Practice Test 32 - High School Biology

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

Start practice test

1. A student says: "Because photosynthesis produces $O_2$, plants do not need cellular respiration." Which response best corrects the student using a comparison of the two processes?
2. Claim: Matter (atoms) cycles through living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem. Evidence: 1) A student feeds a rabbit lettuce grown in air containing a harmless carbon "label," and later detects that labeled carbon in the rabbit's body tissues. 2) Later, a hawk eats the rabbit, and labeled carbon is detected in the hawk's tissues. 3) A sensor shows CO$_2$ increases in a jar containing only a snail over time. 4) Predators usually have sharper teeth than herbivores. Which evidence best demonstrates carbon transfer through a food web (matter cycling between organisms)?
3. A student scrapes their knee and removes several layers of skin. Over the next week, the wound closes and new skin forms. Which model best explains how the body repairs the damaged skin using cell division and differentiation?
4. A student is asked to create a cause-effect diagram for overfishing of a predatory fish (e.g., large cod). Which pathway best models a plausible cascade to biodiversity loss?
5. A large section of tropical rainforest is cleared and burned to create cattle pasture. Over the next few years, local bird and insect species become less common, and nearby streams carry more muddy sediment after heavy rains. Which ecosystem impact is most directly linked to this human activity?
6. A wetland near a growing town is drained and filled to build houses and parking lots. After construction, fewer frogs and water birds are observed, and stormwater flows quickly into a nearby river. Which outcome best describes the impact of this urbanization?
7. A diagram (described in words) shows two DNA strands with repeated S-P units on each side (S = sugar, P = phosphate). Between the strands are paired bases. Which option correctly identifies what connects the two strands together in the middle of the double helix?
8. Claim: Two separated populations of the same bird species are diverging (evolving differences) after being isolated on different islands. Evidence: 1) In 1990, both islands' populations had similar average song frequency; by 2020, average song frequency differed greatly between islands. 2) A genetic marker allele had frequency 0.50 on both islands in 1990; by 2020 it was 0.15 on Island A and 0.85 on Island B. 3) In 2020, birds from both islands can still produce fertile offspring when brought together in captivity. 4) One bird moved from Island A to Island B learned the local song within a month. Which evaluation best supports the claim of population-level evolutionary divergence?
9. A city park removes all fallen leaves each autumn and sends them to a landfill far away. Over several years, the park's soil becomes less fertile. Which explanation best connects this change to matter cycling?
10. In a plant, carbon atoms move through this sequence: CO2 (air) → glucose (leaf) → lipids (seeds). Which statement best describes what happens to the carbon atoms during this sequence?
11. A student writes the overall photosynthesis equation as: $6CO_2 + 6H_2O +$ light energy $\rightarrow C_6H_{12}O_6 + 6O_2$. Which list correctly identifies the reactants (inputs) of photosynthesis?
12. A plant breeder crosses a red-flowered plant with a white-flowered plant and gets all pink offspring. When two pink offspring are crossed, the breeder gets 20 red, 41 pink, and 19 white plants. Which inheritance pattern is best supported by the evidence?
13. A student is asked, "Where do new alleles ultimately come from?" The student answers, "From meiosis." Which choice best evaluates and corrects the student's answer?
14. In a plant species, purple flowers (P) are dominant over white flowers (p). A purple-flowered plant is crossed with a white-flowered plant and produces 48 offspring: 24 purple and 24 white. Which parent genotypes best explain this $1:1$ phenotype ratio?
15. A forest region contains one of the last intact habitats for an endangered bird. The government must choose between: Plan 1 (Protection): Prevent logging in the intact forest by creating a protected area. Plan 2 (Restoration): Allow logging to continue in the intact forest but require companies to plant trees on nearby degraded land. Which plan is more likely to conserve the endangered bird population, and why?
16. Two farms experience the same new fungal disease in mid-season. Farm 1 grows a single genetically uniform wheat variety (monoculture). Farm 2 grows a mix of several wheat varieties plus a strip of legumes and wildflowers along field edges. Which statement best explains how biodiversity affects population stability in this situation?
17. A forest currently has a carrying capacity of 1,200 deer. After a severe drought, plant growth drops so that the available food supply is reduced by 25% for the next several years (assume deer food is the limiting resource and deer needs stay the same). Approximately what is the new carrying capacity (K)?
18. A pond renews dissolved oxygen each day. The pond provides 48,000 mg of dissolved oxygen per day that fish can use. Each fish requires about 30 mg of oxygen per day. Estimate the carrying capacity (K) for fish in this pond (assuming oxygen is the limiting resource).
19. A pancreas cell produces the protein hormone insulin, which helps regulate blood glucose levels. Why does this cell need to synthesize insulin repeatedly over time?
20. Which statement correctly compares the form of energy entering photosynthesis with the form of energy stored after photosynthesis?

Practice tests