General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
1. What are the assumptions upon which science is based?
2.Describe the scientific method. In what ways do you use the scientific method in everyday life?
3. What is the difference between a scientific theory and a hypothesis? Explain how each is used by scientists. Why do scientists refer to basic principles as “theories,” not “facts”?
4.What are the differences between a salt crystal and a tree? Which is living? How do you know? How would you test your knowledge? What controls would you use?
5.Define homeostasis. Why must organisms continuously acquire energy and materials from the external environment to maintain homeostasis?.
6.Starting with the cell, list the hierarchy of organization of life, briefly explaining each level.
7.What is evolution? Briefly describe how evolution occurs.
8. State, and correctly identify as an observation or as an inference, the five observations and the four inferences that summarize Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
9. What are the two major elements of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection?
10. Define and explain the terms natural selection, evolution, mutation, creationism, and population.
1. A fundamental characteristic of life on Earth is that ______.
a. living things have a complex, organized structure based on inorganic molecules
b. living things passively acquire materials and energy from their environment and convert them into different forms
c. living things grow and reproduce
d. living things reproduce, using information stored in RNA
e. none of the above
f. The first, second, and third answers above are correct.
2. Homeostasis is the process by which ______.
a. living things maintain their complex structure and the internal conditions needed to sustain life
b. living things reproduce
c. some organisms can enter a kind of suspended animation to survive harsh conditions
d. like organisms associate with like organisms
3. Which of the following groups of organisms contains prokaryotic cells? Please select the most appropriate answer.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. Bacteria
b. Archaea
c. Plantae
d. Bacteria and Archaea
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
4. Organisms that can extract energy from light are called ______; organisms that must obtain energy from molecules made by other organisms are called ______.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. herbivores, carnivores
b. photosynthetic, herbivores
c. heterotroph, autotroph
d. autotroph, heterotroph
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
5. Science assumes that natural laws (such as the law of gravity) ______.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. apply uniformly through space and through time
b. apply in the laboratory but not in nature
c. change with time
d. differ depending on the location of the observer
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
6. The process of evolution involves ______.
a. natural selection of organisms that produce more offspring in certain environmental conditions
b. changes in a species due to mutations
c. adaptation of an organism to its environment
d. all of the above
e. the first and third answers above
7. You discover a new type of organism in the back of your fridge. Luckily, your roommate is a biology major and takes you to the lab where he works. You put a small piece of the fuzzy critter under the microscope and see that it is made of very simple, single cells with no nucleus. What type of organism might this be?
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. Bacteria
b. Archaea
c. Bacteria or Archaea
d. Fungus
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
8. A scientist is testing whether a new cancer drug will work on prostate cancer in humans. To properly interpret results of an experiment, control experiments are needed. Which of the following treatments would serve as a control in these experiments, so that the researchers can conclude that the changes that they see in the patients are due to the drug?
a. Different doses of the drug are administered to patients.
b. Some patients receive a "mock" injection that contains the same solution base and the same volume as the drug but does not actually contain the drug itself.
c. At least 1000 individuals are treated with the drug.
d. Patients at three different hospitals, each in a different state, are treated with the drug.
e. Both the second and fourth answers are correct.
9. Your textbook lists seven characteristics that living organisms possess as a group. However, if you could distill these seven characteristics down to two general descriptive properties held in common by all living organisms, what would they be?
a. macromolecular complexity and multiple levels of organization
b. atoms and elements
c. cellular structure and genetics
d. chemical relationships and diversity
10. The organic complexity and organization characteristic of living organisms depends on the periodic capture of raw materials and energy. Ultimately, the source of these materials and energy is ______.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. metabolism
b. photosynthesis
c. the sun
d. other life-forms
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
11. Energy, like gasoline for your car, is required for organisms to survive, and even thrive, in the face of diverse environments. An autotrophic organism ______.
a. would be one who derived its energy from internalizing the cellular matter of other organisms (i.e., eats others)
b. would be one who derived its energy from a renewable external energy source such as sunlight (i.e., photosynthetic organisms)
c. would include cucumbers growing in your garden
d. Both the second and third answers are correct.
12. Another way to describe the "scientific method" would be that it is ______.
a. a conceptual and ethical framework that guides scientific inquiry
b. dependent upon observations leading to a hypothesis and careful experimental design and scrutiny of experimental results (data), leading to a conclusion that refutes or supports the hypothesis
c. dependent upon "getting the word out" to other scientists via peer-reviewed publications, including electronic journals
d. all of the above
13. Experiments are carefully designed in an attempt to ______.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. test a single experimental variable
b. prove a hypothesis
c. test multiple experimental variables
d. none of the above
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
14. A basic understanding of basic biological concepts ______.
a. permits a deeper, and sometimes profound, appreciation of the world around us
b. is just a set of facts and ideas about the world around us
c. is necessary only for biology majors
d. often decreases our appreciation (i.e., effectively dehumanizes) our appreciation of the world around
15. Natural selection is best measured by ______.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. numerous adaptations
b. reproductive success
c. biodiversity
d. rate of environmental change
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
16. Which of the following terms includes all of the others?
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. molecule
b. atom
c. subatomic particle
d. electron
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
17. The diversity of life is mainly due to ______.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. atoms
b. genetic variation
c. prokaryotic cells
d. organ systems
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
18. You are a NASA scientist and have discovered an organism in outer space that contains its genetic material in the cytoplasm rather than in a nucleus. Given this characteristic, how might you classify this organism?
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. heterotroph
b. eukaryote
c. prokaryote
d. autotroph
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
19. Your baby starts crying. Since she hasn't eaten in two hours, you declare, "The baby must be hungry." Your statement is a(n) ______.
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
a. hypothesis
b. experiment
c. conclusion
d. observation
BI101 SQ Ch11
General BiologyBI101Spring 2007
Study Questions Chapter 1
20. Natural selection would be best illustrated by which of the following?
a. a bacterial cell in the human body that dies when a person takes antibiotics
b. a bacterial cell in the human body with a genetic variation that allows it to survive when the person take antibiotics
c. a bacterial cell in the human body that mutates itself when a person takes antibiotics
21. The units of heredity that provide information needed to control life are the ______.
22. A process called ______allows organisms to keep conditions in their bodies fairly constant.
23. The most important force in evolution is ______.
24. In a scientific experiment, one must have a ______in which all factors remain constant.
25. Structures, physiological processes, or behaviors that aid survival and reproduction in a particular environment are ______.
26. A ______is a supposition of prediction, based on previous observations, that is given as a possible explanation for an observed phenomenon.
27. The best theory is that which is
a. based on the largest amount of data
b. able to explain the widest range of observations
c. able to serve as the basis for the most accurate and reliable predictions
d. accepted by the largest proporition of the scientific community
27. The diagram below indicates the levels of organization of matter found in the natural world. Match each illustration with the correct term.
Biospherecommunityorgan systempopulationtissue
28. The diagram seen here is a continuation of the previous organization of matter diagram. Complete this diagram by matching the proper term with each illustration.
atom
cell
molecule
organelle
BI101 SQ Ch11