BackBIO101: Core Concepts and Scientific Method Study Guide
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Q1. List the seven properties of life.
Background
Topic: Properties of Life
This question tests your understanding of the fundamental characteristics that define living organisms in biology.
Key Terms:
Order
Regulation
Growth and Development
Energy Processing
Response to Environment
Reproduction
Evolutionary Adaptation
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the main features that all living things share. Think about what distinguishes living organisms from non-living things.
List each property, considering examples for each (e.g., how do living things regulate their internal environment?).
Check your list against your textbook or lecture notes to ensure you have all seven properties.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q2. Streptococcus bacteria belong to which domain?
Background
Topic: Domains of Life
This question tests your knowledge of the three-domain system used to classify all life forms.
Key Terms:
Domain: The highest taxonomic rank in the classification of organisms.
Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya: The three domains of life.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the characteristics of Streptococcus bacteria (e.g., prokaryotic, lack a nucleus).
Match these characteristics to the correct domain.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q3. Both single-celled amoeba and humans belong to which domain, and why?
Background
Topic: Domains of Life & Cell Structure
This question tests your understanding of the classification of organisms and the location of genetic material in cells.
Key Terms:
Eukaryote: Organisms whose cells have a nucleus.
Prokaryote: Organisms whose cells lack a nucleus.
Nucleus: Membrane-bound organelle containing genetic material.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Identify the cell type of both amoeba and humans (are they prokaryotic or eukaryotic?).
Recall which domain includes all organisms with a nucleus.
State where the genetic material is located in these organisms.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q4. What is the lowest level of biological organization?
Background
Topic: Levels of Biological Organization
This question tests your understanding of the hierarchy of biological organization, from smallest to largest.
Key Terms:
Atom, Molecule, Organelle, Cell, Tissue, Organ, Organ System, Organism, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biosphere
Step-by-Step Guidance
List the levels of organization from smallest to largest.
Identify which level is considered the basic unit of life.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q5. What is the highest level of biological organization?
Background
Topic: Levels of Biological Organization
This question tests your understanding of the broadest level in the hierarchy of life.
Key Terms:
Biosphere: All environments on Earth that support life.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the sequence of biological organization from smallest to largest.
Identify the level that includes all ecosystems on Earth.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q6. At which level did life first emerge?
Background
Topic: Origin of Life & Biological Organization
This question tests your understanding of when life is considered to begin in the hierarchy of organization.
Key Terms:
Cell: The smallest unit of life.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Think about which level is the first to exhibit all properties of life.
Recall the definition of a cell in biology.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q7. What is the goal of science?
Background
Topic: Nature of Science
This question tests your understanding of the purpose and approach of scientific inquiry.
Key Terms:
Natural phenomena: Events or processes that occur in the natural world.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Consider what scientists aim to do when studying the natural world.
Think about the difference between explaining and describing phenomena.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q8. What is a proposed explanation for an observation called?
Background
Topic: Scientific Method
This question tests your understanding of the steps in the scientific method.
Key Terms:
Hypothesis: A tentative explanation for an observation.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the sequence of steps in the scientific method.
Identify the term for a testable explanation that comes after making an observation.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q9. What makes a good hypothesis?
Background
Topic: Scientific Method
This question tests your understanding of the qualities of a scientific hypothesis.
Key Terms:
Testable: Can be supported or refuted by experiments or observations.
Falsifiable: Can be proven false.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Think about what makes a hypothesis useful in science.
List the criteria a hypothesis must meet to be considered scientific.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q10. When a hypothesis is supported by a large body of evidence, what does it become?
Background
Topic: Scientific Method
This question tests your understanding of how scientific knowledge is built and classified.
Key Terms:
Theory: A broad explanation supported by a large body of evidence.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the difference between a hypothesis and a theory in science.
Think about what happens when repeated experiments support a hypothesis.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q11. What is the variable manipulated by the researcher called?
Background
Topic: Experimental Design
This question tests your understanding of variables in scientific experiments.
Key Terms:
Independent variable: The factor that is changed or controlled by the researcher.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Identify the variable that the researcher intentionally changes in an experiment.
Recall the terminology for this variable.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q12. What is the variable measured by the researcher called?
Background
Topic: Experimental Design
This question tests your understanding of dependent and independent variables.
Key Terms:
Dependent variable: The outcome that is measured in an experiment.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Identify the variable that is observed and measured as a result of the experiment.
Recall the terminology for this variable.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q13. What is the group that receives treatment called, and what is the group without treatment called?
Background
Topic: Experimental Design
This question tests your understanding of control and experimental groups in scientific studies.
Key Terms:
Experimental group: Receives the treatment.
Control group: Does not receive the treatment; used for comparison.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the purpose of having two groups in an experiment.
Identify which group receives the variable being tested and which does not.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q14. What is the scientific explanation for the unity and diversity of life?
Background
Topic: Evolution
This question tests your understanding of the central theory that explains both the similarities and differences among living organisms.
Key Terms:
Evolution: The process by which different kinds of living organisms develop and diversify from earlier forms.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the main theory proposed by Charles Darwin.
Think about how this theory explains both unity (shared traits) and diversity (differences) in life.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q15. What is the mechanism for evolution described by Darwin?
Background
Topic: Evolution
This question tests your understanding of the process that drives evolutionary change according to Darwin.
Key Terms:
Natural selection: The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the mechanism Darwin proposed for how evolution occurs.
Think about how this mechanism leads to adaptation over generations.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q16. In an ecosystem, what are plants called because they produce their own food?
Background
Topic: Ecosystem Roles
This question tests your understanding of the roles organisms play in ecosystems, specifically those that produce food.
Key Terms:
Producers (autotrophs): Organisms that make their own food, usually through photosynthesis.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the term for organisms that can synthesize their own food from inorganic substances.
Think about the process plants use to produce food.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q17. What are the other parts of the ecosystem (e.g., animals and fungi) called?
Background
Topic: Ecosystem Roles
This question tests your understanding of consumers and decomposers in ecosystems.
Key Terms:
Consumers: Organisms that eat other organisms (e.g., animals).
Decomposers: Organisms that break down dead material (e.g., fungi).
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall the roles of animals and fungi in the ecosystem.
Identify the terms used for organisms that consume others and those that decompose organic matter.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
Q18. In an ecosystem, what happens to chemicals and energy?
Background
Topic: Ecosystem Dynamics
This question tests your understanding of how matter and energy move through ecosystems.
Key Terms:
Chemical cycling: The reuse of chemical elements within the ecosystem.
Energy flow: The one-way movement of energy through an ecosystem, typically entering as sunlight and leaving as heat.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recall how chemicals (like carbon and nitrogen) move through living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem.
Think about how energy enters and exits the ecosystem.
Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!
