BIOLOGY 161 – EXAM 1 October 2007 page 1

#1. Please state in a phrase what are the 3 major objectives of this course according to the syllabus?objective #1 - 1 pt.objective #2 - 1 pt.objective #3 - 1 pt.

#2. List the principal steps of the “scientific method”:4 pts.

#3. Use arrows or brackets written directly on your answer above to indicate clearly which of the above steps correspond to Inductive and which correspond to Deductive reasoning.

1 pt.#4. Hypotheses and theories in biology can be proven to be true beyond any doubt. TRUE or FALSE ?

Please explain3 pts.

#5. What kind of reasoning uses observations to create an hypothesis?{circle your choice} inductive or deductive 1 pt.

#6. Using what kind of reasoning does one predict the outcome of an experiment and thereby test an hypothesis?

{circle your choice} inductive or deductive 1 pt.

#7. Smoking tobacco (and the ammonia compounds added to cigarettes by some tobacco companies) has been a widely popular activity in this country for several decades.

The figure at right shows the data from an experimental study of smoking and lung cancer rate in rats. The control group (“not smoking”) had a 0.12 rate of cancer and the experimental group (“smoking”) had a cancer rate of 0.31, which is significantly higher.

Is the conclusion that:

“smoking is a cause of lung cancer in these rats”

VALID or NOT VALID {circle your choice}Please explain your choice:

3 pts.#8. Which of the following best describes the logic of hypothesis-based science? 2 pts

a. If I generate a testable hypothesis, tests and observations will support it.b. If my prediction is correct, it will lead to a testable hypothesis.c. If my observations are accurate, they will support my hypothesis.d. If my hypothesis is correct, I can expect certain test results.e. If my experiments are set up right, they will lead to a testable hypothesis.

#9. A controlled experiment is one that 2 pts

a. proceeds slowly enough that a scientist can make careful records of the results.b. may include experimental groups and control groups tested in parallel.c. is repeated many times to make sure the results are accurate.d. keeps all environmental variables constant.e. is supervised by an experienced scientist.

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smokingnot smoking

canc

er r

ate

BIOLOGY 161 – EXAM 1 page 2

#10. From another data set on smoking and cancer rate, the figure below shows the relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the risk of lung cancer by the smoker from public health data.

Is the conclusion that: “smoking caused increased lung cancer rates in these people”

VALID or NOT VALID{circle your choice}

Please explain your choice:

3 pts.#11. Which of the following statements best distinguishes hypotheses from theories in science? 2 pts.

a. Theories are hypotheses that have been proved.b. Hypotheses are guesses; theories are correct answers.c. Hypotheses usually are relatively narrow in scope; theories have broad explanatory power.d. Hypotheses and theories are essentially the same thing.e. Theories are proved true in all cases; hypotheses are usually falsified by tests.

#12. For scientific questions in which there is controversy and no clear right answer, all opinions are equally valid. TRUE or FALSE ?

Please explain3 pts.

#13. Consider the “Big Picture” slide of the hierarchical nature of ecology below:

Please write the numbers on the lines below corresponding to the appropriate label for each level in this diagram, _________ ecosystem level __________ individual level_________ population level __________ community level

2 pts.#14. It is estimated that there are 20-50 times more species of trees per area

in a tropical rainforest than in a comparably sized area in Pennsylvania. In addition, the tropics exhibit higher “ecological functional diversity.” What is “ecological functional diversity” and why is this concept important?

4 pts

#15. Of what economic value is biodiversity to humans? Please list and briefly explain three different ways in which biodiversity is of economic value. {Hint: this question is NOT about aesthetics, it's about economics.}1 –2 –3 –

3 pts

42

1

34

21

3

BIOLOGY 161 – EXAM 1, page 3 Name ___________________________________________ (+1 pt)

#16. Please add to the diagram below to illustrate AND briefly explain why are the coastal areas of the Pacific northwest (e.g., around Seattle, WA) so rainy and have such vast forests? and why does a desert occur in eastern Washington?

4 pts.

#17. Imagine some cosmic catastrophe that jolts Earth so that it is no longer tilted. Instead, its axis is perpendicular to the plane of its orbit around the sun. The most predictable effect of this change would be 2 pts.a. no more night and day.b. a big change in the length of the year.c. a cooling of the equator.d. a loss of seasonal variation at northern and southern latitudes.e. the elimination of ocean currents.

#18. When climbing a mountain, we can observe transitions in biological communities that are analogous to the changes 2 pts.a. in biomes at different latitudes.b. at different depths in the ocean.c. in a community through different seasons.d. in an ecosystem as it evolves over time.e. across the United States from east to west.

#1. Write the letter on the spaces below of the two major objectives of Individual Ecology?A. to understand the evolution of the design of the organism as “adapted” over evolutionary time due to

selection from its environment, B. to understand the evolution of feeding, sex, and death,C. to understand how knowledge is constructed using the scientific method,D. to understand how organisms interact with their total environment and how the individual responds in an

“adaptive” manner in ecological time,E. to understand the spacing patterns in mobile animals as evolved solutions to energy budget constraints,

objective #1 ____________ objective #2: ____________ (the order does not matter) 2 pts.

#2. Please write on the lines below what are the five environmental types that directly affect the day to day lives of individual organisms?

