BIOLOGY 5236 EXAM CRAM TEST
QUESTIONS AND ALL CORRECT
ANSWERS 2026 UPDATED.
Pros of stem cell research - Answer Curing genetic diseases
Growing skin for burn victims
Growing new organs
Cons of stem cell research - Answer Harvesting embryonic stem cells kills the embryo, what
constitutes a viable embryo?
Cons of genetically modified foods - Answer Man should not interfere, allergens,
modifications not contained-could pass in to wild species
Cons of cloning - Answer - reduced gene pool
- animals less healthy
- worries that humans could be cloned and born with severe health problems
Pros of cloning - Answer - used for medical research
- Therapeutic cloning
- Can save endangered species
concerns of genetic testing - Answer Is it a medical test? Some do not want to know, privacy
(who keeps results?), philosophical (do genes determine behavior?)
scientific theory - Answer a well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations
scientific fact - Answer a direct and repeatable observation of any aspect of the natural
world
Hypothesis - Answer A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
An educated guess
,scientific law - Answer A statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every
time under a particular set of conditions
scientific model - Answer a representation of an object or event that can be studied to
understand the real object or event
Scientific Method - Answer A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting
data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
sig fig rules - Answer 1) non-zero digits and zeros in-between them are sig figs
2) leading zeros (0.04) are not sig figs
3) trailing zeros with a decimal are sig figs (without a decimal are not
greenhouse effect - Answer Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere
by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases
greenhouse gases - Answer Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water
vapor, and ozone in the atmosphere which are involved in the greenhouse effect.
ozone depletion - Answer thinning of Earth's ozone layer caused by CFC's leaking into the air
and reacting chemically with the ozone, breaking the ozone molocules apart
free radicals - Answer chemical particles with an odd number of electrons
Human impacts on ecosystems - Answer Acid rain, ozone depletion, deforestation,
urbanization, accelerated species loss, genetic abnormalities, endocrine disruption in
populations, and harm to individual animals.
global warming - Answer An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere
(especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)
acid rain - Answer Rain containing acids that form in the atmosphere when industrial gas
emissions (especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) combine with water.
Eutrophication - Answer A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen,
become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such
as algae or cyanobacteria.
,landfill - Answer The disposal of refuse and other waste material by burying it and covering it
over with soil (leads to methane greenhouse gas)
independent variable - Answer The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable
whose effect is being studied.
dependent variable - Answer The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response
to manipulations of the independent variable.
Properties of Carbon - Answer carbon has 4 valence electrons, and can bond with other
carbon atoms forming chains .
organic molecules - Answer contain skeleton structures of carbon with hydrogen and oxygen
inorganic molecules - Answer molecules that do not contain carbon
covalent bond - Answer A chemical bond that involves sharing a pair of electrons between
atoms in a molecule
hydrogen bond - Answer weak attraction between a hydrogen atom and another atom
chemical bond - Answer the force that holds two atoms together
intermolecular forces - Answer forces of attraction between molecules
ATP - Answer (adenosine triphosphate) main energy source that cells use for most of their
work
Properties of water - Answer cohesion, adhesion, excellent solvent, solid is less dense than
liquid, specific heat
specific heat - Answer The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of
a substance by 1 degree celcius
capillary action - Answer the attraction of the surface of a liquid to the surface of a solid
Cohesion - Answer Attraction between molecules of the same substance
, Adhesion - Answer An attraction between molecules of different substances
surface tension - Answer A measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break the surface of a
liquid
Macromolecules - Answer A very large organic molecule composed of many smaller
molecules
examples of macromolecules - Answer carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids
Photosynthesis - Answer Conversion of light energy from the sun into chemical energy.
Formula for photosynthesis - Answer 6H₂O + 6CO₂ + Light Energy → C₆H₁₂O₆+ 6O₂
Chemosynthesis - Answer process in which chemical energy is used to produce
carbohydrates
light capturing events - Answer The first stage in photosynthesis; involves photosynthetic
pigments capturing light energy in the form of excited electrons
light-dependent reactions - Answer reactions of photosynthesis that use energy from light to
produce ATP and NADPH
Light Independent Reactions (Calvin Cycle) - Answer set of reactions in photosynthesis that
do not require light; energy from ATP and NADPH is used to build high-energy compounds such
as sugar; also called the Calvin cycle
NADPH - Answer An electron carrier involved in photosynthesis. Light drives electrons from
chlorophyll to NADP+, forming NADPH, which provides the high-energy electrons for the
reduction of carbon dioxide to sugar in the Calvin cycle.
NADP+ - Answer carrier molecule that transfers high-energy electrons from chlorophyll to
other molecules
C3 photosynthesis - Answer The most common form of photosynthesis in which atmospheric
CO2 is used to form 3-phosphoglycerate, a three-carbon sugar.
