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BIO 100 UNIT 1 PRACTICE TEST NOTE: Do not study from this test! For best results, study your textbook chapter, study guide, labs, and any other required coursework to the point at which you think that you are ready for the proctored exam in the learning center testing room. Then, take this test from beginning to end, without the help of your textbook, study guide, or any other resources. Once you are done with the test, check your answers. Finally, using your textbook, study guide, labs, etc. go back and review information that you missed or did not fully understand. If you follow our advice, you will have a better gauge of how well prepared you are for the proctored exam. Some students get a false sense of security for the real exam, because they studied from this test rather than treating it as a true practice test. Dont bother trying to memorize the answers. The real exam will have different questions with different answers! You need to understand, not memorize. Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. 1. The purpose of double-blind experiments is to: a. ensure that the hypothesis being tested is logical. b. guarantee that the experimental group will respond differently than the control group. c. help the subjects in an experiment understand the treatment they are receiving. d. minimize the effects of human bias on the results. 2. Consider an experiment in which subjects are given a pill to test its effectiveness on reducing the duration of a cold. Which of the following is the best way to treat the control group? a. Do nothing with the control group. b. Give the control group two pills instead of one. c. Give the control group a pill that does not affect the duration of colds. d. Let the control group choose whether or not to take any pills. 3. A scientific hypothesis has all the following features EXCEPT that: a. it is able to be proven true. b. it is falsifiable. c. it is a possible explanation for something. d. it is based on observations. 4. Suppose that a botanist is interested in the effect of light on plants. In an experiment she conducts, 50 individual plants of a single species of flowering plant are grown for 60 days under different lengths of artificial daylight in a greenhouse. The plant species has flowers that can be either white or pink, depending on the genetics of the parent plants. The amount of water and fertilizer provided to each plant is constant. At the end of the experiment, the size of each leaf of every plant is measured. The dependent variable in this experiment is the: a. duration of artificial daylight. b. flower's color. c. leaf's size. d. duration of the experiment.

5. Mehran has heard from some of his teammates that drinking a high protein supplement after football training will improve his muscle mass. He decides to test this hypothesis by examining the effect of a high protein drink on some of his teammates compared with what happens with a control group who drink only water. Which of the following would be the best control for his experiment? a. randomly selected teammates who are given only small amounts of a protein drink b. volunteers from the general campus population who begin football training and are given a protein drink c. volunteers from the general campus population who are not given any protein drink d. randomly selected teammates in training who are given a placebo instead of a protein drink 6. Which of the following is an appropriate, testable scientific hypothesis? a. Bad people catch more colds than good people. b. Cold viruses should be allowed to reproduce just like anything else. c. It is unethical to go to school when you have a cold. d. People catch colds because of exposure to cold temperature. 7. Experimental results with statistical significance mean that: a. the hypothesis being tested has been proved to be correct. b. the experiment had no participant or researcher bias. c. the experiment had well designed controls and treatments. d. a difference between treatment and control groups likely exists. 8. A news report on CNN that describes recently published research on a new treatment for colds is an example of a(n): a. anecdote. b. primary source. c. secondary source. d. advertisement. 9. Which of the following statements is an appropriate, testable scientific hypothesis? a. Mean people get cancer more often than nice people. b. Eating fish reduces the chance of having a stroke. c. Embryonic stem cell research is unethical. d. Accountants are not fun people. 10. Suppose I make the following statement to a friend: After comparing the talent on their team roster to other teams, it is my theory that the Diamondbacks will have the best record in baseball this year. From a scientific standpoint, what I really meant to say is: a. After comparing the talent on their team roster to other teams, it is a fact that the Diamondbacks will have the best record in baseball this year. b. After comparing the talent on their team roster to other teams, I have faith that the Diamondbacks will have the best record in baseball this year.

c. After comparing the talent on their team roster to other teams, it is my hypothesis that the Diamondbacks will have the best record in baseball this year. d. After comparing the talent on their team roster to other teams, I am absolutely sure that the Diamondbacks will have the best record in baseball this year. 11. Inductive reasoning is: a. biased and subjective. b. unbiased and objective. c. more reliable than deductive reasoning for making predictions. d. referred to as logic. 12. Which of the following statements is the best prediction based on the hypothesis that fish species have decreased in number in a particular lake because of recreational boats? a. If a lake is disturbed by boats, then the number of fish species will decrease. b. If boats are on a lake, then the fish will become too frightened to reproduce. c. If boats are in a lake, then the environment will be damaged such that it can no longer support most fish species. d. If fish numbers decrease in a lake, then boats must have affected the environment. 13. There is a strong correlation between stress and susceptibility to colds. This means that: a. stress must directly cause susceptibility to colds. b. a high susceptibility to colds must directly cause stress. c. people with high stress must come into contact with more cold viruses. d. stress might or might not affect susceptibility to colds. Cause-and-effect cannot be established. 14. Correlations are less convincing than controlled experimental results because correlations: a. are subject to greater bias than experimental results. b. cannot be observed outside the laboratory. c. only show cause-and-effect. d. do not eliminate as many alternative hypotheses as controlled experimental results. 15. ________ reasoning is used to perform tests of a hypothesis. a. Inductive b. Hypothetical c. Deductive d. Theoretical 16. Statistical analysis of experimental results determines: a. the amount of bias in the experimental design. b. the likelihood that the results are due to the experimental treatment. c. whether the experiment proves that the hypothesis being tested is correct. d. whether the proper controls were used in the experiment.

