Download BOT 130 Exam 2 potential essay questions

BOT 130 Exam 2 potential essay questions
Chapters 25 and 9, Flowering Plants
1. Compare and contrast the purposes, processes, and outcomes of pollination, fertilization, and “double
fertilization”
2. Distinguish between spores (all types), seeds, and pollen with respect to the function of each, as well as
how, when, and where they’re produced in the life cycle of a typical flowering plant.
3. Describe three different pollination syndromes, including in each a description of the coevolutionary
adaptations of the floral structures and animal pollinator biology and behaviors.
Chapter 2, Chemical Composition of Cells
4. atom, cell, electron, organelle, molecule. Define each of these terms and list them according to size
from smallest to largest. Which of these, if any, are visible in the compound light microscopes we use in
lab?
5. What are enzymes? What do they do, and why are they essential to plants and other organisms
6. The diagrams below show the arrangement of electrons around the nucleus of a fluorine atom (left) and
a potassium atom (right). Predict what would happen if a fluorine atom and a potassium atom came into
contact. What kind of bond, if any, would they form, how would they form it, and why?
Fluorine (Fl)
Potassium (K)
Chapter 3, Plant Cells
7. Name and list the function(s) of three different types of plastids. In what ways (note, plural) are these
various types of plastids similar? In what ways (again, plural) are they different from each other?
8. Describe the sequence of events that occur in cell growth and cell wall formation from the initial
formation of a sclerenchyma fiber cell until it is completely matured. List the major chemical constituents
of its primary and secondary cell walls, and describe how these components contribute toward the
function of those walls.
9. Explain thoroughly why you should not water your Mystery Plant with sea water (salt water). [Hint:
“Explain thoroughly” means to describe how osmosis would function in this case including using the
terms hypotonic, hypertonic and/or isotonic correctly, plasmolysis of plant cells, the effect of plasmolysis
on cell structure and function, etc.]
Chapter 5, Plant tissues and the Multicellular Plant Body
10. Identify and describe the cellular structures and functions of the various cell types that comprise the
ground tissues, being sure to tell what distinguishes each cell type, its function(s), and where you would
find it.
11. What is a “sieve tube element” and what is its function? Describe the structure of a sieve tube element.
What is a companion cell thought to do and why is this important for the functioning of a sieve tube
element? Name the conducting cells of xylem. What important differences are there between a mature
conducting cell of xylem vs that of phloem?
12. What is an apical meristem and what does it produce? What tissues does each of the primary
meristems produce? How does primary growth affect the size and shape of a plant?
Chapter 6, Roots
13. Trace the movement of a mineral nutrient ion (dissolved in soil water) from the soil to the center of a
eudicot root, listing all tissues through which the mineral must pass for all possible pathways.
14. What structure(s) allow a root to avoid damage as growth pushes it through the soil? Be able to draw
the general structure of a root tip, identifying the mucigel surrounding the root, the root cap, root hairs
and branch roots. Where would one find the oldest root cells with respect to the root tip? The youngest?
What function(s) do root hairs have? Describe the specializations of root dermal tissues that are
adaptations to a life in the soil.
Chapter 7, Stems
15. What is an annual ring and how is it formed?
16. Imagine you are a wood-boring insect, and you eat your way from the outside of a mature tree stem
right down to the very center. List the tissues you will encounter, in order, on your gourmet journey, and
indicate the function of each type of tissue.
17. On a trip to South America, you are presented with a “vegetable” that you’ve never seen before. The
leaves seem to indicate that the plant is a eudicot. (How?) You happen to have a microscope and
equipment needed to prepare a stained wet mount slide of cross section of the “vegetable.” That’s
good, because your hosts know that you’ve taken Botany 130 and they ask you to identify what kind of
plant part the “vegetable” is. Describe three features that would allow you to visually distinguish if the
plant material is that of a stem or of a root, indicating how each features differs in stems vs roots..
Chapter 8, Leaves
18. On a trip to the grocery store with a friend, you casually mention that celery is basically a bunch a
leaves from the celery plant. Your friend disagrees, arguing that celery stalks are stems. Who is correct,
and how could you settle the question using information about the structure and function of stems vs
leaves?
19. Ivana Cannatuna discovered a way to keep all of a plant’s stomata open at all times. She also figured
out how to keep those of another plant closed all the time. Both plants died. Explain why for each.
20. List and describe at least three adaptations to the environment that may be shown by each of the
following: mesophytes, xerophytes, and hydrophytes [note that your answer may discuss any organs of
the plants, not just leaves]