Plant Distribution

The distribution of plant species depends on many factors, including climate, topography, soil conditions and biological interactions. Data on moisture availability were collected along the coast of Northern California. In this area, each plant community has a dominant tree. The graphs below illustrate a dominant tree’s percentage of the total vegetation compared to the percentage of soil moisture available. Each tree species studied has a distinct preference for a certain kind of habitat.

___1. An ecologist observes that an area in Californiaexperienced an increase in average soil moisture content. The area was once dominated by incense cedar but is now home to a greater variety of trees. Which types of trees would the ecologist most likely observe in this area if the soil moisture content has risen to 30%?

A. madrone and California bay

B. Douglas fir and madrone

C. incense cedar and big-leaf maple

D. coast redwood and big-leaf maple

(NAME: ___________________________________________________ Period 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 )

___2. A scientist observes that Douglas firA scientist observes that Douglas fir

trees survive better than broadleaf

species such as big-leaf maple in a

certain area. Which is the best

explanation for her observation?

A. Big-leaf maple trees require less

soil moisture than Douglas fir trees.

B. Douglas fir trees are better at

conserving water than big-leaf maple trees.

C. Douglas fir trees and big-leaf maple trees are often found in overlapping habitats.

D. The big-leaf maple trees are experiencing competition with California Bay trees.

___3. Trees survive better than broadleaf species such as big-leaf maple in a certain area. Which is the best explanation for her observation?

A. Big-leaf maple trees require less soil moisture than Douglas fir trees.

B. Douglas fir trees are better at

conserving water than big-leaf maple trees.

C. Douglas fir trees and big-leaf maple trees are often found in overlapping habitats.

D. The big-leaf maple trees are experiencing competition with California Bay trees.

___4. In which area would you expect incense cedar and madrone to dominate?

A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4

___5. A survey of a small coastal valley in

California finds only Douglas fir, madrone, and coast redwood. The soil moisture availability in this valley is most likely to be

A. 0 – 20%. B. 20 – 40%.

C. 40 – 80%. D. 60 – 80%.

___6. Explain the response of atom A in terms of protons and electrons. Describe how protons and electrons affect charge. Respond in the space provided (2 points)

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___7. At what step in the fission process is a massive amount of energy released?

A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4

____8. Which area of the diagram shows the subduction zone?

A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4

___9. The interior of the western United States is arid to semi-arid because the western mountains

A. produce large amounts of moisture.

B. block moisture coming from the west.

C. prevent snow from melting.

D. reflect solar heat drying the air.

___10. Which piece of evidence would provide the strongest support for the hypothesis that Earth’s continents were once joined?

A. Modern crops grown in region E can also be grown in region F.

B. Fossilized sediments found in region A resemble those found in region B.

C. Modern marine mammals found in location C are also found in location D.

D. Fossilized land invertebrates found in location E are also found in location F.

What is the process shown above by which molten material moves through Earth’s mantle?

A. radiation B. convection

C. plate faulting D. continental drift

Hemophilia is a disease characterized by excessive bleeding because the blood clots very slowly. This phenotype results from a sex-linked recessive allele which is located on the X chromosome. A male (XY) can only receive the hemophilia allele from his mother (XX). Since males have only one X chromosome, they have a 50% chance of having hemophilia if their mother is a carrier. The following diagram shows part of the British royal family’s pedigree. All hemophilic males are represented by shaded squares and normal males by unshaded squares. Females are represented by circles, and female carriers of hemophilia are not identified.

___12. In generation IV, Alexis has hemophilia. If Alexis married a woman who was a carrier of the hemophilia allele, which proportion of his children (including both males and females) would be expected to have hemophilia?

A. 25% B. 50% C. 75% D. 100%

___13. Which set of grandparent-parentchild relatives must have all had at least one hemophilia allele on an X chromosome?

A. Albert-Helena-Alice

B. Louis IV-Irene-Sigismund

C. Leopold-Alice-Viscount Trematon

D. Queen Victoria-Leopold-Charles Edward

___14. Irene and Henry of Prussia (generation III) do not have hemophilia, yet two of their three offspring are hemophilic. What must

be true regarding the genotypes of Irene and Henry?

