AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
Standard 1: Select appropriate laboratory glassware, balances, time measuring equipment,
and optical instruments to conduct an experiment.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which piece of equipment can BEST measure the mass of an insect?
a spring scale
a triple beam balance
a meter stick
a graduated cylinder
» Jeff conducts an experiment to determine which brand of antibacterial soap is most
effective in killing bacteria. He tests four identical bacterial cultures that start with
100 bacteria per Petri dish.
A.
B.
C.
D.
This experiment mentions the use of Petri dishes. Which additional piece of equipment
is probably NOT used in this experiment?
microscope
graduated cylinders
safety glasses
thermometer
» Which of the following would be the BEST choice to mix and store a small amount of a
liquid?
A. beaker
B. pipette
C. capped test tube
D. syringe
» Jodie is conducting an experiment for her Biology class. Part of the experiment
requires that she track the length of each mouse. Which tool can be used to MOST
accurately determine the length of each mouse?
A. ruler or meter stick
B. spring scale
C. scale balance
D. triple beam balance
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
Standard 2: Describe cell processes necessary for achieving homeostasis, including active
and passive transport, osmosis, diffusion, exocytosis, and endocytosis.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
If a membrane allows movement of only certain materials, it is called
selectively impermeable.
somewhat permeable.
selectively permeable.
somewhat impermeable.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
When active transport is used, the cell
uses the energy stored mainly in the nucleus.
uses some of its own energy.
uses energy from other cells.
does not use any of its own energy.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
For which of the following reasons would a cell use the process of exocytosis?
to bring water into a cell
to diffuse oxygen through a cell membrane
to excrete a hormone out of a cell
to bring a food molecule into the cell
» Study the diagram below.
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
A potato slice is placed in distilled water in beaker 1. A similar potato slice is
placed in salt water in beaker 2. Which statement correctly explains the movement
of water across cell membranes in one of the potato slices?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Water will move into the potato cells in beaker 2 because the solution is more concentrated.
Water will move out of the potato cells in beaker 2 because the solution is more concentrated.
Water will move into the potato cells in beaker 1 because the solution is more concentrated.
Water will move out of the potato cells in beaker 1 because the solution is more concentrated.
Standard 3: Identify reactants and products associated with photosynthesis and cellular
respiration, and the purposes of these two processes.
» Study the equation below.
sunlight
6CO2 + 6H2O
A.
B.
C.
D.
?
Which product is missing from the equation?
hydrogen
sugar
water
carbon
+ 6O2
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
Through the process of photosynthesis, most autotrophs use the energy in sunlight to
change water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) into glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O).
change glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O) into water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
change water (H2O) and glucose (C6H12O6) into oxygen (O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
change oxygen (O) and water (H2O) into glucose (C6H12O6) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which of these is NOT a part of cellular respiration?
Krebs cycle
glycolysis
lactic acid and fermentation
electron transport chain
» Study the equation below.
enzymes
C6H12O6 + 6O2
6CO2 + 6H2O +
Which product is missing from the equation?
A.
B.
C.
D.
water
glucose
oxygen
energy
Standard 4: Describe similarities and differences of cell organelles, using diagrams and
tables.
Standard 9: Differentiate between the previous five-kingdom and current six-kingdom
classification systems.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
Study the data table below. Which student has correctly identified the typical
characteristics of a prokaryotic cell?
Membrane-Bound
Cell
Student
Nucleus
Cytoplasm
Cell Wall
Organelles
Membrane
1
no
yes
no
yes
yes
2
no
yes
no
yes
yes
3
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
4
no
no
yes
no
no
student 1
student 2
student 3
student 4
» When looking through a microscope, you observe a cell that has a cytoplasm and a cell
wall. Which structure would you look for to classify the cell as prokaryotic or
eukaryotic?
A. DNA
B. ribosomes
C. nucleus
D. cell membrane
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
A unicellular organism that does not have a nucleus would belong in which kingdom?
Eubacteria
Plantae
Fungi
Protista
» Which of the following characteristics BEST distinguishes animals from the other
kingdoms?
A. have cells with a nucleus but never have chloroplasts
B. are multicellular in structure in structure and have cells with nuclei
C. have cell walls made of cellulose and always have chloroplasts
D. never have cell walls and never have the ability to make their own food
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
Standard 5: Identify cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations,
communities, and ecosystems as levels of organization in the biosphere.
