Midterm Exam

1. Which of the following processes is directly responsible for growth in living organisms? 

    a. The division of cells into two identical cells 

    b. The movement of water across a cell membrane 
   
    c. The production of reproductive cells called gametes 

    d. The exchange of the gases oxygen and carbon dioxide


2. DNA replication is an important part of cellular division because correct replication– 

    a. ensures that identical and complete genetic information is passed to 
         both daughter cells. 

    b. produces mutations that usually are advantageous for the survival of the 
         organism. 
   
    c. combines sperm and egg to form a zygote that will develop into a new  
        organism. 

    d. communicates information about the cellular environment to adjacent 
        cells.


3.  Which of the following observations would support the claim that DNA determines the
      structure of proteins produced by cells? 

    a. Organisms that produce proteins have different lengths of DNA. 

    b. Similar DNA sequences are found in organisms that produce the same 
        protein. 

    c. Both DNA and the production of proteins was observed in early life 
         forms. 

    d. DNA is found in the nucleus of all cells that produce proteins.


4. Albumin is a protein produced in the liver of both pigs and humans. Based on this 
    information, what other similarity can we predict between these two organisms?

    Both organisms–

    a. have more complex DNA than organisms that do not produce albumin.

    b. have DNA that codes for globulin, another protein found in the liver.

    c. produce new sequences of DNA in the same region of their livers.

    d. share a similar sequence in one section of their DNA


5.  As living systems use energy they also transform matter. All of these matter
    transformations are the result of living systems– 

    a. recombining elements in different ways to form new products. 
   
    b. changing inorganic elements into new elements that are useful. 

    c. removing the electric charge on large molecules to gain energy. 

    d. using energy to break the bonds of organic compounds.


6. Sugar produced as a result of photosynthesis is made up of which of the following
    elements? 

    a. Hydrogen, Magnesium, Carbon 

    b. Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen 

    c. Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen 

    d. Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calciu


7. Which of the following provides the best evidence that living things use and recombine
    carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen to form molecules for new cells? 

    a. The elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are among the most common 
        elements in the universe, but are not the most common elements on Earth. 

    b. The cells of living things contain molecules made of the elements carbon, 
        hydrogen, and oxygen, the same elements found in the glucose consumed 
        by living things. 

    c. The elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are able to bond with each 
        other to form complex molecules that are chains of repeating structures. 

    d. The relative amounts of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen found in the 
         earth’s atmosphere have changed over the history of the planet.

​
8. Which of the following statements regarding the energy produced during cellular
​    respiration is most accurate?

    a. The majority of the energy produced is lost to the environment as heat.
   
    b. The energy must be transferred across the cell membrane to be used.
   
    c. The energy produced must be stored in specialized organelles within the 
        cell.
   
    d. The amount of energy produced is greater than the amount of energy 
        required.

9.

Which of the following organisms is part of the trophic level with the greatest amount of stored energy? 

    a. Vulture 

    b. Wildebeest 

    c. Termite 

    d. Red oat grass

​

10. As energy is transferred between trophic levels, only a small fraction of the available 
     energy is transferred. How can this observation be explained, taking into account 
     the law of conservation of energy? 

    a. Organic systems do not demonstrate the conservation of energy. 

    b. Organisms, even after death, continue to store energy in organic molecules. 

    c. Since biomass increases at higher levels, the concentration of energy is the 
         same. 

    d. The unused energy is lost as heat through metabolic processes.

​
11. Shown here is an incomplete chemical equation for the reaction known
    as photosynthesis. 

                          6CO2 + 6H2O + light energy →6O2 + _______ 

  Which of the following substances correctly completes the equation? 

    a. Water 

    b. Carbon dioxide 

    c. Glucose 

​    d. Oxygen


​12. Which of the following statements is true? 

    a. Heterotrophs produce their own food. 

    b. Autotrophs take in nutrients from outside themselves. 

    c. Consumers are heterotrophs. 

    d. Consumers are autotrophs


​13. The structure, properties, and transformations of matter can best be explained by 
      which of the following? 

    a. The way in which electromagnetic radiation interacts with different 
        substances 

    b. Gravitational forces from the environment on subatomic particles 

    c. The number of atoms of an element in one mole of that substance 

​    d. Attraction and repulsion between electric charges at the atomic level

​
​14.  The diagram here is called a trophic pyramid. It shows trophic levels of a grassland 
      habitat. The size of each trophic level represents biomass, with producers 
      representing the largest amount of biomass.

Which of the following best explains the unique shape of the trophic pyramid? 

    a. The higher levels of the pyramid are smaller due to human interference with those 
        organisms. 

    b. Decomposers work more rapidly breaking down animal tissue than plant tissue. 

    c. The organisms on the lower level of the pyramid tend to be smaller in size. 

    d. The higher levels of the pyramid are smaller due to the inefficiency of energy 
        transfer

​

15. Polymers are substances that are often flexible and durable. These properties are 
     best explained by the fact that polymers are 

    a. large molecules synthesized through complex laboratory procedures. 

    b. made, predominantly, of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. 

    c. molecules consisting of long chains of repeating units of atoms. 

​    d. substances produced by plants that have these properties

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16. Are you a eukaryote or a prokaryote?