A. Irene carries the allele on both X chromosomes, but Henry does not.

B. Irene and Henry both carry the allele on one of their X chromosomes.

C. Irene carries the allele on one of her X chromosomes, but Henry does not.

D. Irene carries the allele on one of her X chromosomes and Henry carries the allele on his Y chromosome.

___15. Climatographs are often used to represent a location’s temperature and precipitation patterns. (Precipitation is represented by the bar graph because it is cumulative.) Which climatograph most likely represents a tropical rainforest?

___16. In terms of electrons, describe the difference between the formation of the covalent bond in Cl2 and the ionic bond in NaCl. Respond in the space provided (2 points)

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___17. Methane (CH4) has successfully been used to power fuel cells. Since the fuel used in these cells is not burned, using methane from the mine will help to

A. increase the concentration of atmospheric ozone.

B. reduce public demand for alternative fuel sources.

C. increase public awareness of global warming issues.

D. reduce pollutants commonly associated with fossil fuel combustion.

___18. The following was an advertisement if the newspaper.

In order for potential participants to make a medically sound decision, what is the research group’s ethical obligation?

A. Pay all participants’ health insurance costs during the entire course of the study.

B. Inform participants of the exact amount of compensation they will be receiving.

C. Provide participants with a list of additional studies that may be relevant to their condition.

D. Disclose all medical procedures and provide information on risks and potential side effects.

___19. The following graph shows change in temperature of a sample of H2O, which begins as ice, as thermal energy is added.

Which region of the graph represents water (H2O) in the liquid form only?

A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4

Peppered Moths

___20. The British peppered moth, Biston betularia, occurs in two colorations: light (mixed black and white) and black. Black coloration was first seen in 18th-century moth collections as a rare, highly prized mutant. Black coloration is controlled primarily by a single, dominant gene.

Before 1850, the overwhelming majority of peppered moths in northern England were light. As the Industrial Revolution swept through northern England, however, light moth populations dwindled as black moth populations grew. Overall, the total peppered moth numbers remained steady.

In the same time period, the less ndustrialized rural England saw no such changes in moth populations. The only predators observed to prey on the moths were local birds. No migratory or population changes of birds occurred during that time. British naturalist H.B.D. Kettlewell captured, marked and released known numbers of black and light-peppered moths in an unpolluted woodland and two similar groups in a polluted woodland. He later recaptured as many moths as possible. The following are some of Kettlewell’s mark-and-recapture data.

What 20th-century event most likely had the greatest impact on the recovery of light moth populations?

A. higher taxes imposed on oil imports

B. invention of the silicon solar cell in 1941

C. clean air legislation passed in the 1950s

D. reduced fuel efficiency in new automobiles

___21. Kettlewell’s results indicated that black moths in industrialized areas

A. had greater genetic variation than light moths.

B. could out-compete light moths for food and habitat.

C. had a higher survival rate than light moths in the same area.

D. could change their phenotype when environmental conditions changed.

___22. The change in population numbers of black and light moths from 1850 and 1900 is most likely a result of the increased use of

A. fossil fuels.

B. solar energy.

C. geothermal energy.

D. pollution control technologies.

___23. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a bacterium that contains a gene that results in the production of a natural pesticide that kills insects. enetic engineers have successfully inserted this Bt gene into the DNA of some corn varieties, allowing the corn to produce its own esticide.

What negative consequence could result from this technology?

A. Only corn that is resistant to the Bt gene will survive.

B. Individual insects that eat the genetically modified corn will develop resistance to Bt.

C. The genetically modified crops will insert this Bt gene into the DNA of humans that eat the corn.

D. Only Bt resistant insects will survive to reproduce, eventually producing a population of entirely resistant individuals.

___24. A driver is headed north at 50 km/hr. A box is sitting on the seat next to him.

What action by the driver would most likely cause him to observe the box appear to slide to the west?

A. applying the brakes

B. speeding up to 60 km/hr

C. making a turn to the east

D. making a turn to the west

___25. In a classic study of predator-prey interactions, the numbers of snowshoe hare pelts and lynx pelts sold to a trading company by trappers were recorded over a period of 100 years. Both lynx and hare populations appear to oscillate in a regular pattern over a period of about ten years. One explanation for this pattern is that heavy predation reduces the snowshoe hare population, which in turn reduces the lynx population. More recently, scientists have proposed that the hare population oscillates due to diseases caused by overcrowding or by the effects of its own feeding activities on vegetation.

