BIO 170  - First Exam  - 2019

 

Multiple Choice. 

            Place the letter of the choice that best answers the question on the line to the left. 

                        Two Points Each.   NOTE: “e” answers are never the correct answer.

 

_______1.   In an ecosystem, what happens to the energy of sunlight?

                                    a.  It just supplies heat to keep water liquid

b.  Once in the system, it recycles again and again

c.  It gets lost as it works its way up the food chain

d.  It gets used, but only by plants

e.  It, um, makes daytime, right-?

_______2.  In testing a new pain reliever, you have subjects assign numbers to

                        the strength of their pain, so that

                                    a.  Qualitative data is made quantitative

b.  Quantitative data is made qualitative

c.  The variable is valid

                                    d.  There’s a proper control

e.  Your assistants can work on their fingers and toes 

_______3.  In modern classification systems, close relationships between groups

                        imply that they have

                                    a.  The same roles in an ecosystem

b.  Basic physical similarities

c.  Evolved from common ancestors recently

d.  All the same cells

e.   Probably gotten really sick of each other

 

 

_______4.  Alfred Russel Wallace was largely responsible for

                        a.  Working out genetics rules                        b.  Influencing Darwin to publish

c.  Calculating the age of fossils                     d.  Developing scientific method

                                                e.  Making students memorize names

_______5.  When experimental results disagree with the original hypothesis, this

                        goes under what heading, according to classic

                        Scientific Method?

                        a.  Confounding factors          b.  Nonevidence                      c.  Control

                        d.  Null hypothesis                  e.  Things to ignore

 

 

_______6.  Which is an example of spontaneous generation?

                                    a.  Baby snakes hatching from eggs

                        b.  Amebas dividing

c.  A scar forming where a wound was

d.  Snails forming from rocks on a stream bottom

                                    e.  Politicians changing positions

 

_______7.   A classic control test must duplicate the experimental test except for

                        a.  How data is collected                     b.  The results

                        c.  The basic procedure                       d.  The variable

                            e.   You have to use different background music

_______8. All of the energy-using chemical reactions in an organism are

                        combined in               
                        a.  Its overall weight         b.  Its respiration          c.  Its metabolism

                        d.  Its waste production           e.  Some pipes somewhere

 

_______9.  Which best describes peer review?

a.  You check other scientists' work while designing an experiment

b.  You have co-workers in the lab check your results as you record them

                                    c.   Each step in designing your experiment is checked by your supervisor

            d.   You write up your results and have other scientists check them

                                    e.   I guess a peer isn’t somebody who wets the bed, then...

 

 

_______10.    Sharks, dolphins, and ichthyosaurs look very similar because of

                        a.  Convergent evolution                     b.   Divergent evolution

                        c.   Linkage                 d.   Sexual selection       e.  Lack of imagination

 

 

_______11.  A treatment which is like a real treatment but actually does nothing:       

                        a.  Sham          b.  Mimic        c.  Copy control          d.  Placebo

                                                            e.  A pretty rotten joke

 

 

_______12.  Between single-celled and multi-celled is

                        a.  Single-celled colonial                                b.  Tissue-based

                        c.  Plants                                                          d.  Prokaryote

                                    e.  That evil place called No-Cell’s-Land

 

 

_______ 13.  A codon is a

a.  Piece of viral DNA               b.  Coding sequence for an amino acid

c.  Type of protein production          d.  Nuclear organelle

                                    e.  What mothers tell you to do in cold weather

 

 

 

_______14.  The “units” of molecular clocks are

                        a.  Radioactive half-lives                            b.  Point mutations

                        c.  Multiple bonds                                        d.  Fossil types

                                                            e.  Teensy-weensy

 

 

_______15.  Several populations considered together is a(n)

                        a.  Ecosystem                     b.  Microenvironment                   c.  Community

                        d.  Macroenvironment                         e.  Confusing mess

 

 

 

_______16.  According to classic scientific method, what is the most important factor about a

hypothesis?

a.  It should be testable                b.  It should be consistent with known theories

c.  Everyone must accept it          d.  It should be well-presented

                                                e.  Whether it will lead to the big bucks

 

 

 

_______17.   Why might a species actually resist processes that normally produce

                        evolutionary changes?

