AKENTEN APPIAH-MENKA UNIVERSITY OF SKILLS TRAINING AND
ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT, MAMPONG ASHANTI.
FACULTY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE EDUCATION
MIDDLE SEMESTER ONE (1) EXAMINATION – 2022/2023 ACADEMIC YEAR
COURSE CODE
COURSE TITLE
TIME ALLOWED
INSTRUCTION
LECTURER
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:
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ISC114
MORPHOLOGY AND DIVERSITY OF LIVING THINGS
30 MINUTES
ATTEMPT ALL QUESTIONS. PROVIDE ALL ANSWERS
ON THE QUESTION PAPER
: DANIEL HAYFORD, PH.D.
Indicate whether each of the following statements is true or false. Explain your answer briefly.
1. The cell is the basic unit of life.
True. The cell is the basic unit of life because it is the smallest biological unit or level
of biological organisation which can perform all the life processes.
Or The fact that the cell is the basic unit of life means that an organism or entity can
be considered to be a living organism, a life form or life, only if it as complex as a cell.
Or The cell is the basic unit of life because it occupies the lowest hierarchy in the levels
of biological organisation.
2. Living things share some features with non-living things.
True. Both living things and non-living things are made up of chemical elements. They
both obey the same laws of chemistry and physics which governs the universe.
True. Both living and non-living things have mass and occupy space (matter).
True. Viruses are not considered to be part of the organisms which are considered to
be life forms, and yet they have two of the main traits of life forms, namely, genetic
materials (or nucleic acids) and they evolve via (natural selection).
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3. Diversity among living things can be shown via the type and number of cells they have.
True. Each living organism possesses just one of the two types of cells, namely, the
prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic cell. Those which possesses prokaryotic cells are said
to be prokaryotic organisms (prokaryotes) whereas those which have eukaryotic cells
are called eukaryotic organisms (eukaryotes).
The number of cells which living things possess is one of the ways in which the diversity
among living things can be demonstrated. Some living things are made up of only one
cell whereas others are made up of two or more cells. A living thing which is made up
of just one cell is said to be a unicellular or single-celled organism whereas the one
which is made up of two more cells is said to be a multicellular organism.
Among those which have two or more cells, some constitute their cells into permanent
tissues whereas others (the sponges) form reversible or temporary tissues, instead of
permanent or irreversible tissues.
4. Despite the diversity among plants, both green and non-green plants are autotrophs.
False. Green plants are the ones called autotrophs because they are able to make,
produce or manufacture their own food. Non-green plants are not able to produce their
own food. They depend on other organisms for nutrition, So, they are heterotrophs.
Hence, the given statement is true.
Or False. Green plants are commonly referred to as autotrophs as they are able to
synthesise their own food by the process of photosynthesis. These plants have an
organelle called chloroplast which produces a pigment called chlorophyll which is
used to trap the light energy from the sunlight. On the other hand, non-green plants are
referred to as heterotrophs because they lack chlorophyll and therefore, they cannot
afford to perform photosynthesis to produce their own food. Due to this, they feed on
other organisms. Hence, the given statement is true.
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5. All autotrophic organisms are photosynthetic organisms.
False. All autotrophic organisms are not photosynthetic organisms. Instead, some of
the autotrophic organisms are chemosynthetic organisms.
6. Viruses possess some of the main characteristics of living things.
True. Viruses possesses two of the main traits of living things, that is, they have nucleic
acid (genetic material) and they evolve through natural selection.
7. Viruses are said to be “organisms at the edge of life”.
True. Viruses are said to be “organisms at the edge of life” because they have genetic
material, they evolve through natural selection, and reproduce or make multiple copies
of themselves through replication and self-assembly. Hence, the statement given is true.
8. All living organisms display the same kind of biological organisation.
False. Some living organisms have only the first level of biological organisation. That
is, they are made up of only one cell. Others have cells and tissues. Furthermore, there
are living organisms whose biological organisation consists of cells, tissues and organs
whereas others have all the biological organisation, that is, cells, tissues, organs and
organ systems. Hence, the statement given is false.
9. The two main domains of life are domain prokaryotae and domain eukaryotae.
False. There are three domains of life, namely, the domain Eukarya, domain Eubacteria
(Bacteria) and the domain Archaebacteria (Archaea). So, the statement giving is false.
10. All animals form permanent or irreversible tissues.
False. Some animals such as the sponges (Parazoans) do not form permanent tissues.
Instead, they form temporary or reversible tissues.
11. Viroids and prions are the same in nature.
False. Viroids have genetic material (RNA) whereas prions are made up of proteins.
Hence, the given statement is false.
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