AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
Standard 1: Select appropriate laboratory glassware, balances, time measuring equipment, and optical instruments to conduct an experiment.
» Which piece of equipment can BEST measure the mass of an insect?
A. a spring scale
B. a triple beam balance
C. a meter stick
D. a graduated cylinder
» Jeff conducts an experiment to determine which brand of antibacterial soap is most effective in killing bacteria. He tests four identical bacterial cultures that start with 100 bacteria per Petri dish.
This experiment mentions the use of Petri dishes. Which additional piece of equipment
is probably NOT used in this experiment?
A. microscope
B. graduated cylinders
C. safety glasses
D. thermometer
» Which of the following would be the BEST choice to mix and store a small amount of a liquid?
A. beaker
B. pipette
C. capped test tube
D. syringe
» Jodie is conducting an experiment for her Biology class. Part of the experiment requires that she track the length of each mouse. Which tool can be used to MOST accurately determine the length of each mouse?
A. ruler or meter stick
B. spring scale
C. scale balance
D. triple beam balance
Standard 2: Describe cell processes necessary for achieving homeostasis, including active and passive transport, osmosis, diffusion, exocytosis, and endocytosis.
» If a membrane allows movement of only certain materials, it is called
A. selectively impermeable.
B. somewhat permeable.
C. selectively permeable.
D. somewhat impermeable.
» When active transport is used, the cell
A. uses the energy stored mainly in the nucleus.
B. uses some of its own energy.
C. uses energy from other cells.
D. does not use any of its own energy.
» For which of the following reasons would a cell use the process of exocytosis?
A. to bring water into a cell
B. to diffuse oxygen through a cell membrane
C. to excrete a hormone out of a cell
D. to bring a food molecule into the cell
» Study the diagram below.
A potato slice is placed in distilled water in beaker 1. A similar potato slice is placed in salt water in beaker 2. Which statement correctly explains the movement of water across cell membranes in one of the potato slices?
A. Water will move into the potato cells in beaker 2 because the solution is more concentrated.
B. Water will move out of the potato cells in beaker 2 because the solution is more concentrated.
C. Water will move into the potato cells in beaker 1 because the solution is more concentrated.
D. Water will move out of the potato cells in beaker 1 because the solution is more concentrated.
Standard 3: Identify reactants and products associated with photosynthesis and cellular respiration, and the purposes of these two processes.
» Study the equation below.
Which product is missing from the equation?
A. hydrogen
B. sugar
C. water
D. carbon
» Through the process of photosynthesis, most autotrophs use the energy in sunlight to
A. change water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) into glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O).
B. change glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O) into water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
C. change water (H2O) and glucose (C6H12O6) into oxygen (O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
D. change oxygen (O) and water (H2O) into glucose (C6H12O6) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
» Which of these is NOT a part of cellular respiration?
A. Krebs cycle
B. glycolysis
C. lactic acid and fermentation
D. electron transport chain
» Study the equation below.
Which product is missing from the equation?
A. water
B. glucose
C. oxygen
D. energy
Standard 4: Describe similarities and differences of cell organelles, using diagrams and
tables.
Standard 9: Differentiate between the previous five-kingdom and current six-kingdom
classification systems.
» Study the data table below. Which student has correctly identified the typical characteristics of a prokaryotic cell?
Student / Nucleus / Cytoplasm / Membrane-Bound Organelles / Cell Membrane / Cell Wall1 / no / yes / no / yes / yes
2 / no / yes / no / yes / yes
3 / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
4 / no / no / yes / no / no
A. student 1
B. student 2
C. student 3
D. student 4
» When looking through a microscope, you observe a cell that has a cytoplasm and a cell wall. Which structure would you look for to classify the cell as prokaryotic or eukaryotic?
A. DNA
B. ribosomes
C. nucleus
D. cell membrane
» A unicellular organism that does not have a nucleus would belong in which kingdom?
A. Eubacteria
B. Plantae
C. Fungi
D. Protista
» Which of the following characteristics BEST distinguishes animals from the other kingdoms?
