Deck : 1 Humans in the World of Biology

Question 1

Name two characteristics that classify humans as mammals. Name two that classify them as primates.

Answer 1

Humans are classified as mammals because they (1) have hair on their bodies and (2) because they feed their offspring when they are young, with nutrients produced by the mammary glands. Humans are classified as primates because of their forward-looking eyes, which allow for stereoscopic vision for gauging depth and distance. They also have a well-developed brain.

Question 2

Find an article or advertisement that makes a scientific claim. Use your critical-thinking skills to evaluate the claim.

Answer 2

NA

Question 3

Distinguish between a population, a community, an ecosystem, and the biosphere.

Answer 3

In order, from most basic to most complex, we list a population, a community, an ecosystem, and a biosphere. A population consists of all living things of one species that are collocated. When the population interacts with other living species in the same geographic region, we have a community. When the community interacts with their physical environment, both living and non-living, we have an ecosystem , which is self-contained. Finally, when that ecosystem is expanded to include any habitable region of Earth capable of sustaining life, we have a biosphere.

Question 4

What is a hypothesis? How does it differ from a theory?

Question 5

Define a controlled experiment.

Question 6

Differentiate between inductive and deductive reasoning.

Question 7

What is a placebo?

Question 8

What is meant by a double-blind experiment?

Question 9

Describe the procedure in an epidemiological study.

Question 10

A theory is

Question 11

The maintenance of physical and chemical conditions inside the body within tolerable ranges is called

Question 12

A(n) is a testable explanation for an observation.

Question 13

A trait that increases the chance that an organism will survive and reproduce in its natural environment is described as being

Question 14

Interpret the following graph to answer the questions.
a. What percentage of these 7-year-old children have access to a cell phone?
b. At a young age, these children share a cell phone with their family. At what age does sharing begin to decline?
c. What percentage of 10-year-old children own their own cell phone?

Question 15

List seven traits that characterize life.

Question 16

A native you met in the rain forest told you that one of the plants you collected brings relief to people who are having dif- ficulty breathing. You suspect that it might be a good treat- ment for asthma, a condition in which constriction of airways causes breathing problems. You are able to isolate a component of this plant as a drug. Tests on animals show that it is effec- tive. Phase I and phase II of clinical trials on humans show that the drug can be given safely to humans. Design an experiment to test the hypothesis that this drug eases breathing during an asthma attack.