Module 1: Study Guide

Question 1

Metabolism

Answer 1

The sum total of all processes in an organism which convert energy and matter from outside sources and use that energy and matter to sustain the organism’s life functions.

Question 2

Anabolism

Answer 2

The sum total of all processes in an organism which use energy and simple chemical building blocks to produce large chemicals and structures necessary for life

Question 3

Catabolism

Answer 3

The sum total of all processes in an organism which break down chemicals to produce energy and simple chemical building blocks

Question 4

Photosynthesis

Answer 4

The process by which green plants and some other organisms use the energy of sunlight and simple chemicals to produce their own food

Question 5

Herbivores

Answer 5

Organisms that eat only plants

Question 6

Carnivores

Answer 6

Organisms that eat only other organisms other than plants (“meat-eaters”)

Question 7

Omnivores

Answer 7

Organisms that eat both plants and other organisms

Question 8

Producers

Answer 8

Organisms that produce their own food

Question 9

Consumers

Answer 9

Organisms that eat living producers and/or other consumers for food

Question 10

Decomposers

Answer 10

Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms

Question 11

Autotrophs

Answer 11

Organisms that are able to make their own food

Question 12

Heterotrophs

Answer 12

Organisms that depend on other organisms for their food

Question 13

Receptors

Answer 13

Special structures that allow living organisms to sense the conditions of their internal or external environment

Question 14

External

Answer 14

outer; on the outside

Question 15

Internal

Answer 15

inner; on the inside

Question 16

Asexual reproduction

Answer 16

Reproduction accomplished by a single organism

Question 17

Sexual reproduction

Answer 17

Reproduction that requires two organisms

Question 18

Inheritance

Answer 18

The process by which physical and biological characteristics are transmitted from the parent (or parents) to the offspring

Question 19

Mutation

Answer 19

An abrupt and marked change in the DNA of an organism compared to that of its parents

Question 20

Hypothesis

Answer 20

An educated guess that attempts to explain an observation or answer a question

Question 21

Theory

Answer 21

A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data

Question 22

Scientific Law

Answer 22

a theory that has been tested by and is consistent with generations of data

Question 23

Microorganisms

Answer 23

Living creatures that are too small to see with the naked eye

Question 24

Abiogenesis

Answer 24

The idea that long ago, very simple life forms spontaneously appeared through chemical reactions

Question 25

Prokaryotic cell

Answer 25

a cell that has no distinct, membrane-bounded organelles

Question 26

Eukaryotic cell

Answer 26

a cell with distinct, membrane-bounded organelles

Question 27

Species

Answer 27

a unit of one or more populations of individuals that can reproduce under normal conditions, produce fertile offspring, and are reproductively isolated from other such units

Question 28

Taxonomy

Answer 28

The science of classifying organisms

Question 29

Binomial nomenclature

Answer 29

naming an organism with its genus and species name

Question 30

The four criteria for life: #1

Answer 30

All life forms contain deoxyribonucleic acid, which is called DNA

Question 31

The four criteria for life: #2

Answer 31

All life forms have a method by which they extract energy from their surroundings and convert it into energy that sustains them

Question 32

The four criteria for life: #3

Answer 32

All life forms can sense changes in their surroundings and respond to those changes

Question 33

The four criteria for life: #4

Answer 33

All life forms reproduce

Question 34

An organism is classified as a carnivore. Is it a heterotroph or an autotroph?

Answer 34

Carnivores eat non-plants. This means they depend on other organisms for food, so they are heterotrophs.

Question 35

An organism is classified as a carnivore. Is it a producer, consumer, or decomposer?

Answer 35

Carnivores eat non-plants. This means they depend on other organisms for food, so they are consumers.

Question 36

An organism has receptors on tentacles that come out of its head. If those tentacles were cut off in an accident, what life function would be most hampered?

Answer 36

If the tentacles are cut off, then the organism has no receptors, which sense the conditions of the environment. Thus, SENSING CHANGES IN THE SURROUNDINGS AND RESPONDING TO THOSE CHANGES WILL BE HARD FOR THIS WOUNDED CREATURE.

Question 37

What is wrong with the following statement:

“Science has proven that energy must always be conserved.”

Answer 37

SCIENCE CANNOT PROVE ANYTHING. Since it is based on experiments that may be flawed, its conclusions are always tentative.

Question 38

Briefly explain the Scientific Method

Answer 38

• Make observations
• Develop a hypothesis to explain those observations of to answer a question
• design experiments to test the hypothesis
• after the hypothesis has been tested by a significant amount of data and is consistent with all of it, then it becomes theory
• after more testing with generations of data, the theory could become a scientific law

Question 39

Why does the story of spontaneous generation illustrate the limitations of science?

Answer 39

The story of spontaneous generation shows how almost 2,000 years of executing the scientific method resulted in a law that was clearly wrong. Thus, you can’t put too much faith in scientific laws. They are fallible.

Question 40

Where does a wise person place his or her faith? science, or the Bible?

Answer 40

The wise person trusts the Bible, because it is infallible.

Question 41

Why is the theory of abiogenesis just another example of spontaneous generation?

Answer 41

Abiogenesis is a theory that states that life sprang from non-living chemicals eons ago. This is an example of spontaneous generation, a former law that said life could arise from non-life. We now know that this law is wrong.

Question 42

Name the classification groups in our hierarchical classification scheme in order

Answer 42

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

Question 43

An organism is a multicellular consumer made of eukaryotic cells. To which kingdom does it belong?

Answer 43

ANAMALIA.
Since it is multicellular, it is not Monera or Protista. In addition, it is not Plantae because it is not an autotroph (consumers are heterotrophs), and it is not Fungi because it is not a decomposer.

Question 44

An organism is a multicellular consumer made of eukaryotic cells. If we were using the three-domain system of classification, in which domain would the organism belong?

Answer 44

Since it has eukaryotic cells, it would be in the EUKARYA doman.

Question 45

An organism is a single-celled consumer made of prokaryotic cells. To what kingdom does it belong?

Answer 45

It belongs in kingdom MONERA, because all organisms made of prokaryotic cells belong to this kingdom.

Question 46

An organism is a single-celled consumer made of prokaryotic cells. If we were using the three-domain system of classification, could you determine the domain of the organism?

Answer 46

All members of kingdom Monera are either in the Archaea domain or the Bacteria domain. YOU CANNOT TELL WHICH DOMAIN WITHOUT KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE ORGANISM. HOWEVER, IT IS EITHER IN ARCHAEA OR BACTERIA, DEPENDING ON ITS CHARACTERISTICS.