QUESTIONS AND ALL CORRECT
ANSWERS 2026 UPDATED.
Pros of stem cell research - Answer Curing genetic diseases
Growing skin for burn victims
Growing new organs
Cons of stem cell research - Answer Harvesting embryonic stem cells kills the embryo, what
constitutes a viable embryo?
Cons of genetically modified foods - Answer Man should not interfere, allergens,
modifications not contained-could pass in to wild species
Cons of cloning - Answer - reduced gene pool
- animals less healthy
- worries that humans could be cloned and born with severe health problems
Pros of cloning - Answer - used for medical research
- Therapeutic cloning
- Can save endangered species
concerns of genetic testing - Answer Is it a medical test? Some do not want to know, privacy
(who keeps results?), philosophical (do genes determine behavior?)
scientific theory - Answer a well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations
scientific fact - Answer a direct and repeatable observation of any aspect of the natural
world
Hypothesis - Answer A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
An educated guess
,scientific law - Answer A statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every
time under a particular set of conditions
scientific model - Answer a representation of an object or event that can be studied to
understand the real object or event
Scientific Method - Answer A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting
data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
sig fig rules - Answer 1) non-zero digits and zeros in-between them are sig figs
2) leading zeros (0.04) are not sig figs
3) trailing zeros with a decimal are sig figs (without a decimal are not
greenhouse effect - Answer Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere
by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases
greenhouse gases - Answer Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water
vapor, and ozone in the atmosphere which are involved in the greenhouse effect.
ozone depletion - Answer thinning of Earth's ozone layer caused by CFC's leaking into the air
and reacting chemically with the ozone, breaking the ozone molocules apart
free radicals - Answer chemical particles with an odd number of electrons
Human impacts on ecosystems - Answer Acid rain, ozone depletion, deforestation,
urbanization, accelerated species loss, genetic abnormalities, endocrine disruption in
populations, and harm to individual animals.
global warming - Answer An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere
(especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)
acid rain - Answer Rain containing acids that form in the atmosphere when industrial gas
emissions (especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) combine with water.
Eutrophication - Answer A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen,
become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such
as algae or cyanobacteria.
,landfill - Answer The disposal of refuse and other waste material by burying it and covering it
over with soil (leads to methane greenhouse gas)
independent variable - Answer The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable
whose effect is being studied.
dependent variable - Answer The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response
to manipulations of the independent variable.
Properties of Carbon - Answer carbon has 4 valence electrons, and can bond with other
carbon atoms forming chains .
organic molecules - Answer contain skeleton structures of carbon with hydrogen and oxygen
inorganic molecules - Answer molecules that do not contain carbon
covalent bond - Answer A chemical bond that involves sharing a pair of electrons between
atoms in a molecule
hydrogen bond - Answer weak attraction between a hydrogen atom and another atom
chemical bond - Answer the force that holds two atoms together
intermolecular forces - Answer forces of attraction between molecules
ATP - Answer (adenosine triphosphate) main energy source that cells use for most of their
work
Properties of water - Answer cohesion, adhesion, excellent solvent, solid is less dense than
liquid, specific heat
specific heat - Answer The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of
a substance by 1 degree celcius
capillary action - Answer the attraction of the surface of a liquid to the surface of a solid
Cohesion - Answer Attraction between molecules of the same substance
, Adhesion - Answer An attraction between molecules of different substances
surface tension - Answer A measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break the surface of a
liquid
Macromolecules - Answer A very large organic molecule composed of many smaller
molecules
examples of macromolecules - Answer carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids
Photosynthesis - Answer Conversion of light energy from the sun into chemical energy.
Formula for photosynthesis - Answer 6H₂O + 6CO₂ + Light Energy → C₆H₁₂O₆+ 6O₂
Chemosynthesis - Answer process in which chemical energy is used to produce
carbohydrates
light capturing events - Answer The first stage in photosynthesis; involves photosynthetic
pigments capturing light energy in the form of excited electrons
light-dependent reactions - Answer reactions of photosynthesis that use energy from light to
produce ATP and NADPH
Light Independent Reactions (Calvin Cycle) - Answer set of reactions in photosynthesis that
do not require light; energy from ATP and NADPH is used to build high-energy compounds such
as sugar; also called the Calvin cycle
NADPH - Answer An electron carrier involved in photosynthesis. Light drives electrons from
chlorophyll to NADP+, forming NADPH, which provides the high-energy electrons for the
reduction of carbon dioxide to sugar in the Calvin cycle.
NADP+ - Answer carrier molecule that transfers high-energy electrons from chlorophyll to
other molecules
C3 photosynthesis - Answer The most common form of photosynthesis in which atmospheric
CO2 is used to form 3-phosphoglycerate, a three-carbon sugar.
