Unit A - Biodiversity

Question 0

What areas of the world have the greatest biological diversity, and what what areas have the least?

Answer 0

The area of the world with the most biodiversity is anywhere near the equator, and the North and Polar Regions have the least amount of biodiversity.

Question 1

How are populations, communities, and ecosystems related?

Answer 1

There a multiple populations in a community, and the ecosystem is where they interact.

Question 2

What are the 7 classification levels?

Answer 2

Kingdom, phyla, class, order, family, genus, and species. Also known as Kings Play Cards On Fine Green Silk.

Question 3

What is “two name” naming and how is it written?

Answer 3

Two name naming is genus then species. For example Homo sapiens is the genus and species for humans.

Question 4

What place in the sea has the most species diversity?

Answer 4

Anywhere in the sea that has coral or coral reefs.

Question 5

Why is the predator-prey relationship an example of interdependence?

Answer 5

Interdependence is the ability to co-exist in one habitat. It happens when a species depends on other species in their environment to live. For example the predator needs to eat, so they depend on their prey.

Question 6

What are the 3 types of symbiosis? Explain each one.

Answer 6

Commensalism: where one organism benefits and the other does not. No harm is done to the second organism.
Mutualism: where both organisms benefit from each other.
Parasitism: where one organism benefits and the other does not. Harm is done to the second organism.

Question 7

What is the difference between resource partioning and interspecies competition?

Answer 7

Interspecies competition is the interaction between different species in which neither species benefits. It happens when 2 or more species use or need the same resource.
Resource partioning is dividing a resource between 2 or more co-existing species, so that the niche of each species differs slightly.

Question 8

Explain what natural and artificial selection is.

Answer 8

Natural selection is a process that which individuals will survive and reproduce. Artificial selection is breeding by humans of plants and animals with desirable traits to produce offspring with those desirable traits.

Question 9

What is the difference between heritable and non-heritable characteristics?

Answer 9

Heritable characteristics are characteristics passed on from generation to generation while non-heritable characteristics are acquired or caused by the environment.

Question 10

What is the difference between discrete and continuous variation?

Answer 10

Discrete variation is heritable characteristics of which there are either/or and continuous variation is heritable characteristics that have a range of forms. An example of discrete variation is earlobes attached or not. An example of continuous variation is feet size.

Question 11

What are the 4 types of asexual reproduction? Explain each one.

Answer 11

Binary fission is when a cell splits exactly in two making two identical individuals.
Budding is when a new organism develops from a bud or outgrowth on the parent, and the bud or outgrowth eventually detaches and becomes a separate organism.
Spore production is when parent cells divide to form spores and each spore develops into a new offspring identical to the parent. The spores remain dormant (sleeping).
Vegetative reproduction is a process with plants that does not involve the formation of a seed. Types of vegetative reproduction are cuttings (will grow roots and new plants will form), suckers, runners (produces new plants along the runner), tubers (will grow on itself, and bulbs.

Question 12

Explain the difference between asexual and sexual reproduction.

Answer 12

Asexual reproduction only involves on parent, and all offspring are identical. Sexual reproduction happens with fertilization and usually involves two individuals. It also involves the exchange of genetic material between two individuals resulting in offspring that are genetically different from the parents.

Question 13

What are the gametes in animals called? What are the gametes in plants called?

Answer 13

The gametes in animals are called sperm (male) and eggs (female). The gametes in plants are called pollen (male) and ovules (female).

Question 14

What is the joining of the two gametes in animals called? What is the joining of the two gametes in plants called?

Answer 14

The joining in the gametes in animals is called fertilization. The joining in the gametes in plants is called pollination.

Question 15

What is DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)?

Answer 15

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is inherited genetic material found mainly in the nuclei of the cells of living things.

Question 16

Why do living things have chromosomes?

Answer 16

All living things have chromosomes because it is the packaging of DNA as a structure along which genes are located, and without it we wouldn’t have a blueprint to how we are made.

Question 17

What is a gene and where is it located?

Answer 17

A gene is a segment of DNA and it is located at one particular place on a chromosome, which determines a specific characteristic of an organism. They also come in pairs.

Question 18

What is it called if a gene has more than one possible form?

Answer 18

An allele.

Question 19

List four differences between mitosis and meiosis.

Answer 19

1. Mitosis produces 2 identical daughter cells from one parent cell while meiosis produces 4 cells using half the DNA of a normal cell.
2. Mitosis involves 1 cell division while meiosis involves 2 cell divisions.
3. Mitosis is responsible for growth and cellular repair while meiosis is responsible for making gametes.
4. Mitosis produces cells with the full amount of chromosomes while meiosis produces cells with half the amount of chromosomes as normal cells.

Question 20

What happens when a parent gives the allele for a dominant trait and the other gives an allele for a recessive trait?

Answer 20

The allele from the parent with the dominant trait appears in the offspring.

Question 21

What has to happen in order for the recessive trait to appear in the offspring?

Answer 21

In order for the recessive trait to show the offspring has to have two recessive alleles and no dominant allele.

Question 22

What is incomplete dominance?

Answer 22

Incomplete dominance occurs when one gene isn’t completely dominant to another. Instead they “mix” together to display a different trait. For example someone could have one green eye and one blue.

Question 23

What is the relationship between the cell and alleles in the cell?

Answer 23

Cell>nucleus>chromosome>DNA>genes>alleles

OR!!

It’s starts off with the cell then the nucleus and then the chromosome and then the DNA. The DNA is made up of all these genes made of alleles.

Question 25

Name 4 possible ways that there can be an extinction or extirpation naturally.

Answer 25

Catastrophic events (earthquakes, floods, fire, etc.), lack of food (due to overpopulation or overspecialization), disease, and the extinction of another species that one species is dependent on.

Question 26

Name 8 possible things that could cause extinctions or extirpations due to humans.

Answer 26

Habitat destruction (due to urbanization, construction, agricultural development, logging, damming of rivers, pollution, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers), introduction of non-native species, and overhunting.

Question 27

What is the difference between artificial and natural selection?

Answer 27

The main difference between artificial and natural selection is that humans control the artificial selection process versus the environment.

Question 28

What are 4 types of biotechnology?

Answer 28

Four types of biotechnology is cloning, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and genetic engineering.

Question 29

Why do we do genetic engineering if it has so many negative risks?

Answer 29

We still use genetic engineering because it helps us control the characteristics of organisms.