Biology - Topic 4 - Natural Selection and Genetic Modification

Question 1

What is this a definition of: ‘A group of organisms that can reproduce with one another, producing offspring that can also reproduce’?

Answer 1

species

Question 2

What is the scientific name for the modern human species?

Answer 2

Homo sapiens

Question 3

From what type of creature are modern humans thought to have evolved?

Answer 3

apes

Question 4

What are the remains of organisms that have been turned into rock called?

Answer 4

fossils

Question 5

Sedimentary rock exists in layers, one of top of another. Which layers are the youngest?

Answer 5

upper (top) layers

Question 6

Which substance did early human-like animals make tools out of?

Answer 6

wood, stone

Question 7

Why do we only find the stone tools now?

Answer 7

the wooden ones have rotted away

Question 8

Which of these three species is most closely related to modern humans and how can you tell:Homo habilisAustralopithecus afarensisArdipithecus ramidus ?

Answer 8

Homo habilis, because the first word of its scientific name is the same as that of modern humans.

Question 9

On which continent are the oldest human-like fossils found?

Answer 9

Africa

Question 10

What is this a definition of: ‘A gradual change in the characteristics of a species over time’?

Answer 10

evolution

Question 11

Where does the evidence come from that humans evolved?

Answer 11

fossils, stone tools

Question 12

Over how many years can scientists trace human evolution?

Answer 12

4-5 million years

Question 13

Name one trend that has occurred in the bodies of human-like species as they have evolved over millions of years.

Answer 13

walking upright, feet with short toes, larger brains, flatter faces, taller skulls, etc.

Question 14

What are the differences in characteristics between two organisms called?

Answer 14

variation

Question 15

Suggest one reason why polar bears are better adapted than black bears to living in the Arctic.

Answer 15

they are white and so can avoid being seen against the snow by their prey

Question 16

What is the name of the scientist who is most well known for developing a theory about evolution?

Answer 16

Charles Darwin

Question 17

Some scientists think that a species called Homo heidelbergensis evolved into both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. What is a species that evolves into two species like this called?

Answer 17

common ancestor

Question 18

What do we call the system of scientific naming for organisms?

Answer 18

binomial system

Question 19

Suggest the environmental change that resulted in the evolution of African elephants’ large ears

Answer 19

increase in temperature

Question 20

Suggest the environmental change that resulted in the evolution of woolly mammoths’ hairiness

Answer 20

decrease in temperature

Question 21

A certain population of animals evolved long legs over a long period of time. Is this more likely to be due to an increase or decrease in the number of predators?

Answer 21

increase

Question 22

What process does Darwin’s theory use to explain how evolution occurs?

Answer 22

natural selection

Question 23

The binomial name for the African bush elephant is Loxodonta africana. What genus does it belong to?

Answer 23

Loxodonta

Question 24

Elephants belong to the animal kingdom. What other kingdoms are there?

Answer 24

plants, fungi, protists/protoctists, bacteria (prokaryotes)

Question 25

State one way in which the cells of bacteria are different to those of animals, plants, fungi and protists.

Answer 25

They have no nucleus/mitochondria/organelles. They have plasmids. They don’t have chromosomes (instead they have a loop of chromosomal DNA).

Question 26

Cattle, wheat and mushrooms are all farmed. What kingdoms do they belong to?

Answer 26

cattle – animals; wheat – plants; mushrooms – fungi

Question 27

The scientific name for cattle is Bos taurus. What genus do they belong to?

Answer 27

Bos

Question 28

What domain do Bos mutus (wild yaks) and Bos taurus (cattle) belong to?

Answer 28

Eukarya

Question 29

What are the features of the Eukarya domain?

Answer 29

They have nuclei/mitochondria in their cells.

Question 30

Name the other two domains.

Answer 30

Bacteria, Archaea.

Question 31

The three-domain system was developed because while Archaea looked like bacteria/ prokaryotes they had other characteristics more like plants and animals. What were these other characteristics?

Answer 31

They have genes containing unused sections of DNA.

Question 32

There are about 800 different types of farm cattle that all belong to the same species. What is the name for different types of the same species of animal?

Answer 32

breeds

Question 33

What is the name for different types of the same species of plant?

Answer 33

varieties

Question 34

What is the name of the process in which individuals are chosen to be bred together in order to develop a new breed or variety with useful characteristics?

Answer 34

selective breeding

Question 35

Which process inserts a gene for a particular characteristic into another organism so that it produces that characteristic?

Answer 35

genetic engineering / modification

Question 36

What term describes humans choosing certain organisms because they have useful characteristics?

Answer 36

artificial selection

Question 37

Give an example of a species of animal that has been produced by selective breeding.

Answer 37

dogs, cows, sheep etc

Question 38

What word describes all the DNA in an organism?

Answer 38

genome

Question 39

What three-letter abbreviation is given to organisms that have been genetically engineered?

Answer 39

GMO

Question 40

What word describes the amount of useful product that can be obtained from a farmed plant or animal?

Answer 40

yield

Question 41

Suggest a characteristic that would be useful in a new variety of lettuce.

Answer 41

e.g. better taste, quicker growing, greater yield, disease resistance

Question 42

Suggest a characteristic that would be useful in a new breed of sheep.

Answer 42

e.g. leaner meat, quicker growing, greater yield, disease resistance, ability to withstand certain conditions, more wool

Question 43

Which term describes bacteria that are no longer affected by antibiotics?

Answer 43

resistant

Question 44

Why are organisms genetically modified?

Answer 44

to produce a new useful characteristic

Question 45

Why can a gene from one kind of organism produce the characteristic it codes for in a different organism?

Answer 45

Genes work in the same way in all organisms