Download First Quarter Exam Practice Questions - Answers

First Quarter Exam Practice Questions
1.) An ecologist is completing a study on the distance it takes an owl to strike a mouse under different conditions. He
measures the striking distance in a room with full light and a room with full darkness. Which of the following is the
dependent variable in the experiment?
A. the type of owl
C. the type of mouse
B. the striking distance
D. the amount of light
The scientist is testing the effect of the amount of light on the striking distance. Therefore the amount of light is the
cause and a change in striking distance is the effect. ICED
2.) A newspaper contains a story with the following headline, “Detective Has Theory on How Computers Were Stolen
from Warehouse.” Which of the following terms more accurately reflects the use of the term theory in the headline?
A. law
B. fact
C. hypothesis
D. experiment
A theory requires testing and evidence, the detective is making an educated guess, which is the definition of
hypothesis.
3.) What are the levels of organization in Ecology?
A. cell, tissue, organ, organ system, body
B. organ, organism, population, community
C. population, habitat, ecosystem, biogeochemical cycle
D. organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere
4.) What makes up an ecosystem?
A. all the habitat types on Earth.
B. all parts of the Earth where life exists
C. all members of the same species in an area
D. all the living and non-living factors in an environment
5.) How do decomposers benefit an ecosystem?
A. by returning nutrients to the soil
B. by manufacturing energy from sunlight
C. by removing excess nutrients from the soil
D. by removing predators from the ecosystem
Decomposers break down dead organisms and return their nutrients to the soil.
6.) Which of the following are abiotic factors?
A. plants
B. sunlight
C. animals
D. bacteria
Sunlight is non-living, while plants, animals and bacteria are all living things.
7.) Which organisms are MOST critical in the nitrogen cycle?
A. plants
B. nitrates
C. animals
D. bacteria
Bacteria are involved in nitrogen fixation, denitrification, and decomposition (ammonification) which allows nitrogen
to cycle through the air, plants, animals and the soil.
8.) Complete the following analogy:
A. producer
B. herbivore
Bear is to omnivore and vulture is to _______________.
C. detritivore
D. autotroph
A bear is an omnivore (eats plants and animals) and a vulture is a detritivore (eats dead organisms)
9.) Which of the following is a population?
A. all the fish and plants in a pond
B. all the buildings in New York City
C. all the members of a family of humans
D. all the fish of the same species in a lake
Population: all organisms of the same species in an ecosystem
10.) Which of the following is true in the exponential model of population growth?
A. population growth continues indefinitely
B. population growth increases and then decreases
C. population growth stops at the carrying capacity to create an S-shaped curve
D. population increases slowly and then increases rapidly to create a J-shaped curve
11.) Which of the following is a parasite?
A. a lion hunting zebra
B. a deer grazing on grass
C. a tick sucking blood from a dog
D. a bird cleaning an alligators teeth
The tick benefits by gaining nutrients from the blood. The dog is harmed by blood loss, pain, and possible infection.
12.) A friend notices that her dog is getting thinner even though she has not changed how much she feeds him. Which of
the following is a testable hypothesis that may explain the dog’s weight loss?
A. the dog is unhappy
C. other dogs lose weight when they eat more
B. the dog is getting more exercise than usual D. other dogs lose weight when they get sick
Happiness is not measureable. Testing other dogs would not give reliable data about her dog. She has to test her own
dog.
13.) Which of the following is an example of planning for the future to avoid environmental damage?
A. creating a landfill
C. mining aluminum from the Earth’s crust
B. cleaning up an oil spill
D. evaluating potential effects of a housing development
Creating a landfill for garbage or mining aluminum will cause environmental damage, not avoid it.
Cleaning up an oil spill is handling current environmental damage, not avoiding it.
Looking for possible detrimental effects of a housing complex could avoid future damage when it is built.
