Biodiversity: Sample Exam Questions

1. Biological diversity consists of a variety of ecosystems and species on Earth and the ecological processes they are part of. There are three
main components to biological diversity. All three are important for Albertas ecosystems.
The first component refers to diversity in all living and non-living things on Earth. The second component refers to the populations of species that
live in certain communities. The third component refers to the diversity found at the cellular level.
What is the correct order for the biological diversity components referred to in the article?
a) community, ecosystem, and genetic
b) community, genetic, and ecosystem
c) ecosystem, community and genetic
d) genetic, ecosystem, and community
2. Which of the following is an example of variation within a species?
a) Darwin studied a variety of finches in the Galapagos islands that had different styles of beaks.
b) Different students in a classroom have blue, brown, or green eyes.
c) A forest consists of pine, spruce and poplar trees.
d) Black bears and Grizzly bears share a meadow.
3. An organisms niche can be described by:
a) how an organism can change to adapt to its surroundings
b) where an organism lives and what it does
c) what type of food an organism eats
d) what kind of predators an organism has
4. Which of the following statements is correct?
a) A community refers to the same species living in an area.
b) A community consists of non-living things in the same area.
c) A population refers to all living things in an area.
d) A population consists of members of the same species.
5. Which statement best describes the niche of a wolf in Alberta?
a) The wolf, found throughout the boreal forests and mountains of Alberta, is a predator feeding on herbivores.
b) The wolf, found in the mountains of Alberta, is a consumer.
c) The wolf is a predator feeding on deer and moose.
d) The wolf lives exclusively in Banff National Park in Alberta.
6. A deer in the Y2Y area was infested with ticks. What type of relationship does this best describe?
a) mutualism
b) commensalism
c) parasitism
d) competition
7. What type of interdependence between species is
represented in this graph?
a) symbiosis
b) predator-prey
c) commensalisms
d) mutualism
8. You observe vegetative reproduction as a method of
reproduction. What are three other forms of asexual reproduction?
a) spore production, pollination, budding
b) pollination, fertilization, budding
c) spore production, budding, binary fission
d) budding, fertilization, spore production
9. It is observed that many maple trees in an area are developing shoots or suckers. What form of reproduction does this represent?
a) spore
b) budding
c) vegetative
d) binary fission
10. Which of the following organisms is most likely to reproduce asexually?
a) salmon
b) frogs
c) mushrooms
d) kangaroos
11. On a field trip to a provincial park, a naturalist shows you several things.

asexual

Biodiversity: Sample Exam Questions

When a starfish loses its arm, it can grow it back and the lost arm has the ability to grow a new starfish.
Salmon return every four years to spawn in the stream where they hatched.
Sea Anemones live in colonies along the shore; some colonies consist of over 100 identical sea anemones. This means they are all
clones.

Sponges and sea slugs can reproduce sexually and asexually.

Which animals described by the naturalist are examples of sexual reproduction?
a) starfish and seas anemones
b) sponges and starfish
c) sea slugs and sea anemones
d) salmon and sponges
11
2

10

12. Match the number in the diagram to the correct label below.
____
____ ____ ____
pistil anther ovary stamen

4
5
8
6

13. During sexual reproduction, the sperm unites with the egg in
the process of fertilization. What is created by the joining of these
two cells?
a) a gamete
b) a zygote
c) an embryo
d) a bud

