Download Basic Biological SA Questions

Basic Biological Principles Open Ended Questions:
Is the cell in the diagram eukaryotic or prokaryotic? Explain your answer using the defining
characteristics of cells. Mention structural features of the diagram that support your answer.
Answer Key:
Rubric:
2 pts: Two key elements are present.
1 pt: One key element is present.
0 pts: No key elements are present.
Key Elements:
A: The distinguishing characteristic of a eukaryotic cell is the presence of membrane-bound
organelles within it.
B: The presence of membrane-bound organelles including the nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi
apparatus, and endoplasmic reticulum implies that the cell is a eukaryotic cell.
OR
Other equivalent statement.
Keywords:
eukaryotic, nucleus, mitochondria , Golgi, apparatus, endoplasmic, reticulum, membrane
Sketch an animal cell, showing and labeling the organelles that perform the following functions:

Exchange of materials with the environment of the cell

Capture and release of energy

Protein building
Answer Key:
Rubric:
3
2
1
0
pts: Two key elements are present.
pts: Two key elements are present.
pt: One key element is present.
pts: No key elements are present.
Key elements:
A: Cell membrane sketched and labeled (see diagram)
B: Ribosomes sketched and labeled (see diagram)
C: Mitochondria sketched and labeled (see diagram)
Keywords:
cell, membrane, mitochondria, ribosome, nucleus,
Are viruses alive? This a question debated among scientists throughout the world.
Scientists discovered the tiny, disease-causing agents that were believed
responsible for such diseases as rabies and hoof-and-mouth disease. Initially,
scientists classified viruses as “living”, but in 1935, they began to change their
thinking. Scientists crystalized the tobacco mosaic virus, noting that it did not have
cell structure, of even the simplest kind. There was no membrane, no nucleus, and
no ribosomes. They determined that a virus was nothing more than a strand of
nucleic acid, DNA or RNA, protected by a protein shell. Scientists also believed that
viruses lacked the mechanisms necessary for metabolic function. Some scientists
argued that viruses are capable of response to stimuli. When not in a favorable
environment within a host cell, the virus remains an unchanging, dormant, organic
particle. But once in contact with the susceptible host or in a favorable environment,
the virus becomes active, injecting its nucleic acid into the host cell, and eventually
self-replicating. In this manner, one virus is capable of producing many other
viruses, identical to the original, to attack host cells.
Question:
You are debating whether or not viruses are alive. You are arguing for the negative, that
is, viruses are not alive. First, list the characteristics of life. Then, use evidence from the
passage to support your side of the debate.
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Answer Key:
Characteristics of life:
• All organisms
• All organisms
• All organisms
• All organisms
• All organisms
• All organisms
• All organisms
• All organisms
homeostasis.
• All organisms
are made of one or more cells.
use energy (metabolism).
maintain a stable internal environment (homeostasis).
detect and respond to select external stimuli.
show growth and development.
reproduce.
have nucleic acid as the hereditary molecule.
show adaptation, which occurs at the individual level and is related to
exhibit evolution over time due to mutation and natural selection
In support of the statement viruses are not alive students should site the
following evidence.
Viruses have:
no cell structure
no cell membrane to help maintain homeostasis
no organelles
structure merely a nucleic acid with protein shell
must have a host to reproduce or replicate
lacks mechanisms for metabolism
Keywords:
cell , structure, organelle, nucleic acid, reproduce, host, membrane, metabolism,
reproduction, reproduce, respond, stimuli, grow, develop, adapt, evolve,