5 pts

Pacific Ocean

Seattleeastern Washington desert

strong wind from west

Cascade Mountains

BIOLOGY 161 – EXAM 1 page 4

#3. Please offer a brief but concise definition of Evolution.3 pts.

#4. Please offer a brief but concise explanation of how Evolution can occur by Natural Selection(hint: there three specific conditions).1 –2 –3 –

6 pts.

#5. In class, I mentioned the story of giraffes who possess extremely long and tough tongues that can strip leaves off of thorny tree branches in African savannah habitats. Giraffe tongues are suggested to have evolved these characteristics by a process of Darwinian Natural Selection from ancestral giraffes with soft tongues not unlike those of other mammals.

Please explain how the phenotypic changes in giraffe tongues might have evolved by a process of Darwinian Natural Selection.

4 pts.#6. In class, I mentioned the story of rattlesnakes who capture prey by a

wait ambush foraging mode. Likely, these snakes evolved from “wide foraging” snakes similar to whipsnakes today, but evolved somehow (possibly by a random mutation) an extremely low metabolic rate. Assuming that this first step was correct, please use your knowledge of Darwinian Natural Selection to account for the appearance of venom and the syndrome of traits associated with wait-ambush predation in this group

4 pts.

#7. Why are polar bears white? Despite that these bears live in some of the coldest and brightly lit places on Earth, why is having white fur adaptive over having black fur for the purposes of temperature regulation?

4 pts.

#8. Imagine that a mutant Turkey Vulture arose in a west Texas population that had black skin instead of the white skin that all others possess. The mutant’s feathers are the same as the wild type. Which is true and why?

A. the mutant would more likely overheat compared to the wild type and be selected against under Natural Selection,

B. the mutant skin would have no effect on heat gain and loss compared to the wild type,

C. the mutant would be cooler than the wild type and be favored under Natural Selection.

please explain4 pts.

BIOLOGY 161 – EXAM 1, page 5 Name ___________________________________________ (+1 pt)

#9. In the diagram at right, use an arrow to indicate the direction of water flow within the U-Shaped tube due to osmosis.

In addition, in the space below explain which way water flows and why.

3 pts.

#10. Many animals exhibit play behavior, especially in juveniles.Please list and briefly explain at least 2 different reasons for why might juvenile play behavior might be adaptive.

1 –2 –

4 pts

#11 . Which of the following is true of innate behaviors (the “Nature” part of “Nature vs. Nurture”)?

(a) genes have very little influence on the expression of innate behaviors, 2 pts(b) innate behaviors tend are identical among all members of a population,(c) innate behaviors are limited to invertebrate animals,(d) Innate behaviors occur in invertebrates and some vertebrates but not in mammals,(e) innate behaviors are expressed in most individuals in a population across a wide range of

environmental conditions.

#12 . Which of the following is not required for a behavioral trait to evolve by natural selection? 2 pts

(a) in each individual, the form of the behavior is determined entirely by genes,(b) the behavior varies among individuals,(c) an individual's reproductive success depends in part on how the behavior is performed,(d) some component of the behavior is genetically inherited,(e) an individual's genotype influences its behavioral phenotype.

#13. When Konrad Lorenz raised chicks and found that they followed his yellow boots, what contribution did he make to the debate about the roles of innate instinct vs. environmental learning in the evolution and expression of behavior? What did this say about “nature [genetics] vs. nurture [environment]”?

4 pts.

BIOLOGY 161 – EXAM 1 page 6

#14. This question will assess you understanding of the contribution of Niko Tinbergen to our understanding of the evolution of behavior. Why didn’t the digger wasp find her nest in Figure B below? Please explain the roles of genetics and environment in determining this behavior.

4 pts.

#15 . Although many chimpanzee populations live in environments containing oil-palm nuts, members of only a few populations use stones to crack open the nuts. The most likely explanation for this behavioral difference between populations is that 2 pts.

(a) the behavioral difference is caused by genetic differences between populations,(b) members of different populations have different nutritional requirements,(c) the cultural tradition of using stones to crack nuts has arisen in only some populations,(d) members of different populations differ in learning ability,(e) members of different populations differ in manual dexterity.

#16. Please offer a brief but concise definition of altruism 3 pts

#17. Is the interaction between a flower and a pollinating butterfly an example of altruism? YES or NO ???

1 pt#18. Is parental care, such as defending your offspring from an

attacking predator and example of altruism? YES or NO ???1 pt

#19. At right is a figure showing the average distance traveled by male and female prairie dogs from their family colony. Based on these data, which sex would you expect to give “alarm calls” to warn the other prairie dogs nearby of an approaching predator (such as a hawk)? Please explain your reasoning. 4 pts

20 . According to the theoretical studies of the evolution of altruism, 2 pts(a) natural selection does not favor altruistic behavior that causes the death of the altruist,(b) natural selection is more likely to favor altruistic acts when the beneficiary is a close relative,(c) natural selection is more likely to favor altruistic behavior that benefits an offspring than

altruistic behavior that benefits a full sibling,(d) the effects of kin selection are larger than the effects of direct natural selection on individuals,(e) altruism must always be reciprocal (i.e., the beneficiary also must behave altruistically).

A

B

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