A. have cells with a nucleus but never have chloroplasts
B. are multicellular in structure in structure and have cells with nuclei
C. have cell walls made of cellulose and always have chloroplasts
D. never have cell walls and never have the ability to make their own food
Standard 5: Identify cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems as levels of organization in the biosphere.
» Which level of organization in the biosphere is BEST represented by the entire picture?
A. organism
B. ecosystem
C. population
D. community
» Several types of tissues that work together to carry out a certain function is MOST LIKELY described as
A. a tissue.
B. an organ.
C. a community.
D. an ecosystem.
» Study the diagram below.
Which is the level of organization that could be represented by the X?
A. organ
B. biosphere
C. organism
D. tissue
» A student preparing for a test in human anatomy studied the terms in the list. Which of the following represents a tissue in the human body?
A. skin cell
B. intestinal lining
C. stomach
D. lady bug
Standard 6: Describe the roles of mitotic and meiotic divisions during reproduction, growth, and repair of cells.
» Which statement is correct?
A. Meiosis is a way to reproduce, but mitosis is not.
B. During mitosis, chromosomes are copied, but during meiosis chromosomes double.
C. Meiosis does not lead to variation in a species.
D. Meiosis produces haploid cells used in reproduction.
» Which of the following is a true statement about asexual reproduction?
A. The offspring are genetically identical to the parent.
B. Asexual reproduction uses DNA from two parents.
C. In asexual reproduction, the number of chromosomes is halved.
D. There is only one type of asexual reproduction.
» The diagram below represents a dividing cell.
Which process BEST describes this cell division?
A. replication
B. reproduction
C. mitosis
D. meiosis
» Which statements about cell division are CORRECT?
A. statements 1 and 3
B. statements 1 and 4
C. statements 2 and 3
D. statements 2 and 4
Standard 7: Apply Mendel’s laws to determine phenotypic and genotypic probabilities of offspring.
» In one pea plant the gene for white flowers (a) is recessive, and in another pea plant the gene for purple flowers (A) is dominant. Which Punnett square accurately represents the probabilities of offspring resulting from a cross between the two pea plants?
A.
B.
C.
D.
» Brown hair color is dominant to blonde hair color. A heterozygous brown-haired father and a blonde-haired mother have four children. Which statement BEST describes the children’s predicted phonotype(s)?
A. 75% of the children will have brown hair, and 25% will have blonde hair.
B. 75% of the children will have blonde hair, and 25% will have brown hair.
C. 50% of the children will have brown hair, and 50% will have blonde hair.
D. 100% of the children will have brown hair.
» Brown eyes are dominant to green eyes, and straight hair is dominant to curly hair. A woman is heterozygous for brown eyes and straight hair. A man is heterozygous for both traits. What is the chance that their child will have green eyes and curly hair?
A. 1/16
B. 9/16
C. 1/4
D. 3/8
» Plant Cross
Which statement is the MOST reasonable explanation of these results?
A. Both parental mice were heterozygous.
B. One parental mouse was homozygous for dark fur color, and the other was homozygous for light fur color.
C. One parental mouse was heterozygous, and the other was homozygous for dark fur color.
D. Both parental mice were homozygous for dark fur color.
Standard 8: Identify the structure and function of DNA, RNA, and protein.
» How is RNA similar to DNA?
A. They both contain ribose sugar.
B. They both contain uracil.
C. They are both single strands of nucleotides.
D. They both contain nucleotides.
» Which sequence represents a DNA strand that would complement the following mRNA strand?
CGU AAU GCU
A. GCG ATA CGA
B. TTA GCA TTA
C. AAT GCC CCA
D. GCA TTA CGA
» A strand of DNA that contains the bases GCGATA replicates. Which base sequence is in the new strand produced during replication?
A. GCGATA
B. CGCUAU
C. GAUGCU
D. UAACUG
» What is the function of mRNA?
A. to transfer the code from the DNA in the nucleus to the cytoplasm
B. to store and pass on genetic information
C. to assist in building proteins by adding amino acids in the ribosome
D. to create the energy needed for cellular processes
Standard 10: Distinguish between monocots and dicots, angiosperms and gymnosperms, and vascular and nonvascular plants.
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