Based on the information in the passage, the snowshoe hares are

A. carnivores. B. decomposers.

C. herbivores. D. producers.

___26. One assumption about the data used in this study is that

A. oscillations in population size occur every ten years.

B. the number of pelts reflects the size of the populations.

C. snowshoe hares have an impact on their food supply.

D. hares and lynx were trapped over a period of 100 years.

___27. What would prevent the lynx population from declining along with the hare population?

A. an extremely harsh winter

B. an influx of other hare predators

C. an abundant alternate food source

D. an outbreak of disease among hares

___28. Based on this diagram, an ecologist would most likely conclude that a decrease in the fox population would result in

A. an increase in the owl population.

B. a decrease in the rabbit population.

C. a decrease in the chipmunk population.

D. an increase in the grasshopper population.

___29. In Aristotle’s treatise On Meteorology, he stated that:

“The same parts of the Earth are not always moist or dry, but they change accordingly as rivers come into existence and dry up. And so the relation of land to sea changes too and a place does not always remain land or sea throughout all time, but where there was dry land there comes to be sea, and where there is now sea, there one day comes to be dry land. …”

Aristotle was referring to the

A. depletion of natural resources.

B. cyclic nature of Earth processes.

C. relationship between latitude and climate. D. effects of humans on biogeochemical cycles.

___30. Students studied the effect of ice on the temperature of a sample of water. First, they put 500 mL of cold water (at 10°C) into each of four beakers. Next, they measured and recorded the initial temperature of the water in each beaker. Then, they added various amounts of ice as shown in the table below. They continued to measure the temperature over a period of 30 minutes. Their results are shown in the graph below. The temperature of the room during the experiment was 22°C.

Which was the dependent (responding) variable in this experiment?

A. the temperature of the water

B. the amount of ice added to each beaker

C. the initial amount of water in each beaker

D. the amount of time during which observations took place

___31. During the first five minutes of the experiment,

A. the total energy of the system decreased by half.

B. kinetic energy is transferred from the ice to the water.

C. thermal energy is transferred from the water to the ice.

D. thermal energy is transferred from the water to the surrounding air.

____32. After reviewing these results, Archie suggested, “The more ice you add to a drink, the colder the drink will become.” Using data collected in the experiment, write an explanation to Archie for why his conclusion is incorrect and what effect additional ice will have on the temperature of his drink. Respond in the space provided (2 points)

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___33. Which was the independent (manipulated) variable in this experiment?

A. the amount of water in each beaker

B. the amount of ice added to each beaker

C. the initial temperature of the water in each beaker

D. the amount of time during which observations took place

____34.

A neutral atom of silicon has

A. 12 electrons. B. 13 electrons.

C. 14 electrons. D. 15 electrons.

___35. A single weed in plot 6 has a genetic mutation that allows its cells to transport herbicide out through the cell membrane before the weed is harmed. Suppose a student allows weeds to grow in plot 6 and then periodically treats them with herbicide. Which graph best represents the expected frequency of the mutant gene in the weed population over time?

___36. In his investigations of air, Henry Cavendish discovered a small bubble of leftover gas that would not combine with nitrogen. His observations went unnoticed until William Ramsay performed experiments in which he obtained similar results. Ramsay recalled and repeated Cavendish’s experiments exactly to

verify the results. Then, using Gustav Kirchhoff’s spectroscopy technique, Ramsay was able to identify the leftover gas as the element he called argon. Upon further investigation, he found the elements neon, krypton and xenon.

Based on this information, it can be said that

A. the combined work of Cavendish, Kirchhoff and Ramsay led to the discovery of the noble gases.

B. Kirchhoff’s work was insignificant in the investigations leading to the discovery of argon.

C. Ramsay violated ethical practice in science by repeating Cavendish’s experiments.

D. Cavendish is directly responsible for the discovery of argon, but not neon, krypton or xenon.

___37. A snowboarder begins his run from rest (point 1) on top of a hill. He moves straight down the slope until he reaches the bottom of the hill (point 4) and the ground levels off. The snowboarder continues to move horizontally across the level ground and eventually comes to a stop (point 5).

