Chapter 1

What is the lowest level of biological organization that biologists consider to be alive? a. a protein b. DNA c. a cell d. a multicellular organism e. a population of organisms

Which category falls immediately below “class” in the systematic hierarchy? a. species b. order c. family d. genus e. phylum

Houseflies develop through a series of programmed stages from egg, to larva, to pupa, to flying adult. This series of stages is called: a. artificial selection. b. respiration. c. homeostasis. d. a life cycle. e. metabolism.

Which structure allows living organisms to detect changes in the environment? a. a protein b. a receptor c. a gene d. RNA e. a nucleus

Which of the following characteristics would not qualify an animal as a model organism? a. It has rapid development. b. It has a small adult size. c. It has a rapid life cycle. d. It has unique genes and unusual cells. e. It is easy to raise in the laboratory.

Explain why control treatments are a necessary component of well-designed experiments.

Which of the following represents the application of the "scientific method"? a. comparing one experimental subject to one control subject b. believing an explanation that is too complex to be tested c. using controlled experiments to test falsifiable hypotheses d. developing one testable hypothesis to explain a natural phenomenon e. observing a once-in-a-lifetime event under natural conditions

Which of the following is not a component of Darwin's theory as he understood it? a. Some individuals in a population survive longer than others. b. Some individuals in a population reproduce more than others. c. Heritable variations allow some individuals to compete more successfully for resources. d. Mutations in genes produce new variations in a population. e. Some new variations are passed to the next generation.

Which of the following questions best exemplifies basic research? a. How did life begin? b. How does alcohol intake affect aging? c. How fast does H1N1 flu spread among humans? d. How can we reduce hereditary problems in purebred dogs? e. How does the consumption of soft drinks promote obesity?

When researchers say that a scientific hypothesis must be falsifiable, they mean that: a. the hypothesis must be proved correct before it is accepted as truth. b. the hypothesis has already withstood many experimental tests. c. they have an idea about what will happen to one variable if another variable changes. d. appropriate data can prove without question that the hypothesis is correct. e. if the hypothesis is wrong, scientists must be able to demonstrate that it is wrong.

Many viruses are infectious agents that contain DNA surrounded by a protein coat. They cannot reproduce on their own, but they can take over the cells of the organisms they infect and force those cells to produce more virus particles. Based on the characteristics of living organisms described in this chapter, should viruses be considered living organisms?

When a biologist first tested a new pesticide on a population of insects, she found that only 1% of the insects survived their exposure to the poison. She allowed the survivors to reproduce and discovered that 10% of the offspring survived exposure to the same concentration of pesticide. One generation later, 50% of the insects survived this experimental treatment. What is a likely explanation for the increasing survival rate of these insects over time?