionary "trees" where splits are tied to the appearance of new traits?

___A___         a. Cladistics                     b. Systematics                     c. Genetics
                      d. Division                                             e. Traiteology

            ...it's part of the definition of cladistics.

 

12. A structure plant cells have that animal cells don’t is the _________, which contribute to
      making plants __________.

___D___         a. Cell membranes...less mobile                         b. Cell walls...photosynthetic
                      c. Cell membranes...photosynthetic                   d. Cell walls...less mobile
                                                e. Tiny planty things...more planty

            ...having all of the cells surrounded by a shared rigid wall helps give structure but
                really lowers flexibility for movement.

 

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. In Redi’s experiments on spontaneous generation, he was challenging the idea that a particular unliving material generated particular living things. What was -
The                    Meat (dead = unliving)
material?
 		 The living        Maggots
things?
 
2. Darwin noticed that how much living things differed between an island and the mainland seemed connected to two relationships. What were they?
How close together they were  How similar the general conditions were
3. Some living things have very complete fossil records. What are two other things that such living things have in common?
They live in the ocean  They have hard parts
4. Put the following in order from smallest to largest: Class, Family, Genus, Kingdom, Order, Phylum, Species, Superfamily.
1  Species 2  Genus 3  Family 4  Superfamily
5  Order 6  Class 7  Phylum 8  Kingdom
5. What are the two different basic ways to test a hypothesis?
Field tests (follow-up observations in Nature)  Controlled experiments
6. Briefly explain what a plasmid is.

    ...genes or groups of genes that bacteria share with other bacteria.
7. What are homeogenes?

    ...genes that control basic early development, especially layout.

8. What is meant by the "resolution limit" for a microscope?

    ...the smallest size at which separate objects can be seen a separate (the focusing limits).
9. The investigation of fossils almost immediately led to a concept that was, at the time, considered completely contrary to the Bible, although it isn’t today at all. What was the concept?

     ...that any species could have gone extinct.
10. Briefly explain how PostModernism is usually applied in science.

     ...decisions and conclusions should consider the influence of the personal beliefs / prejudices of the scientists involved.
11. What material / molecule, found in chromosomes, carries genetic information?

     ...DNA.
12. When a biologist believes that a group needs to be classified differently,
What can       They can claim that a group is
they easily      positioned wrong - change its
do?                designation on the "ladder."		 What are               They can't just change
they NOT              the group's name.
allowed to do?
13. Briefly describe the theory that explains why cells seem to have a maximum natural size.

     ...as cells get bigger, their volumes increase faster than their surface, and the ability to get materials in and out across the surface can't keep up with the increase in the activity inside.
14. Briefly explain what happens in a double-blind drug study.

     ...neither test subjects nor the people administering drugs to them know who's in the drug group and who's in the placebo group.
15. Why are specimens sectioned?

     ...they must be thin enough so that the imaging beam (light, electron, whatever) can pass through them.

 

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. According to Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, give the steps between a change in the environment and the appearance of a new species.
Those individuals whose mix of traits best suit the new conditions are more likely to survive.
The survivors reproduce, passing their well-suited traits onto the offspring.
The best-suited offspring survive and reproduce.
Generation after generation, the "average" individual is better and better suited to the changed environment.
The new "type" is different enough from the original (which may still exist in a less-changed environment) to be considered a different species.

2. For four of the six basic Kingdoms of Life, name the Kingdom and list enough traits of the Kingdom’s members to make it clearly distinct from all of the others
MONERA Single-celled, no nucleus, found mostly in "normal environments."

ARCHAEA

 Single-celled, no nucleus, usually found in odd, "extreme" environments.

PROTISTA

 Usually single-celled or simple multicelled, cells with nuclei.

PLANTAE

 Multicelled w/ nuclei, photosynthesizers (fuel-makers).
ANIMALIA Multicelled w/ nuclei, usually mobile, need fuel source, internal digestion & absorption.
FUNGI Multicelled w/ nuclei, rarely mobile, need fuel source, external digestion & absorption.

3. According to Malthus, what are three different ways that Nature prevents overpopulation?
DISEASE
FAMINE
CONFLICT (WAR)

4. What are three different disadvantages that electron microscopes have particularly when compared to light microscopes?
More expensive.
More complicated to use.
Requires internal vacuum.
Preparation of specimens more difficult and dangerous.
5. What are the four rules of the Cell Theory?
Everything alive is made up of at least one cell.

Cells can only be made from existing, related cells.

The smallest single thing that can be considered alive is a cell.
 Cells of all living things are more alike than different.
6. Lamarck left behind two different ideas that had a lot of influence. Briefly explain (don’t just give the "title"!) each of those ideas.
That changes / improvements that an organism develops during its lifetime will be passed on to its offspring (Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics).
 That evolution involves constant improvements toward a perfect goal.
7. What are four materials likely to fossilize? Include, in the *starred* box, the most common material.
* *                 Sediments Sand

Mud

 Sap

Tar

 Volcanic ash

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.

In ancient Greece, what was considered the third Kingdom? Three Points.

 

After the Renaissance, what were the next two Kingdoms to be made "separate"? Two Points each.

 

The basic definition of species doesn’t apply to organisms with what basic feature? Four Points.

 

Peer review can slow down the progress of science. How? Three Points.

 

What did Malpighi discover by magnifying goldfish tails? Three Points.

 

What was the major problem that had to be solved with lenses while microscopes were being developed? Three Points.

 

What is sometime that a typical prokaryote can do that a typical eukaryote can’t? Three Points.

 

Why did Darwin take every opportunity to get off the HMS Beagle? There are two reasons, for Three Points Each.

 

Where did Alfred Russel Wallace do his major research (Two Points), and why was that such a good place for it (Three Points)?

 

Why are there almost no dinosaur fossils in New York State? Three Points.


 
     

 

Michael McDarby.

Hit Counter