17. We repeated the weight test for the Black Box experiment for you, and presented the results in the post-lab. What can you conclude from the post-lab results? (when choosing your answer do not consider the hypothetical data, which was presented at the very end of the post-lab; only consider the real data that was presented in the data table and first 3 graphs) a. The data contained too much variation, so it is not really possible to eliminate the M&Ms, black beads, and pennies from being inside of the unknown container. b. The confidence intervals of the M&Ms, black beads, and pennies were large and overlapped, so it is not really possible to eliminate the M&Ms, black beads, and pennies from being inside of the unknown container. c. The confidence intervals of the M&Ms, black beads, and pennies did not overlap, so it is likely that variation was not a problem in our experiment. We can still eliminate them from being inside of the unknown container. 18. Which of the following would be a control in an experiment testing the prediction that a certain drug prevents cataracts in females over the age of 65? a. male subjects younger than 65 b. female subjects younger than 65 c. alternative drugs that are suspected to prevent cataracts d. female subjects over 65 that are given placebos 19. Two groups are compared by looking at exposure to radiation. All members of both groups are between the ages of 40 and 65 years old. One group has brain cancer, whereas the other group does not. This type of correlational study is known as a (an): a. ecological study b. cross-sectional survey c. case-control study d. cohort study 20. Imagine that the average annual temperature among geographic regions is plotted on the xaxis of a graph, and the spiciness of local food (ranked on a relative "spiciness" scale) in that region is plotted on the y-axis. If the data conform to a very tight relationship, for example, if the hotness of local food increases as the average annual temperature increases, then what can be concluded? a. The spiciness of local food does not correlate with the average annual temperature in a region. b. Food is spicy in warm climates because the environmental conditions (warm temperatures) make local foods more spicy. c. The relationship between the two variables is not correlation, but it is actually an example of causation. d. Spiciness of food and annual average temperature are correlated, but the relationship is not necessarily the result of causation. 21. A(n) ________ result is one that is very unlikely to be due to chance differences between the experimental and control groups. a. correlational b. double-blind

c. statistically significant d. confidence interval 22. The sampling error refers to the: a. difficulty in accurately measuring results of a study. b. differences between a group of experimental subjects and the population as a whole. c. experimental results that do not support the hypothesis being tested. d. intentional biases on the part of researchers. 23. The scientific method is used to: a. answer specific questions about the natural world. b. determine absolute truth. c. distinguish good from evil. d. establish moral codes. 24. Three of the four answers listed below are terms associated with the scientific method. Select the exception. a. faith b. theory c. prediction d. hypothesis 25. In science, an individual's personal experience or endorsement is considered: a. anecdotal evidence. b. circumstantial evidence. c. a primary source. d. a peer review. 26. In your black box experiment, you used inductive reasoning to: a. perform your weight test b. perform your melting test c. form your hypothesis d. reach your conclusions 27. Which of the following statements is the best prediction based on the hypothesis that bird species have decreased in number in a particular wetland because of construction traffic? a. If a wetland area is disturbed by construction vehicles, then the number of bird species will decrease. b. If construction vehicles are in a wetland, then the birds will become too frightened to reproduce. c. If construction vehicles are in a wetland area, then the environment will be damaged such that it can no longer support most bird species. d. If bird numbers decrease in a wetland, then construction vehicles must have affected the environment.

28. Which of the following is a peer-reviewed source of scientific information: a. an anecdote. b. a primary source. c. a secondary source. d. an advertisement. 29. Which of the following cannot be tested scientifically? a. How do desert tortoises store water to survive long periods without rain? b. Is morality a characteristic that is unique to humans? Can any other animals also be moral? c. What makes it possible for cows digest grass, which is indigestible in humans? d. What is the function of the kidney in the regulation of body fluids? 30. When a hypothesis is extensively tested and supported by a large number of studies conducted by many different scientists, then: a. it may be considered a scientific theory. b. the hypothesis is considered proven. c. further experimentation is no longer necessary. d. it is a fact that cannot be refuted. _____________________________________________________________________________ _ Answers: 1. d 2. c 3. a 4. c 5. d 6. d 7. d 8. c 9. b 10. c 11. a 12. a 13. d 14. d 15. c 16. b 17. c 18. d 19. c 20. d 21. c 22. b 23. a 24. a 25. a 26. c 27. a 28. b 29. b 30. a