Reference no: EM133491568

Question

1. What is the substance that all organisms use to pass on characteristics to offspring? It contains the information necessary for building and operating an organism.

2. What is the smallest level of biological organization (i.e., the smallest entity or unit) considered to be alive?

3.a. What are the 3 domains of life?

b. What is the basis of the distinction between domains, i.e., how is the decision made to place an organism into a particular domain?

4. Of what kingdoms is the domain Eukarya composed?

5.a. Which of the eukaryotic kingdoms contain autotrophs?

b. Which of the eukaryotic kingdoms contain heterotrophs?

6. a. Most organisms with which we are familiar have (or had) a mother and a father. But in fact, most organisms have (or had) only a single parent. How is this possible? What mode of reproduction accounts for this?

b. How different genetically are offspring produced by a single parent?

c. What is the term for individuals that are genetically identical?

d. What is the essence of sexual reproduction? I.e., what happens in sexual reproduction that does not happen in asexual reproduction? (Consider the genes of the parents and the genes of the offspring.)

7. About how many species currently exist on Earth?

A) Approximately 500,000
B) At least 1.5 million, probably several million
C) Billions
D) Since no data exists on this question, it is impossible to even give an approximation

8. Name the domain, kingdom, phylum, class, and species to which human beings belong.

9. As a percentage, about how genetically similar is one human being to another?

10. As a percentage, about how genetically similar are human beings to chimpanzees?

11. In an ecosystem, the autotrophs (such as plants) are called producers, while animals and fungi are heterotrophs, and are called consumers. What is the basis of this distinction?

12. In simple terms, how is classification to determine relatedness by ancestry done? I.e., if you have 2 organisms, and you want to evaluate how related they are, what do you look for?

13. Name 4 traits (things about them physically) that all mammals share that make them unique (i.e., that are not shared with other classes of animals). (For example, you can't say that "They require food", because all animals require food; this contributes nothing to the uniqueness of mammals.)

14. Which of the following organisms do you think a dog is most closely related to by ancestry? Be sure to use the method discussed in the class materials. State how you came to your conclusion. >>Fish, chicken, human, deer, cat, bacterium, oak tree

15. Of the organisms listed in the previous question, which ones do you think humans have no relation to whatsoever by ancestry (think carefully)?

16. What is the process that explains both life's unity and diversity?