14.) A scientist is investigating a new treatment for a disease that affects thousands of people. Many people with this
disease volunteer to participate in the study. Which of the following is an ethical concern that the scientist must address
before conducting the experiment?
A. The scientist must ensure that the treatment will be effective
B. The scientist must ensure that the study’s results will not be shared with other scientists
C. the scientist must inform that volunteers about any potential dangers involved in the study
D. the scientist must demonstrate the treatment on himself or herself
Wrong:Scientists test treatments to see if they work, so they cannot ensure that they will work yet.
Wrong:Scientists do tests to accumulate data for the purpose of sharing it with the world.
Right: Ethics are rules of right and wrong, like moral values. It is unethical for scientists to test on human patients
without warning patients about any possible risks or dangers.
Wrong: Scientists do not perform experiments on themselves. They need multiple test subjects for reliable data.
15.) How does energy flow through an ecosystem?
A. from the sun, to heterotrophs, and then to autotrophs
B. from the environment, to heterotrophs, and then to autotrophs
C. from the sun, to autotrophs, and then to heterotrophs
D. from the autotrophs, to the environment, and then to heterotrophs
Autotrophs make their own food from the sun (ex. plants) Heterotrophs obtain food by consuming the autotrophs.
16.) Which of the following is a density-independent factor?
A. food
C. predator
B. water
D. hurricanes
Density independent factors do not depend on the size of the population (Ex. natural disasters)
Also include: forest fires, earthquakes, global warming, volcano eruptions, floods
17.) Which of the following is NOT a step in the nitrogen cycle?
A. denitrification
C. decomposition
B. assimilation
D. precipitation
Denitrification is when bacteria send nitrogen into the atmosphere
Assimilation is when organisms obtain nitrogen from plants
Decompostion is when bacteria return nitrogen to the soil
Precipitation is part of the Water Cycle, when water falls to the Earth as rain, hail, snow, or sleet
18.) Which of the following describe the transport of water up a plant to be lost by leaves into the atmosphere?
A. transpiration
C. precipitation
B. condensation
D. infiltration
Condensation is when water vapor condenses in the atmosphere to form clouds. Infiltration is when water seeps
down through the soil to form groundwater.
19.) According to scientists, the detrimental phenomenon of global warming is caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide in
the Earth’s atmosphere, which traps the sun’s rays and causes an increase in global temperature. Which of the following
human behaviors is NOT responsible for global warming?
A. burning of forests
C. burning of fossil fuels
B. planting new trees
D. all of these can cause increases in CO2 concentration
Trees and other plants act as a “carbon sink” and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Planting trees will actually help
prevent global warming
20.) Which of the following is a renewable resource?
A. coal
C. gasoline
B. trees
D. natural gas
Trees can be regrown with 100 years, whereas coal, gasoline, and natural gas take thousands and thousands of years
to form again.
21.) Which of the following situations describes a carnivore and an herbivore?
A. a horse eats an apple
C. a mountain lion eats a rabbit
B. a rabbit eats a dandelion
D. a fungus breaks down a dead oak tree
A mountain lion is a carnivore (eats animals) and the rabbit is an herbivore (eats plants)
22.) What is the role of Krill in the following food chain?
Algae  Krill  Cod  Leopard Seal  Orca Whale
A. primary producer
C. secondary consumer
B. primary consumer
D. detritivore
Food chains start with a primary producer, then primary consumer (herbivores), then secondary consumer
(carnivores), tertiary consumers, and will ultimately end with decomposers (detritivores)
23.) Which of the following is an abiotic factor that could affect population size?
A. amount of water
C. presence of predators
B. amount of plant life
D. presence of competitors
Water is non-living, whereas plants, predators, and competitors are all living organisms.
24.) Which of the following describes a relationship between two different species in which one species benefits and the
other is unaffected.
A. predation
C. parasitism
B. mutualism
D. commensalism
25.) To support claims and publish results in scientific journals, scientists require:
A. opinions
C. evidence
B. technology
D. photographs
26.) Which of the following observations is qualitative, described in words rather than numbers?
