Scientific Methods
Information gathered during your science experiment or field observations
Data
What effect does extinction have on biodiversity?
It decreases biodiversity
Difference between traits of individuals in a population are called
Variation.
What was the major cause of the finch beak size change on the Galapagos Islands?
Their food source changed due to the drought.
Name the top 3 macromolecules in your food and their monomers
Carbohydrates (monomer is sugar or glucose); Fats (monomer is fatty acids & glycerol); Protein (monomer is Amino Acids)
A set of ideas that explain a phenomenon
Model
What circumstances would lead to exponential growth in populations (j-shaped curve)?
Unlimited resources (very rare)
What was the major cause of the beak size change of the Galapagos finches we studied in class?
their food source changed due to the drought
If the food supply was limited and could only be accessed by finches with large beaks, what would our class model predict about the average beak size in the population of finches over time?
The beak sizes would become larger over time
Name 3 characteristics of proteins
They are made of amino acids; they fold into a 3-D shape; they are responsible for regulating nearly all chemical reactions in an organism
A scientist observes that the sky is grey, what type of data is this?
Qualitative
What circumstances would lead to logistic growth in a population (s-shaped curve)?
Limited resources, like food, shelter or water.
If the food source changed on the Galapagos Islands was very limited and could only be accessed by finches with small beaks, what would happen to the finch beak sizes over time?
Over time, the average finch beak size would decrease.
ALL mice living in an area have light color fur (no variation). There are lots of hungry birds that eat mice they can see. A volcano spewed ash into the air and turned all the sand and dirt black. What might happen to the mice?
They might die off since they have no way to hide from predators.
What 4 elements are both inputs and outputs in our bodies?
Carbon, Hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen
A scientist collects measurements of the length of femur bones in various grasshoppers, what type of data is this?
Quantitative Data
What made Isle Royale a great place to study the interaction between wolves and moose?
It was a national park and therefore protected from human impact.
Which scientist came up with the term Natural Selection?
Charles Darwin
What is generally true about parents and their offspring?
Generally offspring have similar traits as their parents
What happens to matter & energy in a chemical reaction?
matter is rearranged, energy is transformed from one kind to another
What type of graph is used to show many points of data that compare the relationship between two variables?
A scatter Plot
How are fox and rabbit populations related?
Since fox hunt rabbit, when rabbit populations decrease, the fox population decreases shortly after. When rabbit populations increase, fox populations increase shortly after. This is a predator/prey relationship.
What is generally true about parents and their offspring?
Generally offspring have similar traits as their parents.
If the light colored peppered moths we studied this semester did not have any predators to hide from, how would the species of moths likely have changed when their environment became darker after the industrial revolution?
They would not have changed (no selective pressure).
What is an enzyme, how does it work and what can denature it?
An enzyme is a protein molecule that helps make chemical reactions happen by lowering the activation energy. It can be denatured by burning it.