» Which level of organization in the biosphere is BEST represented by the entire picture?
A.
B.
C.
D.
organism
ecosystem
population
community
» Several types of tissues that work together to carry out a certain function is MOST
LIKELY described as
A. a tissue.
B. an organ.
C. a community.
D. an ecosystem.
» Study the diagram below.
?X
community
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which is the level of organization that could be represented by the X?
organ
biosphere
organism
tissue
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
A student preparing for a test in human anatomy studied the terms in the list. Which
of the following represents a tissue in the human body?
skin cell
intestinal lining
stomach
lady bug
Standard 6: Describe the roles of mitotic and meiotic divisions during reproduction,
growth, and repair of cells.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which statement is correct?
Meiosis is a way to reproduce, but mitosis is not.
During mitosis, chromosomes are copied, but during meiosis chromosomes double.
Meiosis does not lead to variation in a species.
Meiosis produces haploid cells used in reproduction.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which of the following is a true statement about asexual reproduction?
The offspring are genetically identical to the parent.
Asexual reproduction uses DNA from two parents.
In asexual reproduction, the number of chromosomes is halved.
There is only one type of asexual reproduction.
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
» The diagram below represents a dividing cell.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which process BEST describes this cell division?
replication
reproduction
mitosis
meiosis
» Which statements about cell division are CORRECT?
1.
2.
3.
4.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Mitosis produces diploid cells.
Mitosis produces haploid cells.
Meiosis produces diploid cells.
Meiosis produces haploid cells.
statements 1 and 3
statements 1 and 4
statements 2 and 3
statements 2 and 4
Standard 7: Apply Mendel’s laws to determine phenotypic and genotypic probabilities of
offspring.
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
» In one pea plant the gene for white flowers (a) is recessive, and in another pea plant
the gene for purple flowers (A) is dominant. Which Punnett square accurately
represents the probabilities of offspring resulting from a cross between the two pea
plants?
A.
A
a
A
AA
Aa
a
Aa
aa
A
a
A
AA
Aa
A
AA
Aa
a
a
A
Aa
Aa
A
Aa
Aa
B.
C.
D.
a
a
A
Aa
Aa
a
aa
aa
» Brown hair color is dominant to blonde hair color. A heterozygous brown-haired father
and a blonde-haired mother have four children. Which statement BEST describes the
children’s predicted phonotype(s)?
A. 75% of the children will have brown hair, and 25% will have blonde hair.
B. 75% of the children will have blonde hair, and 25% will have brown hair.
C. 50% of the children will have brown hair, and 50% will have blonde hair.
D. 100% of the children will have brown hair.
» Brown eyes are dominant to green eyes, and straight hair is dominant to curly hair. A
woman is heterozygous for brown eyes and straight hair. A man is heterozygous for
both traits. What is the chance that their child will have green eyes and curly hair?
A. 1/16
B. 9/16
C. 1/4
D. 3/8
»
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
Plant Cross
Which statement is the MOST reasonable explanation of these results?
A. Both parental mice were heterozygous.
B. One parental mouse was homozygous for dark fur color, and the other was homozygous for light fur color.
C. One parental mouse was heterozygous, and the other was homozygous for dark fur color.
D. Both parental mice were homozygous for dark fur color.
Standard 8: Identify the structure and function of DNA, RNA, and protein.
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
How is RNA similar to DNA?
They both contain ribose sugar.
They both contain uracil.
They are both single strands of nucleotides.
They both contain nucleotides.
AHSGE Biology Items by Standard
» Which sequence represents a DNA strand that would complement the following mRNA
strand?
CGU AAU GCU
A.
B.
C.
D.
GCG ATA CGA
TTA GCA TTA
AAT GCC CCA
GCA TTA CGA
» A strand of DNA that contains the bases GCGATA replicates. Which base sequence is
in the new strand produced during replication?
A. GCGATA
B. CGCUAU
C. GAUGCU
D. UAACUG
»
A.
B.
C.
D.
What is the function of mRNA?
to transfer the code from the DNA in the nucleus to the cytoplasm
to store and pass on genetic information
to assist in building proteins by adding amino acids in the ribosome
to create the energy needed for cellular processes
Standard 10: Distinguish between monocots and dicots, angiosperms and gymnosperms, and
vascular and nonvascular plants.
»