Name____________________________ Class ____________ Date __________________
Pre and Post Assessment
Unit 3: Life
I. Multiple Choice questions. Choose the best answer for each item.
1. Which term identifies a single unit of hereditary information?
(1) egg cell (2) sperm cell
(3) nucleus
(4) gene
2. The main function of hormones in the human body is to
(1) identify and destroy microbes
(2) regulate body functions
(3) transport blood to cells
(4) store energy
3. Which human organ system produces sperm or egg cells?
(1) digestive system (2) nervous system (3) respiratory system (4) reproductive system
4. Cancer is best described as:
(1) a type of genetic engineering
(2) the merging of sex cells
(3) abnormal cell division
(4) tissue that stops growing
5. The diagram below shows a life process taking place
within a cell.
Which life process is shown?
(1) reproduction
(2) digestion
(3) respiration
(4) locomotion
6. Which term identifies a group of cells that work together to perform a similar
function?
(1) molecule (2) organ
(3) organism
(4) tissue
7. What are genes composed of?
(1) offspring
(2) DNA
(3) cells
(4) traits
8. An organism is born with a genetic abnormality not present in any of its ancestors.
This abnormality is most likely the result of
(1) circulation
(2) competition
(3) mutation
(4) respiration
9. Some one-celled organisms can reproduce by the process of
(1) hormone secretion
(2) metamorphosis (3) fertilization
(4) cell division
10. Which structure is found in a plant cell but not in an animal cell?
(1) cell wall (2) cell membrane (3) cytoplasm
(4) nucleus
11. What is the outermost structure in a plant cell?
(1) cell membrane (2) cytoplasm
(3) cell wall
(4) chloroplast
12. In humans, a trait can be determined by one pair or many pairs of
(1) genes
(2) microbes
(3) cells
(4) organs
13. The diagram below shows four living
organisms.
Which statement about the organisms shown
is accurate?
(1) They are all single celled and have similar
organs.
(2) They are all single celled and have identical organs.
(3) They are all multicellular and have similar organs.
(4) They are all multicellular and have identical organs.
14. Which sequence correctly shows the levels of increasing organization in the human
body?
(1) tissues → cells → organ systems → organs
(2) cells → tissues → organs → organ systems
(3) organs → organ systems → cells → tissues
(4) organ systems → organs → tissues → cells
15. The series of diagrams below shows a single-celled organism and its offspring that
resulted from cell division over a period of 20 hours.
If the organisms continue to reproduce asexually at this same rate, how many
organisms will there be after 30 hours?
(1) 6
(2) 7
(3) 8
(4) 16
16. Each body cell of a goldfish contains 94 chromosomes. How many chromosomes
are contained in a goldfish sex cell?
(1) 23
(2) 47
(3) 94
(4) 188
17. The drawing below represents a pair of chromosomes.
The area labeled “bands” shows the location of
(1) egg cells (2) sperm cells (3) reproductive hormones
(4) specific genes
18. A scientist crosses two different varieties of corn to produce a single variety that
has traits from both parents. This technique is an example of
(1) competition (2) natural selection (3) selective breeding (4) ecological succession
19. What advantage does a species that reproduces sexually have over a species that
reproduces asexually?
(1) There is greater variation among the offspring.
(2) The offspring are identical to the parents.
(3) Only one parent is necessary for reproduction.
(4) No sex cells are needed for reproduction
20. What are produced in both the male and female reproductive systems in humans?
(1) sperm
(2) nutrients (3) fertilized eggs
(4) sex cells
II. Short Response
21. The diagram below shows cells from two different organisms. Several major cell
structures are labeled.
State two reasons why cell B is classified as a plant
cell. [2]
(1) ________________________________________________
(2) ________________________________________________
Base your answers to questions 22 and 23 on the diagram below and on your
knowledge of science. The diagram shows a process that occurs in a male organism.
Four stages in the process are labeled A, B, C, and D.
22. What type of cell is formed in this male organism at stage D? [1]
__________________________________________
23. How does the number of chromosomes in the cell at A typically compare to the
number of chromosomes in one of the cells at D? [1]
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Base your answers to questions 24 and 25 on the diagram below and on your
knowledge of science. The diagram represents the sexual reproduction of rabbits.
24. Identify the sex cell labeled A and the sex of the rabbit that produced cell A. [1]
Cell A: _________________________________
Sex of rabbit: ____________________________
25. Explain why the offspring is not genetically identical to either parent. [1]
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26. The Punnett square below shows a cross between a pea plant with green pods (GG)
and a pea plant with yellow pods (gg). All of the offspring have green pods (Gg).
Explain why the offspring with Gg genes for pod color look the same as a pea plant
with GG genes for pod color. [1]
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Base your answers to questions 27 and 28 on the information and chart below and on
your knowledge of science.
Inheritance of Color Blindness
Gender in humans is determined by a pair of sex chromosomes. A female has
two X chromosomes and a male has one X and one Y chromosome. A recessive gene
that causes color blindness is located on the X chromosome. When a male inherits
this gene, he will be color-blind because the Y chromosome does not contain a gene
for color blindness.
In order for a female to be color-blind, she must inherit the recessive gene on
both X chromosomes. If she has the gene on only one chromosome, she is not
colorblind.
She is called a carrier because she can pass this gene along to her
offspring. The pedigree chart shows the children and grandchildren of a female
carrier and a male who is not color-blind.
27. How many children did the original parents have? [1] ____________
28. What is the total number of children and grandchildren who are color-blind in
this family? [1] ____________
29. Pea plants can produce round or wrinkled peas. The genes for round and wrinkled
peas are:
R = round (dominant)
r = wrinkled (recessive)
Complete the Punnett Square below, which shows a cross between a hybrid round-pea
plant (Rr) and a wrinkled-pea plant (rr). [1]
30.The Punnett square below shows the probability of blood types in the offspring of
two parents. One parent’s blood type genes are AB and the other parent’s blood type
genes are Ao.
Based on this Punnett square, identify the expected percentage of offspring in each of
the four blood types. [1]
Blood
Blood
Blood
Blood
type
type
type
type
A: ________________%
AB: _______________%
B: ________________%
O: ________________%
31. The diagrams below show the development process of a beetle and an alligator.
Identify one way in which the development process of the beetle differs from that of the
alligator. [1]
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Essay Writing Assessment
Stem Cell Research
Embryonic stem cells are extracted directly from an embryo before the embryo's cells
begin to differentiate. At this stage the embryo is referred to as a "blastocyst." There are about
100 cells in a blastocyst, a very large percentage of which are stem cells, which can be kept alive
indefinitely, grown in cultures, where the stem cells continue to double in number every 2-3 days.
A replicating set of stem cells from a single blastocyst is called a "stem cell line" because the
genetic material all comes from the same fertilized human egg that started it. President Bush
authorized federal funding for research on the 15 stem cell lines available in August 2001. Other
stem cell lines are also available for research but without the coveted assistance of federal
funding.
Those who value human life from the point of conception, oppose embryonic stem cell
research because the extraction of stem cells from this type of an embryo requires its destruction.
In other words, it requires that a human life be killed. Against this, embryonic research advocates
argue that the tiny blastocyst has no human features. Further, new stem cell lines already exist
due to the common practice of in vitro fertilization.
Is it ok for the government to support the use of
embryonic stem cells for scientific research?
State your claim and support it with evidence from your knowledge of science.
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