___38. Which graph best represents the speed of the snowboarder as he moves from point 2 to point 3?

____39. Henri Darcy was a French engineer living in the 1800s. He observed that water flowed at different rates through different types of soil and rock. He applied his research to assist scientists in calculating groundwater flow rates, resulting in a formula called Darcy’s Law. Why do scientists use a formula to

estimate groundwater flow, instead

of taking direct measurements as they do in surface freshwater streams?

A. Groundwater does not move under the ground so it has no flow rate.

B. Scientists cannot easily reach the groundwater to determine the flow rate.

C. Groundwater freezes easily, so it is more difficult to measure the rate of flow.

D. There is more surface freshwater

than groundwater, so it is easier to measure.

____40. In 1854, a cholera epidemic spread through out parts of London causing hundreds of deaths. Physician John Snow, in investigating the epidemic, plotted the locations of cholera-related deaths on a map of the city. Numbers of deaths are indicated by parallel lines in front of buildings where deaths occurred.

____41. How did the data obtained from Snow’s map most likely assist city officials in stopping the cholera epidemic?

A. It allowed them to verify the exact number of cholera-related deaths.

B. It allowed them to determine the average age of the individuals infected.

C. It allowed them to predict the rate at which the epidemic would continue to spread.

D. It allowed them to pinpoint the area most affected and determine the source of infection.

___42. Which energy transformation below describes the conversion involved when the carbon compounds in wood are burned?

A.Chemical energy converted to thermal energy.

B. Thermal energy is converted to chemical energy.

C. Potential energy is converted into hemical energy.

D. Chemical energy is converted into potential energy.

____43. A simple food chain in a wetland is represented below.

An ecologist doing population counts in the wetland observes a drop in the number of trout over an extended period of time.

What change is most likely responsible for the trout decline?

A. migration of blue herons out of the wetland area

B. introduction of a predator that feeds on blue heron eggs

C. application of insecticides to wet areas where mosquitoes breed

D. implementation of new conservation laws to protect the wetland

___44. The picture below shows the different positions of a skier as she is lifted to the

top of a slope and then skis down the other side.

Which statement best explains the change in the skier’s potential energy?

A. The skier loses potential energy as she is lifted up the slope and loses potential energy as she skis down the slope.

B. The skier gains potential energy as she is lifted up the slope and maintains the same potential energy as she skis down the slope.

C. The skier gains potential energy as she is lifted up the slope and loses potential energy as she skis down the slope.

D. The skier loses potential energy as she is lifted up the slope and gains potential energy as she skis down the slope.

___45. A group of students designs an experiment to test how an herbicide affects pepper plants and weeds. Eight plots are tested, each of which holds 25 pepper plants and a variety of weeds. Plots 1 and 2 are not treated; plots 3 – 8 are treated with varying amounts of weed-killing herbicide. The weeds are counted in each plot during week 1. The herbicide is applied during week 2, and the weeds are counted again in week 3. The data are shown in the table below.

Prior to herbicide application, a student notes that there are two related species of weeds (A and B) that occur in similar numbers in plot 5. Species A reproduces sexually and species B reproduces asexually. After exposing both weed populations to several applications of the herbicide, the student observes that the population of species B has become significantly smaller than the population of species A. Why did species A most likely have a survival advantage over species B?

A. There was greater genetic variability in species A than there was in species B.

B. The percentage of herbicide-resistant weeds decreased in species A but not in species B.

C. Asexual reproduction allows the weeds to produce more offspring in a shorter period of time.

D. Sexually reproducing weeds are better able to utilize nutrients from the herbicides than asexually reproducing weeds.

Which biotic factor could have had an influence on the results of the students’ experiment?

A. the amount of precipitation each plot received

B. the presence of plant-eating insects in the plots

C. the lack of herbicide application in two of the plots

D. the length of time allowed between counting the weeds

___46. Based on the results of this experiment, a farmer has decided to use a 150% application of the herbicide to kill weeds in his fields. Describe one advantage and one disadvantage of using the 150% dose of herbicide. Respond in the space provided (2 points)

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