Biology 11 Mid-Term Exam Name: ____________
Part I: Multiple Choice. Place the letter of the correct response in the blank to the left of the question.
1. ____ Which of the following organisms is most likely to be located at the top of the energy pyramid?
a) grass
b) grasshopper
c) snake
d) mouse
e) hawk
2. ____ In the nitrogen cycle, the transformation of gaseous nitrogen into nitrogen-containing compounds is performed primarily by
a) fungi
b) bacteria
c) green plants
d) herbivores
e) carnivores
3. ____ During the carbon cycle, which of the following carbon compounds would be utilized as an energy source by green plants?
a) calcium carbonate
b) carbonic acid
c) organic molecules
d) carbon dioxide
e) carbon monoxide
4. ____ Which of the following is true about secondary consumers in an ecosystem?
a) They eat only plants.
b) They are eaten by primary consumers.
c) They are smaller and weaker than are primary consumers.
d) They are fewer in number than are primary consumers.
e) They contain the greatest total biomass in the system.
5. ____ All of the following are density-dependent factors that limit animal populations EXCEPT
a) weather
b) predation
c) birthrate
d) food competition
e) mortality
6. ____ Some people have suggested that planting millions of trees will counteract the human addition of CO2 to the atmosphere. In the long term, this idea could work only if:
a) biomass is produced.
b) photosynthesis occurs.
c) the trees never decompose or burn.
d) the trees are planted in the natural forest.
e) extra fertilizer is provided to the trees.
7. _____ An example of the result of stress in a population would be:
a) decline in food supply
b) decline in offspring
c) warmer climate
d) increased reproductive rate
8. ____ Which kind of evidence would help most to classify an organism?
a) the organism's habitat
b) the evolutionary relationships of the organism
c) the organism's eating habits
d) the function of the organism's body parts
9. ____ Which is the description of a population?
a) all of the different kinds of fish in a pond
b) all of the autotrophs in a pond
c) all of the pied-billed grebes (a type of bird) in a pond
d) all of the organisms interacting with each other in a pond
e) all the carnivores in a pond
10. ____ The ability to manufacture food occurs in:
a) plants only
b) herbivores only
c) decomposers only
d) plants and herbivores only
e) plants, herbivores, and omnivores
11. ____ A few months after a family of wolves is released in a national park, biologists studying the population of flying squirrels in the park record a significant decline in the flying squirrel population. Which statement represents a hypothesis?
a) What is causing the decline of the flying squirrel population?
b) The wolves may be eating the squirrels.
c) Flying squirrel bones are found in the feces of wolves.
d) Wolves are observed watching flying squirrels with hungry eyes.
e) A paper is found in the biology library listing flying squirrels among several other rodents as a food source for wolves.
12. ____ If a group of living cells swim away from a source of light, they are demonstrating which characteristic of living organisms?
a) Living things grow, develop, and reproduce.
b) Life is organized
c) Living things react to environmental change.
d) Life requires energy.
e) Living things adapt
13. ____ Which structure is common to ALL eukaryotic cells?
a) chloroplast
b) mitochondrion
c) cell wall
d) bilayer membrane
e) nucleus
14. ____ The inventor of the compound microscope was ________________.
a) Schleiden
b) Leeuwenhoek
c) Whittaker
d) Hooke
e) Linnaeus
15. ____ Biologists conduct experiments and make observations of the natural world in order to help them:
a) prove their hypotheses are correct.
b) construct a conceptual view of the natural world.
c) discover the truth of reality
d)disprove theories based on the supernatural.
Value 15 points
Part II: Completion. Complete the following with the correct word or words.
1. An example of an abiotic factor would be ______________
2. Organism that feeds on dead tissues and waste. ______________
3. Organism that feeds only on other organisms that produce their own food. __________
4. Organisms that make their own food. ______________
5. All the possible feeding relationships that exist within an ecosystem is called ______________.
6. The term "observation" means ____________________________.
7.. A microscope's magnification is calculated by ____________________________________.
