UNIT1 Possible Essay Questions
HOW ESSAY QUESTIONS ARE GRADED: The essay questions do not necessarily have "right" and "wrong" answers. You are graded on your ability to USE the information you have learned in class. There may be multiple ways of answering the questions. To earn full credit, the information you present from class must be accurate, you may not ignore major concepts which contradict your argument, and your reasoning must be sound. WARNING: Do NOT get your answers from the internet ‐ these answers are usually WRONG because the responder is not in this class. They are providing answers using different information. 1. Some political figures have dismissed Evolution or Climate Change as "just a theory." Explain why this phrase is inaccurate. Because it is a scientific theory---strongest explanation supported by a large body of scientific research with minimal influence of humans. There is evidence to prove it. 2. Some people argue that extinction is normal and happens with or without humans (which is accurate). So why are scientists so concerned with extinction? [ Be specific. Give at least 2 reasons with empirical evidence.] Extinction is normal but we are currently in the Holocene extinction period and 100-1000 times as man species are going extinct every year than the normal “background” extinction. We are at a period where 10,000-100,000 species go extinct every year. The normal is 10-100 species per year. 3. Damian eats a bowl of cereal (Rice Krispies) and milk for breakfast. Explain how the energy Damian gets from the milk actually come from the sun. A rice plant is in what major group of plants? What part of the plant is rice? Are we "killing" plants by eating Rice Krispies? Milk comes from cows. Cows get their nutrition to have enough energy to make milk by eating—grass. The grass has vital vitamins and nutrients to nourish the cow. The grass needs to be healthy and full of nutrients to help nourish the cow and to do so is through photosynthesis. Rice belongs to the grass group, monocot plants. Rice is a seed. No we are not killing plants, we are just eating seeds so it prevents rice deom growing in other places.

4. Explain why we should be very concerned that algal populations have declined 40% since 1950. How do humans benefit from algae? Why should algal populations be increasing rather than decreasing?) Algae plays a huge role in our society, it’s located at the base of the food chain so it serves many purposes. It provides us with food such as nori aka seaweed. It helps create oxygen. Algae plays a role in creating medicine as well as household products. IT also can create limestone with the help of the environment. 5. Seedlings of the same species of plant can grow at different rates. For example, some seedlings grow tall very fast, but others remain short or grow much more slowly. Give one reason why in might be advantageous for a plant seedling to grow tall very fast. Give one reason why it might be advantageous for a plant seedling to remain short or grow slowly. (WARNING: if you are thinking about predation, consider what the most common animal predator would be.) It might be an advantage for a plant seedling to grow tall very fast because it could be more efficient and produce more seeds or have a greater range for spreading its seeds by wind. It could also outcompete its neighboring plants. An advantage for a plant seedling to remain short or grow slowly is it won’t take as much energy or need as much nutrients as a tall plant seedling would. 6. Recently, botanists were able to grow a 'date palm' from a seed which had been dormant for 2000 years. Was this seed alive? Give one biological argument to support "alive" and one biological argument to support "not alive". Yes- it was alive because it still had the proper nutrients to turn into a date palm rather than remaining a seed in the ground. It had the power to grow and transform itself. No- it doesn’t possess traits such as vital organs, grow, develop, go through homeostasis 7. List and explain three advantages unicellular organisms (e.g. bacteria) have over multicellular organisms (e.g. humans). Unicellular organisms use less energy, they can adapt quicker and faster, and it’s easier to reproduce(they don’t need a mate), and its easier to move.

8. A fish researcher wondered if fish raised in a hatchery (like a giant aquarium) would be able to survive in the wild. She thought the captive fish might have lost their fear of predators.
To test this idea, the researcher placed 30 small captive fish in one large aquarium (with vegetation) with a predator fish. She also took 30 small wild fish and tested them the same way, with a similar predator and aquarium. 
She recorded how many small fish were still alive at the end of 24 hours. Only 10 captive fish were alive after their experiment, while 25 of the wild fish survived. In the end, the researcher concluded that fish raised in captivity have lost their fear of predators.
Do you accept this conclusion? Why or why not? [Be specific] I would accept this conclusion but I would change the wording of my conclusion. Based on the evidence and data collected, wild fish were able to stay clear of the predator while the captive fish were not. Instead of stating “fish raised in captivity have lost their fear of predators” I would state that “captive fish forgot the fear of predators.” the captive fish were simply never put in an environment where they had to worry about their survival so they simply never had to adapt to this survival mechanism. 9. In a recent newspaper column called "The People's Pharmacy", a reader asked the following question:
"I am fed up with all the conflicting advice about how to stay healthy. One day Vitamin D is great; the next, experts say it doesn't work.... I have also seen flip‐flops about eggs, salt, calcium, fluoride and hormone replacement therapy. Such reversals undermine faith in the FDA, drug companies, doctors and researchers...."
The answer supplied didn't really explain anything (in my opinion). Write a good answer, explaining how science works and why there appears to be "flip‐flopping".
They appear to be flip flopping because science and its findings are always changing. We learn more overtime and as evidence grows…. conclusions and interpretations change. Gets betters and stronger