ENVS 1000 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

MIDTERM TEST QUESTION BOOKLET

Instructor: Mary Olaveson

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4. Complete and sign the Seat Assignment Form given to you at the door.
5. Print your Name and Student # in the space provided on the Front
Page of this Test Question Booklet.
6. Check that you have 11 pages of multiple choice questions

(50 questions)

You will have 60 minutes to write this Test (worth 50 marks).

All questions MUST BE ANSWERED on the Scantron provided
by blocking out your chosen answers using a PENCIL within time available.

Calculators or Other Aids are not permitted for this Test.

NO content questions will be answered during this Test
by the Instructor or Invigilators!

-1-

ENVS 1000 Midterm Test

Multiple Choice Questions (50 questions 1 mark each)

Read all questions carefully. Answer all 50 questions.

Choose the one best answer for each of the questions.
Indicate answer clearly in your Test Booklet (as insurance against Scantron damage ONLY)
Transfer your answer to your Scantron by clearly blocking the appropriate letter
on your Scantron Sheet USING PENCIL.
Do not make any markings in the bar code regions of the Scantron this
interferes with the marking process and affect your mark on this Test.
All questions must be answered and all answers must be transferred to the Scantron
within the designated time allotted for this Test (60 minutes); no extra time will be
given to transfer your answers to the Scantron so MANAGE YOUR TIME
EFFECTIVELY!

Only answers clearly indicated on the Scantron (in pencil) WILL BE MARKED!

1. What is Ecology?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

It is concerned only with solving environmental problems.

It is the study of organisms and their interactions with each other and with the
environment.
It is a subfield of environmentalism.
It is not a crucial discipline to environmental science.
It is the study of animal behavior.

2. What hypothesis, proposed in the 1930s, says that carbon dioxide, oxygen, and
nitrogen dissolved in Earth's water formed simple amino acids and eventually complex
organic compounds that selfreplicated?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Heterotrophic Hypothesis
Extraterrestrial Hypothesis
Homotrophic Hypothesis
Ultraterrestrial Hypothesis
Hemoautotrophic Hypothesis

-23. Which of the following represents chemosynthesis?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

water + carbon dioxide + energy glucose + oxygen + water

glucose + oxygen water + carbon dioxide + energy
nitrogen + carbon dioxide + energy methane + oxygen
glucose + water methane + carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide + water + hydrogen sulfide sugar + sulfuric acid

4. What organisms lack a nucleus?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

prokaryotic
aerobic
eukaryotic
prekaryotic
multicellular

5. Which of the following describes lipids?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

They dissolve in water.

They include components of the body's immune system.
They include DNA.
They are absent from most animal cells.
They include molecules that make up cell membranes.

6. What is extinction?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

It is a natural process.
It is not caused by human disturbance.
It is proceeding more slowly now than at any other time.
It is the loss of communities from the planet.
It is something that occurs only rarely.

7. Why might global climate change produce major shifts in biomes for any given
location?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

biodiversity and daylength will change

food web dynamics will change
mean temperature, precipitation and salinity will change
many species may become extinct
soil chemistry, pH of precipitation and the frequency of invasive species will change

-38. What is true of age pyramids that show the age structure of a population?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

They have no inherent value for predicting growth.

They cannot predict possible species declines in numbers.
They have bars that represent sizes of individual organisms.
They indicate the total numbers of individuals in each age class.
They indicate the relative numbers (frequency, or percentage) of individuals in each age
class.

9. Which is an example of a density-dependent factor?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

10.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

the effects of a hard freeze on an entire community

the effects of a hard freeze on a single species within a community
the effects of rainfall on an entire community
the increase in the number of species in an ecosystem
the effects of disease and predators on a single species within a community
Which terrestrial biome has the most biodiversity?
temperate deciduous forests
temperate rainforests
prairies
tropical rainforests
boreal forests

11. What type of interaction is herbivory?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

competition
mutualism
ecological restoration
neutralism
predation

12. According to the IPAT model, what results from technology that enhances our
acquisition of minerals, fossil fuels, timber, and ocean fish?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

increases environmental impact

decreases environmental impact
increases population
increases sensitivity
decreases sensitivity

-413. What term describes rock that has undergone changes as a result of exposure to
extreme heat or pressure?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

conglomerate
igneous
sedimentary
metamorphic
deformative

14. What is secondary succession?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

It requires primary succession to precede it.

It is observed after a volcano spreads lava across a landscape.
It occurs after a fire or flood.
It is very predictable because it always ends in the formation of a climax community.
It typically begins with lichen colonizing rock.

