Assignment:
Biology
Please Answer the following questions with YOUR OWN WORDS no copying from the Internet and Educational websites.
1. Describe what it means to say that living things are parts of populations that evolve.
2. How is the DNA of prokaryotes packaged differently from the DNA of eukaryotes?
- The DNA of prokaryotes is in circular chromosomes not in a nucleus.
- The DNA of prokaryotes is in linear chromosomes in a distinct nucleus.
- The DNA of prokaryotes is in circular chromosomes in a distinct nucleus.
- The DNA of prokaryotes is in linear chromosomes not in a nucleus.
3. Are your cells more like those of yeast or those of bacteria? Defend your answer.
4. Transport proteins and the molecules they transport are described as fitting together like a lock and key. Why is it important that they have such a specific fit?
5. If growth hormone is found in the bloodstream and travels all over the body, why do only certain parts of the body respond and grow?
6. Enzymes and their substrates are described as having a lock-and-key fit. Why is it important that they have such a specific fit?
7. You are talking with a winemaker about yeast. "I know that yeast can survive under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions," he says, "but what I don't understand is why they seem to need so much more sugar under anaerobic conditions. I think they gobble a hundred times as much sugar."
Can you explain to him why yeast might need more sugar under anaerobic conditions than under aerobic conditions? Is his estimation of a hundred times as much sugar reasonable?
8. You and a friend go to a garden shop to buy fertilizer for your new plants. Your friend says, "Didn't we just learn that plants make their own organic molecules through photosynthesis? Plants shouldn't need fertilizer." Another customer overhears your discussion and looks at the bag of fertilizer you are holding. "Well," she says, "it looks like the main ingredients in fertilizer are nitrogen and phosphorus. I don't know if plants really need that stuff or not." What do you say? Do you buy the fertilizer?
9. What function do plasmodesmata serve?
10. Describe the role of tRNA in translation.
11. What impressed Darwin about the finches on the Galapagos Islands?
12. Horned lizards defend themselves with spiky horns on their heads and bodies. Some individuals will even jerk their heads to stab at predators with their horns.
How might Darwin explain the evolution of these horns? Think and explain.
13. Nancy Burley of the University of California, Irvine, ran the following experiment: She placed red color bands on the feet of some male birds and green color bands on the feet of other male birds. Females preferred to mate with males that had red color bands. Is this an example of natural selection? Why or why not?
14. John Endler studied guppies that lived in ponds in Trinidad. He noticed that the males in different populations of guppies had different coloration patterns. Males that lived in pools with no predators tended to have bright colors and large spots. Males that lived in pools with predators tended to have drab colors. Endler knew that female guppies preferred to mate with brightly colored males.
Explain the role of natural selection and sexual selection in these guppy populations.
15. Explain the difference between allopatric speciation and sympatric speciation.
16. A. Why do scientists consider Miller and Urey's experiment important?
B. Why do some scientists question the assumptions Miller and Urey made when they designed their experiment?
17. What role might environments similar to hydrothermal vents have played in the origin of life?
18. Explain why mammals that live near the poles are likely to be larger than related mammals that live near the equator.
19. Why do scientists think life on Mars is more likely than life on Venus?
20. Is an eagle a reptile? Defend your answer.
21. Why are diatoms important to many other marine organisms?
22. How do fungi obtain food?
23. Truffles are rare, expensive mushrooms used in high-end cooking. So far, people have been unable to farm truffles, so they must collect them from the wild, often using specially trained dogs to sniff out the delicacies. Truffle hunters know that the best place to look for truffles is near the roots of certain species of oak trees.Why are they found in association with only certain plants?
24. What is the difference between an ectotherm and an endotherm? Which vertebrates are ectotherms, and which are endotherms?
25. Is there any evidence that global warming has resulted in biased sex ratios in turtles?
26. How can a plant gain water by losing water? Explain the role of transpiration and tension in moving water up a tree.