Original questions for all seven topics, with worked explanations and feedback on written answers.
Multiple choice
Worked, or in timed checks
Clusters
A phenomenon, data and several one-credit parts
Written answers
Read against the creditable answers, with your next step
Try 4 questions
Question 1
Four versions of a pigment gene in eggplant
Version
Change in the DNA
Change in the enzyme
Fruit color
1
none
none
deep purple
2
one base substituted
one amino acid replaced, far from the binding region
deep purple
3
one base substituted
one amino acid replaced in the region that binds the starting molecule
white
4
one base substituted
no amino acid changed
deep purple
A plant biologist compared four versions of the gene for an enzyme that makes the purple pigment in eggplant skin (an invented data set). Which conclusion is best supported by the table?
Question 2
Energy stored in a pond food chain
Level
Energy (kJ per square meter per year)
producers
15000
primary consumers
1200
secondary consumers
90
The table shows the energy stored each year at three levels of a pond food chain (an invented data set). What percentage of the energy in the primary consumers is passed on to the secondary consumers?
Question 3
Yearly carbon flows in a class model (billions of metric tons of carbon)
Flow
Direction
Amount
Respiration and decay by living things
Into the atmosphere
119
Release from the ocean surface
Into the atmosphere
90
Burning fossil fuels
Into the atmosphere
9
Clearing and burning forests
Into the atmosphere
1
Photosynthesis by plants and algae
Out of the atmosphere
120
Uptake by the ocean surface
Out of the atmosphere
92
A class model of the carbon cycle gives these yearly flows of carbon into and out of the atmosphere, in billions of metric tons of carbon (table). According to the model, how does the carbon in the atmosphere change each year?
Question 4
Scores for three options (1 = poor, 5 = best)
Option
Reducing collisions (weight 3)
Low cost (weight 2)
Little harm to wildlife (weight 1)
Fence with an underpass
5
1
4
Warning signs
1
5
5
Roadside reflectors
3
4
3
A county wants to reduce collisions between cars and deer on one road. Planners scored three options from 1 (poor) to 5 (best) on each criterion, then multiplied each score by the criterion's weight: reducing collisions (weight 3), low cost (weight 2) and little harm to other wildlife (weight 1). Which option has the highest weighted total?