                                    a.  They have reached their evolutionary goal

                                    b.  They know that changes would be bad

                                    c.  They are more resistant to diseases

                                    d.  They are well adapted to a stable piece of the environment

                                    e.  They’re just too doggone tired

 

 

 

_______18.   Which are more likely to leave fossilized remains?

            a.   Large, bony-skeletoned land animals

                                    b.   Soft-bodied lake dwellers

            c.   Sap-loving insects

            d.  Ocean animals with hard shells

                                    e.  Anything made by the Hostess corporation - Twinkies, especially

 

Short Answer.   

Pick NINE questions to answer in the spaces provided.

NOTE: if you answer MORE than nine, only the first nine will be corrected. 

Four Points each.   Partial credit is possible.

 

1.  For uniformitarianism -
What    is    it?		When   is it  used?
2.  What is a niche?
3.  Name or briefly describe two of LaMarck’s ideas about evolution that turned out to be wrong.
4.  Comparative advantage      of a high chromosome      number. (Compared      to low number)			Comparative disadvantage   of a high chromosome   number.  (Compared   to low number)
5.  Briefly explain how reductionism is supposed to work.
6.  What is represented by the split points of the “family trees” in these systems?
SYSTEMATICS				CLADISTICS
7.  What are two different reasons why a test has to be a field test?
8.  According to Malthus, what are three different ways that Nature prevents overpopulation?
9.  What are two different aspects of viral chemistry that makes coming up with treatments for some viruses almost impossible?
10.  Put each part of this phrase in “regular” modern language: ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.
11.  What are the two different basic processes found in producers?
12.  In a discussion of the two major orders (suborders?) of bats, it is suggested that the wings that are the defining characteristic are ancestral.  Briefly describe what that means.
13.  Explain how one variety of a trait can be dominant and another one recessive –       what produces that dominance, exactly?

15.  Evolutionary rates depend upon what two other rates?
16.  An experimental variable varies.  How is it supposed to vary?

Long Answer.   Select and answer completely any four of the following questions.

Note:  if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.

Seven Points Each.  Partial credit is possible.

 

2.  What are four different materials that surround / bury what will eventually be a fossil?

 

 

4.  Answer for asexual reproduction -

BASIC DEFINITION

STRENGTH  (COMPARED TO SEXUAL)

WEAKNESS (COMPARED TO SEXUAL)

COMPENSATION FOR WEAKNESS

 

5.  For different types of experimental models -
MODEL TYPE	ONE ADVANTAGE	ONE DISADVANTAGE

 

 

7.  For four different discoveries in the history of genetics, give the people or model organisms involved and the discovery.

 

Link to Answer Key

 

BONUS QUESTIONS ON BACK.

BONUS QUESTIONS.  Answer as many or as few as you wish.  You can't lose points on the rest of the exam by getting these wrong.  Partial credit is possible.

 

What’s the major difference (other than career path) between science graduate school and more career-specific schools like medical, veterinary, or dentistry school?  Three Points.

 

 

What molecule is used almost universally to directly deliver energy to biological processes?  Three Points.

 

A computer expert staring at a screen and saying, “But it’s not supposed to be able to do that!” is an example of what scientific property?  Three Points.

 

 

Why is sexual selection a misleading term?  Three Points.

 

 

What does HIV do that makes it more treatable than other viruses?  Three Points.

 

 

Who was Karl Von Linne?  Three Points.

 

 

How was Einstein’s Theory of Gravity tested? Three Points.

 

 

What type of widely-used scientific technique was shown to maybe not be all that reproducible?  Three Points