BOOK ASSIGNMENT: SCIENCE MATTERS-ACHIEVING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY
INSTRUCTOR: IVAN IÑIGUEZ
EL PASO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
STUDENT NAME:__________________________________________ GRADE:__________
DATE:_____________________
This assignment is designed to accompany the book “Science Matters: Achieving Scientific
Literacy” by Hazen & Trefil, ISBN: 0-385-26108-X. This book can be found in most public
libraries or can be purchased at our local bookstores or online (amazon.com,
barnesandnoble.com, bigwords.com, alibris.com, etc.). This assignment is worth 100 points.
To receive full credit for this assignment please answer the questions and indicate the page
number(s) where you found the answer to the questions.
1. What did early astronomy provide us information about?
2.
What is the old term for the study of motion called?
3.
According to Scientists, what are the two kinds of motion?
4. List and briefly describe the 3 laws of motion as stated by Isaac Newton?
5. Which scientist is known as “father of experimental Science”?
6. Who is Edmond Halley (1656-1742)?
7.
Which are the 4 main branches of Science?
8. Of the 4 major types of scientists, which group routinely wears white lab coats?
9. What is the “butterfly effect”?
10. What are the 2 basic rules/laws about energy?
11. What 3 concepts does thermodynamics rely on ?
12. List the 3 ways that heat moves from one place to another?
13. According to Charles Coulomb (1736-1806), what happens to two objects that have an excess of
electrons?
14. What are naturally-occuring magnets called?
15. What is a “Quantum Leap”?
16. What is the name of the Russian scientist who organized the first periodic table?
17. Which type of chemical bond is the basis of all life?
18. What are graphite and diamonds made out of?
19. What are the two main ways to tap the energy of a nucleus?
20. What are the 3 main types of radiation?
21. The isotope Carbon-14 results from the collision of what 2 things?
22. What is the half-life of Carbon-14? (i.e. how many years are in 1 half-life of C-14)?
23. What technique was used to date four-billion-year-old moon rocks brought back by Apollo
astronauts?
24. Which are the terrestrial planets?
25. Which are the Jovian planets?
26. What type of radiation does the human body give off?
27. In Geology, what are the 3 main types of plate boundaries?
28. What is the San Andreas fault? Where is the San Andreas fault located?
29. Who is Charles F. Richter?
30. What are the 3 main categories of rocks?
31. What are the 3 most common types of sedimentary rocks?
32. What do we know as the “chemical factories of life”?
33. What 6 chemical elements are the basis of all life molecules?
34. What are the 4 major macromolecules studied in Biology?
35. What are the 5 main kingdoms in Biology?
36. What are B-cells and T-cells? What are the main functions of these cells in the human body?
37. Who is Gregor Mendel and what is his contribution to the world of Science?
38. List the four nitrogenous bases found in DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)?
39. If all living organisms contain DNA, why are we different from a blade of grass or an orangutan?
Explain your answer.
40. How many chromosomes do we humans have? How many chromosomes does a mosquito have?
How many chromosomes does a goldfish have?
41. How are insulin and the cancer-fighting drug interferon now produced?
42. What is “DNA fingerprinting”? Briefly explain how it works.
43. What gases were present in the early atmosphere which lead to chemical evolution?
44. In 1953, Miller and Urey reproduced the early earth’s environment in a jar. What products did
they get upon mixing the water with the gases and adding electric sparks to simulate lightning
energy?
45. Who is Charles Darwin and what is his contribution to Science?
46. What is Natural Selection?
47. During which geologic era did mammals, including us homo sapiens arise?
48. What does the term Australopithecus mean?
49. What happened to the Tilapia fish population in Lake Victoria when the British introduced the
Nile Perch fish in the 1960’s?
50. According to the book, what are the 3 major environmental problems we are now facing and we
should seriously make intelligent decisions about?
Author:
Ivan Iniguez, Assistant Professor in Biology
Chemistry/Geology Coordinator
EPCC Northwest Campus