CATEGORY 1 — CELLS = LIFE
A scientist wants to determine whether pond water contains tiny living organisms. What tool would best allow the scientist to look for cells?
What is a microscope?
This cell structure controls what enters and leaves the cell.
What is the cell membrane?
Put these levels of organization in order from smallest to largest:
organ — cell — organ system — tissue
What is cell → tissue → organ → organ system?
These specialized structures detect stimuli such as light, sound, pressure, temperature, or chemicals.
What are sensory receptors?
The process organisms use to keep internal conditions within a workable range is called this.
What is homeostasis?
Plants capture this form of energy to help make food.
What is light energy from the Sun?
A scientist examines an unknown sample and finds that it is made of cells. What does this evidence suggest about the sample?
What is the sample is living or came from something living?
These structures in plant cells capture light energy that helps the plant make food.
What are chloroplasts?
A group of similar cells working together forms this level of organization.
What is a tissue?
Put these steps in the correct order:
brain processes information — stimulus occurs — receptor detects stimulus — signal travels through nerve cells
What is:
stimulus → sensory receptor → nerve-cell signal → brain processing?
Your body temperature rises during exercise and you begin sweating. Is sweating the stressor/change or the response?
What is the response?
Name two kinds of matter plants use to make sugar during photosynthesis.
What are carbon dioxide and water?
Explain why finding cells in an unknown sample is strong evidence that the sample contains living material.
What is because cells are the basic structural and functional units of living things?
A cell needs usable energy to perform its functions. Which cell structure is most directly involved, and what does it do?
What are mitochondria; they release usable energy from food?
During exercise, the respiratory system brings oxygen into the body and the circulatory system moves oxygen through the blood. What does this show about body systems?
What is body systems interact and depend on one another to help maintain life?
Required: some explanation of the interaction, not just “they work together.”
You touch a hot surface and quickly pull your hand away. Explain the basic pathway from stimulus to response.
What is heat is detected by sensory receptors, information travels through nerve cells, the nervous system processes the information, and a response causes the hand to move away?
Explain how sweating helps maintain homeostasis when body temperature rises.
What is sweating helps the body lose heat, moving body temperature back toward a safe or workable range?
Most of the carbon that becomes part of a growing tree originally comes from this substance.
What is carbon dioxide in the air?
Two samples look identical with the unaided eye. Under a microscope, Sample A contains organized cells and Sample B does not. Which sample provides stronger evidence of living material, and why?
What is Sample A, because the microscope revealed cells, which are evidence of living material?
A plant cell begins losing water during a drought. Explain how the cell membrane and vacuole help the cell respond to this challenge.
What is the cell membrane regulates movement of materials into and out of the cell, while the vacuole stores water and other materials and helps support the plant cell?
A person’s lungs are working normally, but the circulatory system cannot transport oxygen efficiently. Explain why cells throughout the body could still be affected.
What is oxygen can enter the lungs, but the circulatory system must transport that oxygen to body cells; if transport fails, cells may not receive enough oxygen?
Two areas of skin are touched with two points the same distance apart. One area detects two points, while the other detects only one. What can you infer from the evidence?
What is the areas differ in sensory sensitivity, likely because sensory receptors are distributed or spaced differently in the two locations?
A person becomes dehydrated. Explain one way the body could respond to help maintain internal stability.
What is the body can conserve water and/or produce a thirst response so water levels can move back toward a workable range?
Explain the statement:
“Energy flows, but matter cycles.”
What is energy enters a system and moves through organisms before eventually being dispersed, while matter such as carbon and water can move through organisms and the environment and be reused?
A student says, “If something moves, it must be alive.” Use cellular evidence to improve or correct the student’s claim.
What is movement alone does not prove something is alive; stronger evidence would be that the object is made of one or more cells and shows characteristics of living things?
A cell has a working nucleus and cell membrane but badly damaged mitochondria. Predict one effect on the whole cell and justify your answer.
What is the cell would have difficulty carrying out energy-demanding processes because damaged mitochondria would reduce the usable energy available to the cell?
A student says, “If the digestive system works correctly, the other body systems do not matter.” Construct a rebuttal using a specific systems example.
What is the digestive system can break food into nutrients, but the circulatory system must transport those nutrients to cells and the respiratory system supplies oxygen; cells depend on interactions among multiple systems?
Two animals detect the same stimulus but respond differently. Give a scientifically reasonable explanation using sensory receptors, brain processing, and memory.
What is both animals may detect the stimulus, but differences in how the brain processes the information or in stored memories from past experiences can cause different behavioral responses?
A student says, “Homeostasis means the body stays exactly the same all the time.” Correct the student using an example.
What is homeostasis does not mean staying exactly the same; the body changes its responses to keep internal conditions within a workable range—for example, when temperature rises, sweating increases to help lower it?
Key idea
Homeostasis requires change in order to maintain stability.
Trace both matter and energy from the Sun to a plant to an animal. Explain one important difference between the two pathways.
What is light energy from the Sun is captured by the plant and stored as chemical energy in food, then transferred to an animal when it eats the plant; matter such as carbon becomes part of the plant and then the animal and can later return to the environment and cycle again?
Important difference:
Energy flows/transfers; matter cycles.