A. surveying the size of a goose population
B. observing the nocturnal (night time) behavior of coyote populations
C. recording the date when goose migration begins every year
D. counting the number of goose nests that are robbed of eggs each year
Population size, dates, and number of nests are all numerical data (numbers)
27.) Which is true of all hypotheses?
A. they are true
C. they are testable
B. they are false
D. they are indisputable (fact)
Scientific experiments must be testable, measureable, reliable and repeatable.
28.) In an experiment, what happens to the control group?
A. It receives no experimental treatment
B. It receives experimental treatment first
C. It receives experimental treatment last
D. It receives more experimental treatments than the other groups
29.) Some toads that live in a hot, dry environment bury themselves in the soil during the day. What characteristic of
living things does this behavior describe?
A. heredity
C. metabolism
B. reproduction
D. responsiveness
Heredity: passing genetics from one generation to another. Reproduction: creating more organisms
Metabolism: all the chemical reactions that occur in the organism.
Right answer: Toads respond to the stimuli of increased temperature by burying themselves
30.) What percentage of energy in a rabbit is stored in the coyote that eats the rabbit?
A. 0%
C. 90%
B. 10%
D. 100%
As you go up a level in an energy pyramid, 90% of the energy is lost and only 10% is passed on to the organisms in the
next level. This means the bottom organisms have the most energy and the top have the least.
31.) In what form is carbon released during cellular respiration?
A. calcium carbonate
C. carbohydrate
B. carbon dioxide
D. water vapor
Cells take in glucose (C6H12O6) for energy and release carbon dioxide (CO2)
32.) Which of the following is NOT involved in the nitrogen cycle?
A. lightning
C. bacteria
B. plants
D. burning fossil fuels
Burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide which is part of the carbon cycle
33.) Which organisms are heterotrophs?
A. a leaf and a tree
B. phytoplankton and krill
C. a leaf and a caterpillar
D. a caterpillar and a bird
Leaf, tree, and phytoplankton are autotrophs (make their own food through photosynthesis)
A caterpillar and a bird have to consume other organisms for energy (heterotrophs)
34.) Which of the following describes an organism’s role in an ecosystem?
A. niche
C. habitat
B. abiotic factor
D. community
An organism’s niche includes what it eats, when it eats, where it hunts, where it sleeps, etc.
A habitat is where an organisms lives. Community is all the organisms of all species in an ecosystem.
35.) Which of the following may help stabilize an ecosystem?
A. severe weather
C. predictable resource availability
B. invasive species
D. depletion of the ozone layer
Severe weather, invasive species, and depletion of the ozone layer will decrease the population size.
Use the data table to the right to answer questions 36 and 37.
36.) Which country had the greatest percentage of their
population suffer from paralytic polio?
A. England
C. Greece
B. Japan
D. Japan
37.) What type of graph would be appropriate for this type of
information?
A. Pie Graph
B. Line Graph
C. Bar Graph
Country
Greece
England
Africa
Japan
Australia
% of population
with paralytic polio
14
3
13
80
10
D. Skin Graph
The data is divided into categories and although it is in percentages, it adds up to more than 100% so it would not fit
in a pie graph.
38.) A grizzly bear defends an area surrounding a cave. When other animals get too close, the grizzly chases the animals
away. Which types of interaction best describes this relationship?
A. Mutualism
C. Commensalism
B. Competition
D. Predation
The bear has to compete with other animals for territory.
Look at the attached graphic and answer the following questions.
39.) Which of the following is a TRUE statement?
A. All mammals are primates
B. A fox is in the phylum Arthropoda
C. Insects and Lobsters are arthropods
D. Crocodiles are part of the class Panthera
40.) Which pair of organisms is most closely related?
A. Frog and Lobster
B. Snake and Crocodile
C. Squirrel and Fox
D. Wolf and Tiger