Chapter Questions
What is the lowest level of biological organization that biologists consider to be alive?a. a proteinb. DNAc. a celld. a multicellular organisme. a population of organisms
Which category falls immediately below "class" in the systematic hierarchy?a. speciesb. orderc. familyd. genuse. phylum
Which of the following represents the application of the "scientific method"?comparing one experimental subject to one control subjectb. believing an explanation that is too complex to be testedc. using controlled experiments to test falsifiable hypothesesd. developing one testable hypothesis to explain a natural phenomenone. observing a once-in-a-lifetime event under natural conditions
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 proteinb. a receptorc. a gened. RNAe. a nucleus
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.
What role did the copper lizard models play in the field study of temperature regulation?a. They attracted live lizards to the study site.b. They measured the temperatures of live lizards.c. They established null hypotheses about basking behavior and temperatures.d. They scared predators away from the study site.e. They allowed researchers to practice taking lizard temperatures.
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.
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.It is easy to raise in the laboratory.