SC 139 - First Exam 2011

 

Numbers are linked to relevant passages in the book.

 

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 most common point at which peer review enters into modern science happens when
 

_______                   a.  Hypotheses are being formed                          b.  Experiments are being designed

   c.  Results are being processed                            d.  Research is being published

               e.  Everybody gets together to bother the patients

 

 

2.    Homeogenes or HOX genes are involved with

_______                    a.  Basic layout of features                 b.  Mutation control                c.  Reproduction

                                d.  Disease resistance                              e.  Stuff you'd need in the 'hood

 

 

3.   Malthus lived in London and wrote about the effects of

_______                    a.  Changing environments             b.  Sediment buildup                c.  How traits are inherited
                                d.  Overpopulation                e.  How needing to know historical names can be really annoying

 

 

4.    Fossil bones seem "rocky" because

_______                    a.  Minerals have seeped into the bone                                b.  Radiation changes bone

    c.  Drying makes them that way                                         d.  The bones were like that

                            e.  It'd be silly for them to seem "bullwinkle"

 

 

5.   The main purpose of a control in an experiment is to

_______                    a.  Provide a comparison                 b.  Support statistical data processing                c.  Make it reproducible
                                 d.  Give enough repetition                                        e.  It isn=t to control stuff-?

 

 

6.    Charles Lyell's ideas of geologic uniformitarianism and the history of the Earth has affected most theories on evolution. 
                                        Which aspect of those theories reflects this?
 

    a.  Real changes have come about through mutations

    b.  Traits acquired through a parent's lifetime are sent on to offspring

_______                    c.  Changes have been very slow and gradual

             d.  All of these come from geologic uniformitarianism

    e.  Terms over 15 letters long should be outlawed

 

7.   A critical location for the development of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, seeing it in action, was

_______                    a.  Volcanos                          b.  The ocean                     c.  Australia                d.  Islands
                                                                      e.   Brothels - or that=s what they claimed

 
 

8.   As a round cell increases in size,

_______                a.  Its volume and surface increase at the same rate                        b.  Its surface increases much more slowly than its volume

c.  Its volume increases much more slowly than its surface area      d.  All of these

                    e.  This looks like a math problem.  Why is there a math problem?

 

 

9.   Life coming from non-living objects is called

_______                    a.  Null life                b.  Spontaneous generation                 c.  Special development                  d.  Special species

                                                 e.  Horror movie standard plot

 

 

10.  The fitness of an adaptation is determined by

_______                    a. Evolutionary biologists                           b.  Genetic strength                    c.  The current environment
                                d.  Its mutations                                                        e.  Wild athletic trainers

 
 

11.   Darwin waited to publish his ideas until

_______                    a.   The rules of genetics were worked out                                      b.  Wallace tried to get his own ideas published

    c.   He had built up enough evidence to satisfy himself                    d.   He arrived back in England

                                        e.   He could make gobs of money with them

 
 

                        12.   The appearance, in many different animal groups, of a wormy shape is due to
 

_______                      a.  Asexual reproduction                 b.  Divergent evolution                    c.  Sexual reproduction
      d.  Convergent evolution                            e.  An overall lack of imagination in lower creatures

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.  What is the currently-accepted definition of a species?

3.  What does ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny mean?

4.   Give the name of the classification approaches where splits are based on -
Common ancestors?	Important new features?

5.    Many interesting animals have a poor fossil record with lots of missing links.  Why?  (Don't give an answer that just restates the first sentence.)

7.  What are the two blindness levels in a double-blind test?

8.    Give two different reasons why a field test may be the only option -

9.   In evolution, what is sexual selection?

10.    Briefly define (don't give an example) a sexual selection trait.

11.  How are layers of sedimentary rock matched from place to place?

13a.  If someone has a dispute about how a group is classified, what are they allowed to do?

13b.  In such a dispute, what are they not allowed to do?

14.   In a microscope, what does the term resolution mean?

15.   In science, what is a confounding factor?

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.   What are four different materials that can easily surround a dead organism and lead to its eventually becoming a fossil?

2.   For four of the six basic Kingdoms of Life, give the name of the Kingdom and enough features to clearly set that Kingdom's members apart from those of the other five.

5.  For Jean Baptiste de LaMarck ‑ name or describe these ideas about evolution -

One that quickly fell out of favor -

One that's wrong, but many people still try to apply it -

7.   Binomial nomenclature involves rules for -	One rule -
Another different rule -	Yet another different rule -

 

Link to Answer Key