14. Which of the following is an example of discrete variation in genetics?

a) weight
b) skin color
c) height
d) blood type
15. Prairie dogs captured in a proposed study area were all different in size and in mass. Which term best describes this range of characteristics?
a) heritable characteristic
b) discrete variation
c) non-heritable characteristic
d) continuous variation
16. Purebred white snapdragons and purebred red snapdragons were planted in flowerbeds at the zoo. The following year, pink snapdragons
appeared. What pattern of inheritance explains this colour change?
a. incomplete dominance
b. recessiveness
c. dominance
d. co-dominance
17. What are the roles of heredity and environment in a persons scar tissue?
a) heredity plays a role, but environment does not
b) environment plays a role, but heredity does not
c) both heredity and environment play a role
d) neither heredity nor environment play a role
18. Which of the following is a heritable characteristic?
a) athletic ability
b) ability to play the piano
c) eye color
d) colour of dyed hair
A summer job at a plant research station requires you to identify pure and hybrid strains of flowers. Pure strains can be either red or white. Seeds
from the first generation of parents were planted. The following observations were made.
A. Parent 1 and Parent 2: Offspring are all red
B. Parent 3 and Parent 4: 3 red and 1 white offspring
C. Parent 5 and Parent 6: 1 red, 2 pink, 1 white offspring
D. Parent 7 and Parent 8: No offspring
19. Which set of parents were purebred?
a. A
b. B

20. Which sets of parents were hybrids?

a. A and B
b. B and C

21. Which sets of parents demonstrated

incomplete dominance?
a. A

Biodiversity: Sample Exam Questions

c. C
d. D

c. A and C
d. A and D

b. B
c. C
d. D

Biodiversity: Sample Exam Questions

22. In the offspring of a purebred dark brown lioness and a purebred light-coloured lion, you observe that all the offspring are dark brown. How
do you explain this observation?
a) The light color is an incomplete dominant trait.
b) The dark colour is a dominant trait.
c) The white colour is a dominant trait.
d) The dark colour is a recessive trait.
23. Different forms of the same gene are called
a) chromosomes
b) genotypes
c) hybrid
d) alleles
24. Which of the following is a characteristic of genes in humans?
a) Genes are 46 in number.
b) Genes are tightly packed strands of DNA visible under a light microscope.
c) Genes contain the chromosomes.
d) Genes come in pairs.
25. When a human zygote begins to divide into two cells, this begins the process known as
a) mitosis
b) binary fission
c) budding
d) meiosis
26. While studying cell division in animals at the zoo, you discover that cells with only half of the DNA of the animals body cells are found. What
method of cell division is occurring?
a) mitosis
b) gamete
c) meiosis
d) fertilization
27. What is an advantage of sexual reproduction?
a) can reproduce by bringing specialized gametes together
b) can reproduce without bringing specialized gametes together
c) provides a large degree of variation
d) produces a limited number of offspring
28. A research centre has developed a new type of weed-eating fish. The fish can be used in irrigation canals where there is heavy weed growth.
This special type of fish was developed through the process of
a) natural selection
b) artificial selection
c) adaptive evolution
d) selective evolution
29. Which of the following is an example of natural selection?
a) over time, mosquitoes become more resistant to insecticide
b) salmon are prevented from reaching their spawning grounds by a dam which is constructed in a river
c) a farmer keeps some eggs back from chickens which lay the most, in order to hatch them
d) researchers create a type of wheat that develops and matures faster, for use in colder climates
30. The owner of a flower shop wants to use artificial selection techniques to create identical copies of one particular type of rose. What would
be the best method to use?
a) artificial insemination
b) cloning
c) genetic engineering
d) in vitro fertilization
31. Researchers at Memorial University in Newfoundland inserted an anti freeze gene into Atlantic salmon to prevent their blood from freezing,
thus allowing fishers to harvest all winter long. This technology that directly alters the DNA of an organism is called
a) biotechnology
b) genetic engineering
c) artificial insemination
d) in vitro fertilization
32. The woodland caribou is at risk of disappearing from the boreal forests of northern Alberta due to habitat degradation. When an organism
disappears from a specific area, it has been
a) extirpated
b) vulnerable
c) threatened
d) extinct

Biodiversity: Sample Exam Questions

33. Which of the following is NOT a natural cause of extinction?
a) introduction of non-native species
b) catastrophic events
c) starvation due to overpopulation
d) disease
34. What is a seed bank?
a) DNA of threatened organisms is collected and saved for future use
b) Seeds are kept in containers in a lab
c) A method of genetic engineering for plants
d) A method of in-situ conservation
35. Threatened or vulnerable animals are often protected by preserving their functioning ecosystem in a natural setting. What form of
conservation is this?
a) ex-situ conservation
b) restoration
c) in-situ conservation
d) zoos