8. The cover slip has two purposes: __________________ and ________________
9. The zone between low and high tide is called ________________.
10. Succession in the course of pond development refers to _____________________.
Value 10 points
Part III: Matching. Put the letter of the matching term in the blank at left.
____ Leeuwenhoek A invented term "cell"
____ Hooke B "father of biology"
____ Spallanzani C 5 kingdoms
____ Whittaker D prokaryote
____ Virchow E "flea glasses"
_____ Pasteur F eukaryote
____ Linnaeus G spontaneous generation
____ Bacteria H cell theory
____ Plant Cell I cowpox
____ Aristotle J binomial nomenclature
Value 10 points
Part IV: Experimental Method. Answer with proper sentences.
Two plants are placed near a window. Both get the same attention, but one of them dies.
a) State a hypothesis that you could test to find out what happened.
b) Describe an experiment to test the hypothesis.
c) For this plant experiment, describe the following:
i) controlled variables:
ii) experimental variables:
iii) dependent variable
Value 5 points
Part V: Classification Key. ANSWERS
1. __________________ 4. ______________________
2. __________________ 5. ______________________
3. __________________
4. What are three methods used to classify organisms?
Value 8 points
Part VI: Short Answer. Answer each of the following in detail.
1. Describe the theory of symbiosis, as it relates to the development of eukaryotes.
2. Arrange the six taxonomic headings in order from Kingdom on down.
Value 7 points
Part VII: Longer Answers. Answer with as much detail as possible.
1. a) Describe Redi's experiments. Use properly labelled diagrams.
b) What did Redi and Pasteur conclude about spontaneous generation?
Value 7 points
Part VI: Diagrams. Draw and properly label the diagrams. Answer with complete sentences.
1. a) Draw and properly label a concept map to illustrate the carbon cycle.
b) Explain what happens if the carbon cycle becomes unbalanced.
c) With the aid of a properly labelled diagram, describe the nitrogen cycle.
d) Explain what happens if the nitrogen cycle becomes unbalanced.
Value 12 points
2. a) Construct a food web (on the back of this page) to show the flow of energy in the ecosystem.
Use the following organisms in your web:
3 producers, 2 herbivores, 3 carnivores, 1 omnivore and 1 scavenger.
b) Which niche has the greatest biomass? ______________
c) List the second order consumers in your web.
d) What is the chief source of energy for this web? __________________
Value 6 points
Part VII: Graphing. Draw and properly label the graph. Give detailed answers to the questions..
1. In 1950, a new species of white-tailed deer was introduced into a rugged, scrubby, vegetation area of the Cape Breton highlands. The population growth was tracked and the actual numbers recorded every five years; the latest numbers being for 1995. During this time, in 1980, the entire population of coyotes was killed off by hunters in an attempt to help out the deer population.
(Note: the coyote is a natural predator of the deer.)
The data table below represents the numbers for the deer population.
YEAR NUMBER OF DEER
1950 100
1955 305
1960 520
1965 750
1970 800
1975 810
1980 808
1985 960
1990 750
1995 300
a) Using the data table, draw a graph to show the growth in the deer population from 1950
to 1995. Plot the time, in years, on the horizontal axis and the numbers on the vertical axis.
b) Does the graph show normal growth from 1950 to 1980? _______ Explain.
c) What does the term "carrying capacity" mean?
d) Is this population of deer being limited by "density-dependent" factors? ________
e) What do you suppose happened in 1985 to cause a change in the deer population?
f) If the coyotes had not been killed, describe what might have happened to the deer population during the
next five years. Give some detail.
g) List and describe FOUR density-dependent factors.
Value 15 points
Part VIII: Cell Theory
1. The basic organizational structure in nature begins with the cell theory.
Explain, using the statements of the cell theory and organizational structure.