Regents Living Environment Test Preparation Practice

    Lab Appendix A Laboratory Check List

    Base your answers to questions 1 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Euglena are single-celled organisms that live in ponds. All euglena have chloroplasts and can make their own food. They can also take in food from the environment. The diagram below represents a euglena.

    scientific inquiry, hypothesis and experiment design fig: lenv12012-exam_g5.png

    An experiment was set up to determine the effect of nitrates, a pollutant, on the number of chloroplasts present in euglena. Five tanks were set up, each with euglena and a different concentration of nitrate solution: 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%.

    The tanks were placed in a sunny location where each tank received the same amount of light.

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    Base your answers to questions 5 on the information and chart below and on your knowledge of biology.

    In recent years, biologists have noticed that honeybees responsible for pollinating food crops across the United States are dying at an alarming rate. Farmers, economists, and biologists are very worried about the impact that the loss of honeybees might have on the food supply.

    labs, lab, appendix A, laboratory check list fig: lenv12017-exam_g11.png

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    Base your answers to questions 6 on the information and data table below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a byproduct of cellular metabolism, is broken down by the enzyme catalase which is produced by nearly all organisms. When catalase is added to hydrogen peroxide, a reaction occurs that produces bubbles of oxygen gas (O2) and water (H2O).

    2H2O2 → 2H2O + O2

    The laboratory setup represented below was used to investigate the effect of pH on the breakdown of H2O2. Five setups were made with H2O2 solutions, each at a different pH level.

    Catalase was added to the solution in the first setup and the reaction proceeded for one minute and the amount of gas produced by the reaction was recorded on the data table. This exact procedure was repeated with the other four setups containing different H2O2 solutions.

    scientific inquiry, data organization, plot and interpretation fig: lenv12017-exam_g13.png

    scientific inquiry, data organization, plot and interpretation fig: lenv12017-exam_g14.png

    Directions: Using the information in the data table, construct a bar graph on the grid provided, following the directions below.

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    Base your answers to questions 7 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    In order to determine the effect of a certain antibiotic on a species of microorganism, an investigation was carried out. A sample of a specific species of microorganism was added to 100 mL of a liquid culture medium. One mL of a solution of the antibiotic was then added to that culture medium. Each day at 10 a.m., 1 mL of the experimental culture medium was removed and the number of microorganisms in the 1-mL sample was determined. The 1 mL of experimental culture medium was replaced by 1 mL of new sterile culture medium to maintain a constant volume. The results are shown in the table below.

    scientific inquiry, data organization, plot and interpretation fig: lenv12013-exam_g17.png

    Directions: Using the information in the data table, construct a line graph on the grid, following the directions below.

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    Base your answers to questions 8 on the diagram of a compound light microscope below and on your knowledge of biology.

    labs, lab, appendix A, laboratory check list fig: lenv12013-exam_g19.png

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    Base your answers to questions 9 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    A Study of Antibacterial Cleansers

    An experiment was designed to test the effectiveness of three antibacterial hand-cleansing solutions against bacteria present on hands. Swabs were used to take one sample each from the unwashed hands of ten test subjects. Each swab was then rubbed across the surface of bacterial growth medium in a separate petri dish. The dishes were placed in an incubator to allow bacterial colonies to develop.

    Ten other test subjects treated their hands with an antibacterial hand-cleansing solution, then had their hands swabbed, and ten more petri dishes were set up and incubated in the same way as the first set of dishes.

    The process was repeated again with ten more test subjects for a second hand cleanser, and again for a third group with a third hand cleanser.

    The results from the incubated petri dishes were averaged. The averages are shown in the data table below.

    labs, lab, appendix A, laboratory check list fig: lenv12014-examw_g16.png

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    Base your answers to questions 14 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Scientists will often grow bacteria in prepared petri dishes. In some experiments, the petri dish will also contain paper disks soaked in a particular antibiotic. The area where the bacteria do not grow is called the zone of inhibition, or ZOI. The diameter of the ZOI indicates the effectiveness of the antibiotic.

    The ZOI data collected by one scientist while trying to determine which disk (A, B, C, or D) is most effective at killing Streptococcus bacteria are: Disk D–9 mm, Disk B–8 mm, Disk C–0 mm.

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    Base your answer to question 15-17 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Information From the Cat Gene Database

    A database is being used to trace the evolutionary history of wild and domestic cats. Comparisons show that there are very few differences between the genes present in domestic cats and the genes present in wild cats, such as tigers and lions. Research has also shown that wild cats and domestic cats last shared a common ancestor about 11 million years ago. Since then, there has been very little change in the entire cat genome (the complete set of genes for all the species). This indicates that the cats are well-adapted to change. Yet, there are some important differences.

    Big cats share about 1,376 genes that set them apart from other animals. These genes are related to muscle strength and the ability to digest protein. In addition, there are genes that have been found in specific cats that live in specific environments. Genes related to smell, visual perception, and nerve development are evolving rapidly in Siberian tigers. Snow leopards have three mutations related to the use of oxygen at high altitudes. The database is also being used to study diversity within various cat species.

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    Base your answer to question 18-21 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Scientists have been experimenting with different forms of alternate energy to help reduce the amount of fossil fuels that are burned. They studied yeast, which convert plant materials into ethanol, a form of alcohol that can be used in automobiles. These experi- ments were carried out at room temperature. The scientists wondered whether more ethanol would be produced at different temperatures.

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    Base your answers to questions 22 on the passage below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Smoking is Dumb

    A study by Prof. Mark Weiner of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Psychiatry and the Sheba Medical Center of Tel Hashomer Hospital has determined that young men who smoke are likely to have lower IQs than their nonsmoking peers. Tracking 18- to 21-year- old men enlisted in the Israeli army in the largest study of its kind, he has been able to demonstrate an important connection between the number of cigarettes young males smoke and their IQ.

    The average IQ for a nonsmoker was about 101, while the smokers’ average was more than seven IQ points lower at about 94, the study determined. The IQs of young men who smoked more than a pack a day were lower still, at about 90. An IQ score in a healthy population of such young men, with no mental disorders, falls within the range of 84 to 116.

    Source: Science Daily April 2, 2010

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