15. What is an example of artificial selection?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

crossing a lion and a tiger to get a sterile animal called a liger

gypsy moths as an invasive species
pet dogs that have gone wild, are mating with coyotes, and live in packs
humans placing a gene for human insulin into a flower
broccoli and brussels sprouts developed from wild mustard plants

16. What is the relationship between flowering plants and bees?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

predation
parasitism
herbivory
mutualism
competition

17. What is true of solutions to environmental problems?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

They can be implemented only by scientists

They must be sustainable
They must be on a local scale
They must be short term
They are best discussed in the political arena

-518. Which of the following is not a renewable resource?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

the sun beating down on a rain forest

plants, such as bamboo and rice, growing in moist environments
oil reserves, buried deep below the surface of the ground
supply of reduced metal sulfides in hydrothermal vents
the water flowing down river and through a dam

19. Sometimes people say that plants make energy from the sun. However, plants make
sugars using sunlight. Which of the following statements explains why saying that
plants make energy is incorrect?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

It is a violation of the law of the conservation of momentum.

It is a violation of the first law of thermodynamics.
It is a violation of the law of inertia.
It is a violation of the second law of thermodynamics.
It is a violation of the law of the conservation of matter.

20. To feed its young, an owl captures mice that eat grains and grasses. The owl also
eats small snakes that feed on these mice. What roles in a food web does the diet of
owls represent?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

a primary and secondary consumer.

a secondary and tertiary consumer.
an herbivore and a carnivore.
a producer and a consumer.
a consumer and a decomposer.

21. Which one of the following words best represents the relationship between cell
respiration and photosynthesis?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

complimentary
antagonistic
neutral
competing
synergistic

22. What statement explains what consumer organisms use when they eat plants?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Chemical energy stored in organic molecules produced by photosynthesis.

Kinetic energy stored in organic molecules produced by photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis to convert potential energy to kinetic energy.
Entropy to generate heat to drive kinetic processes in their bodies.
Chemosynthesis to supply kinetic energy in the form of chemical bonds.

-623. Currently, what is the main reason for the loss of productive cropland worldwide?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

conversion of agricultural land to forest by replanting

erosion, over-irrigation, and other factors
climate change increasing temperature, limiting precipitation, and other factors
subsidization and other factors
abandonment, fertilization, and other factors

24. What does population distribution describe?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

placement of a species around the globe

placement of a species within a country's boundaries
spatial arrangement of multiple species within a particular area
spatial arrangement of individuals of a single species within a particular area
how near or far away individuals in a population are from a resource, such as water

25. To promote crop growth, a farmer is most likely to apply chemical solutions to the soil.
What chemical(s) are most likely involved?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

carbon
nitrogen
carbon or phosphorus
nitrogen or phosphorus
carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus

26. Which one of the following statements about the carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen
cycles is true?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

The major source of carbon used by plants is the soil.

The major source of nitrogen used by plants is the air.
Phosphorus has no atmospheric component.
Bacteria drive the phosphorus cycle.
The nitrogen cycle is largely unaffected by synthetic fertilizer use.

27. Cattle and termites both have symbiotic microorganisms living in their digestive tracts.
How do these microorganisms help their animal hosts?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

They help by digesting cellulose.

They help by producing oxygen.
They help by producing large organic molecules.
They help by consuming carbon dioxide.
They help by releasing energy.

-728. How are the nutrients that are essential for plant growth returned to the soil?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

By decomposers
By herbivores
By producers
By carnivores
By omnivores

29. What does the information of an energy pyramid reveal?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

It is expensive and inefficient to get most of your dietary calories from grains.
Consumers at lower trophic levels do not have as many calories as consumers at
higher trophic levels.
Producers contribute the lowest amounts of energy (in terms of calories).
Consumers at higher trophic levels are usually more abundant than consumers at
lower trophic levels.
It is expensive and inefficient to get most of your dietary calories from meats.

30. Which of the following requires the least land to produce 1 kg of protein?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

eggs
milk
chicken
pork
beef

31. Beavers, Castor canadensis, live widely throughout North America. What is true
about those beavers living around lakes in northern Ontario and potentially capable of
interbreeding?
A.

They are probably a separate beaver species.

B.

They represent one population of beavers.

C.

They look much different than beavers in Alberta.

D.

They are considered an interconnected community.

E.

They belong to the same family but not the same genus as other beavers.

32. What initiates the transitional stage in the Demographic Transition Model?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

government intervention
the increased use of contraceptives
epidemics
industrialization
resource depletion

-833. Where does deforestation for agricultural development occur at the fastest rate?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

tropical rainforests
temperate rainforests
chaparral
temperate deciduous forests
boreal forests

34. What does the term recombinant DNA describe?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

It describes a technique developed as part of the Green Revolution of the 1960s.

It describes the pollination of one plant by another of the same species.
It describes the assembly of new nucleotides in the lab.
It describes the pollination of one plant by another of a different species.
It describes the merging of DNA from unrelated organisms to create new hybrids.

