Adaptations, inherited traits that suit organisms to their environment, arise through evolution by natural selection.
Correct Answer
True
True. Natural selection favors individuals with traits that help them survive and reproduce, so those traits become more common over generations. These favorable inherited traits are called adaptations.
Category: Properties of Life
Question 2
Prokaryotic cells contain a membrane-bound nucleus that encloses their DNA.
Correct Answer
False
False. Prokaryotic cells, found in the domains Bacteria and Archaea, lack a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Their DNA sits in the cytoplasm, while a nucleus is a feature of eukaryotic cells.
Category: Classifying Life
Question 3
An organ is a structure made of two or more types of tissue that work together to perform a common function.
Correct Answer
True
True. Organs such as the heart or a leaf combine several kinds of tissue. For example, the stomach contains muscle, epithelial, connective and nervous tissue working together.
Category: Levels of Organization
Question 4
A population consists of individuals of several different species living in the same area.
Correct Answer
False
False. A population is made up of individuals of a single species in a given area. Populations of several different species living together form a community.
Category: Levels of Organization
Question 5
The biosphere is the collection of all ecosystems on Earth.
Correct Answer
True
True. The biosphere is the highest level of biological organization. It includes every ecosystem, from oceans to forests, and the zones of land, water and air where life exists.
Category: Levels of Organization
Question 6
In the taxonomic hierarchy, a genus is a broader category that contains several families.
Correct Answer
False
False. The order runs domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, so a family is broader and contains one or more genera. A genus in turn contains one or more species.
Category: Classifying Life
Question 7
A branch point in a phylogenetic tree marks where two lineages diverged from a common ancestor.
Correct Answer
True
True. A phylogenetic tree diagrams evolutionary relationships. Each branch point, or node, represents a common ancestor from which the lineages after it split apart.
Category: Classifying Life
Question 8
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that studies how organisms interact with each other and their environment.
Correct Answer
False
False. Molecular biology studies biological processes at the level of molecules, such as DNA, RNA and proteins. The study of organisms and their interactions with each other and the environment is ecology.
Category: Branches of Biology
Question 9
A scientific hypothesis must be falsifiable, meaning that experimental results could show it to be wrong.
Correct Answer
True
True. A useful hypothesis must make predictions that could be contradicted by evidence. An explanation that no observation could ever disprove cannot be tested by science.
Category: Scientific Method
Question 10
A hypothesis that is supported by several experiments has been proven true.
Correct Answer
False
False. Supporting results increase confidence in a hypothesis but never prove it, because a future test could contradict it. A hypothesis can be disproven, or rejected, but it cannot be proven.
Category: Reasoning and Explanations
Question 11
Deductive reasoning uses a general principle to predict specific results.
Correct Answer
True
True. Deductive reasoning moves from the general to the specific. For example, if the climate is warming, one can deduce that species ranges should shift and then check whether they have.
Category: Reasoning and Explanations
Question 12
Qualitative data consist of numerical measurements such as counts, masses and lengths.
Correct Answer
False
False. Qualitative data are descriptions, such as color or behavior, that are not expressed as numbers. Numerical measurements such as counts, masses and lengths are quantitative data.
Category: Scientific Method
Question 13
In a well-designed experiment, the control group is treated exactly like the experimental group except for the factor being tested.
Correct Answer
True
True. Keeping every other condition the same means that any difference in results can be attributed to the one factor being manipulated. This is what makes the comparison meaningful.
Category: Scientific Method
Question 14
A scientific theory is a guess that has not yet been tested.
Correct Answer
False
False. In science, a theory is a thoroughly tested explanation supported by a large body of evidence, such as the cell theory. An untested proposed explanation is a hypothesis.
Category: Reasoning and Explanations
Question 15
Basic science seeks to expand knowledge without requiring an immediate practical application.
Correct Answer
True
True. Basic science pursues understanding for its own sake. Its discoveries, such as the structure of DNA, often later make practical applications possible.
Category: Basic and Applied Science
Question 16
Applied science is also commonly called pure science.
Correct Answer
False
False. Pure science is another name for basic science, which seeks knowledge for its own sake. Applied science uses science to solve practical, real-world problems.
Category: Basic and Applied Science
Question 17
Descriptive science aims to observe, explore and discover rather than to test a specific hypothesis.
Correct Answer
True
True. Descriptive, or discovery, science gathers observations about the natural world, often using inductive reasoning. Hypothesis-based science instead begins with a specific explanation to test.
Category: Reasoning and Explanations
Question 18
All living organisms use a source of energy to power their metabolic activities.
Correct Answer
True
True. Energy processing is one of the properties of life. Some organisms capture energy from sunlight or chemicals, while others obtain it by consuming food made by other organisms.
Category: Properties of Life
Question 19
The domain Eukarya includes plants, animals and fungi but not protists.
Correct Answer
False
False. Protists have cells with a nucleus, so they belong to Eukarya along with plants, animals and fungi. The prokaryotic domains are Bacteria and Archaea.
Category: Classifying Life
Question 20
Organelles are the smallest structural units considered to be alive.
Correct Answer
False
False. The cell is the smallest unit of structure and function that is considered alive. Organelles are parts of cells and cannot carry out all the processes of life on their own.
Category: Levels of Organization