35. What is the origin (or major source) of all phosphorus in biological tissues?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

volcanic activities
phosphorus weathered from rock
phosphorus dissolved in the ocean and taken up by shellfish
phosphorus in animal bones
atmospheric phosphorus gas

36. Why does a particular group of organisms live in a particular environment?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Because there are few competitors.

Because there is minimal human impact.
Because there is plenty of food and mates.
Because the climate conditions are constant year round.
Because they are adapted to the conditions in that environment.

37. Why is one end of each water molecule negative and one end positive?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Oxygen has a greater pull on the protons.

The two hydrogens present have a greater pull on the electrons.
Hydrogen bonds create a charge difference.
The two hydrogens present have a greater pull on the protons.
Oxygen has a greater pull on the electrons.

-9Read the following scenario and answer Questions 38 and 39 below.

Deep in the ocean off the shore of Japan, are communities nestled around hydrothermal
vents where super-heated water, springs from the bottom of the ocean. No sunlight ever
penetrates to these deep regions. In these communities, bacteria have special enzymes
that allow them to form organic matter by chemosynthesis. These communities frequently
have worms, clams, shrimp, and many other organisms clustered together. The following
questions address this hydrothermal vent community.

38.

In such a system, fish feed on shrimp that feed on the chemoautotrophic bacteria.
What does this food chain represent?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

tertiary consumer eating a secondary consumer eating a primary consumer

primary consumer eating a secondary consumer eating a tertiary consumer
consumer eating a producer which then consumes chemoautotrophic bacteria
secondary consumer eating a primary consumer which then eats a producer
primary producer eating a primary consumer eating a decomposer

39.

Why are hydrothermal vent communities so unusual and exciting to biologists

studying the range of conditions under which life on Earth can survive?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

There are no decomposers in this ecosystem.

A primary producer synthesizes organic matter.
A consumer eats a producer.

A producer exists without sunlight.

There are no producers in the ecosystem.

40. Which category includes rock types, wind, water availability, temperature and solar
radiation?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

non-renewable resources
biotic environmental factors
abiotic environmental factors
biodegradable materials
renewable resources

41. Which environmental problem was the focus of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

aquifer depletion
pesticide toxicity
loss of biodiversity
overpopulation
deforestation

- 10 42. What gas represents the largest portion of atmospheric gases by weight?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

oxygen
nitrogen
sulfur
ozone
argon

43. What is currently thought to be true of the conditions on the early Earth (4.5 billion
years ago)?
A.

It was stagnant and lifeless

B.

It had more abundant and complex life forms compared to today's earth

C.

It was virtually void of free oxygen

D.

It had a very similar atmosphere to today's Earth but lacked water

E.

It had very high levels of oxygen

44. What is a negative side effect of irrigation of agricultural crops in arid regions?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

salinization
nutrient leaching
wind erosion
water erosion
evaporation

45. What is golden rice?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

It is an invasive species.
It is a GM variety that contains vitamin A.
It is a wild variety of rice from China.
It is resistant to herbicides.
It is resistant to most insects.

46. What are the most significant demographic effects of the AIDS epidemic?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

AIDS strikes affluent people more than poor people.

it is caused by a virus.
it is not known who is resistant to AIDS.
AIDS leaves behind orphans.
AIDS sickens and kills the most productive members of society.

- 11 47. Which of the following includes molecules that make up finger nails, hair, and
enzymes?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

proteins
nucleic acids
carbohydrates
lipids
organelles

48. What are the main divisions of the abiotic components of our planet?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

geosphere and atmosphere

lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere
lithosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere
lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere
centrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and anthroposphere

49. Plants conduct photosynthesis, making glucose and other carbohydrates. To do this,
what do plants need?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

water from the soil

water from the humid atmosphere and carbon dioxide from the soil
water from the soil and carbon dioxide from the soil
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
water from the soil and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

50. Why are seed banks important?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

They are cash deposits for developing countries.

They are used for protecting monoculture productivity.
They are used for protecting genetic diversity.
They are loans for farmers in developing countries.
They are a way to provide farmers with new GM crops.

- 12 BEFORE YOU HAND IN YOUR MIDTERM TEST

Be sure you have:
1.

completed the Seat Assignment Form by printing your Name and

UOIT Student Number in the space provided and then signing the Form

2.

printed your Name and UOIT Student Number on the front of this
Midterm Test Question Booklet

3.

printed your Name and UOIT Student Number on the Scantron

4.

printed the VERSION OF THE MIDTERM TEST on the Scantron

5.

indicated your final answer to each question in the Test Question

Booklet (ONLY used in the case that your Scantron is damaged during
processing)

6.

transferred your answers to all 50 questions to the bubbles on

the Scantron
- check that you have not missed any questions

ONLY ANSWERS TRANSFERRED to the Scantron

(within the 60 minute test period) WILL BE MARKED!!
Hand in both the Midterm Test Question Booklet and Scantron
failure to do so will result in your Test not being marked

Collect all of your belongings before leaving the Test Room.