BISC 102 FINAL EXAM SFU 2025
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Behavior - ANS A response to a STIMULUS mediated by the nervous system
Stimulus (senses) - ANS - External (e.g Sight, touch, smell, sound etc)
-Internal ( feeling hunger, fatigue fear, pain)
example of stimulus and response - ANS Stimulus- Sun shinning through a window
Response- Plant growing in the direction of the sun
OR
Stimulus - Presence of a potential mate
Response - a male display behavior ( during breeding season)
All cells come from - ANS pre-existing cells
Where did life come from? - ANS "Panspermia" Hypothesis, Life originated elsewhere in the
universe, and was "seeded" on earth from space from ( comets.. etc)
Classic "life-spark" experiment made by - ANS Stanely L. Miller ( and Harold Urey)
1 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
,LUCA - ANS last universal common ancestor .. The three domains are Bacteria, Eukaryotes,
and Archaea.
After LUCA, Charles Darwin calls it "Descent with modification" which is known as " Biological
Evolution"
Eukaryotes have a larger more complex cell than Prokaryotes but have the same - ANS rRNA
Alexander von Humboldt - ANS he is considered one of the founders of modern geography
work on botanical geography was foundational to the field of biogeography; set about the task
of collecting and analyzing data about the relationships between the spatial distribution of
rocks, plants, and animals. He is named after a lot of things and it was from 1769-1859
The "Central dogma " of biology - ANS discovery of the structure and function of the DNA
double helix by WATSON and CRICK ( and also Rosalind Franklin & Maurice Wilkins) in
Cambridge, UK
"The secret of life" - ANS Watson and Crick finding out about the double helix
Evolution definition - ANS "The change in the genetic characteristics of a population over
time" -- This is normally a small change (microevolution ) but demonstrated to form new
species
Darwin 1859 "On the Origin of Species" - ANS focused on Natural selection as the key
process of biological change over time
Darwin never used the word evolution instead he used - ANS Descent with modification
2 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
,Plato claimed - ANS ...that every organism was an example of a perfect essence or type
created by God and that these types were unchanging
Typological thinking - ANS Based upon the idea that species are UNCHANGING types and that
observable variations within species are UNIMPORTANT
Great Chain of Being (Aristotle) - ANS - Species were fixed types
-Species were organized into a sequence based on increasing sixe and complexity
-Sequence started with minerals and lower plants
-Humans were at the top of the cain
Georges Buffon (1707-1788) - ANS Suggested that the earth was much older than previously
believed
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) - ANS - Suggested a dynamic relationship between
species and environment.
- Acknowledged behavior toward environment and environmental change as the driver of
evolution.
- Suggested that repeated behavior through generations drove change within species.
"Life driven from simple to complex"
Adaptation occurs in individuals through - ANS Inheritance of acquired changes
ex: Neck of giraffe, and loss of leg feathers in wading birds
Somatic modification of individuals - ANS Are not heritable ( only genetic changers are) and
nor permanent
3 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
, Darwin claimed that ______ among individuals in a population was the key to understanding of
evolution - ANS variations
Paleontology is the study of - ANS fossils
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) PARIS - ANS Fossils resemble but are not exactly the same as
modern species
Beagle Voyage (1831-1836) - ANS -observed high level of diversity on Galapagos as
compared to mainland SA
-while there are fundamental similarities between organisms, there is also a remarkable variety
Captain of Beagle Voyage - ANS Robert Fitzroy
main purpose of Voyage of the beagle - ANS -Mapping coast of South America, and voyage
around the world making latitude/longitude measurement
"Principle of Geology" - ANS Charles Lyell, book demonstrated that natural processes
observable today were also responsible for events in the past. ( volcanoes, earthquake, floods,
erosion)
1st Fossils in Argentina - ANS Fossils of giant extinct sloths, armadillo relatives, and camel
family relatives was a evidence for Darwin " descent with modification"
( Distributions are evidence of historical connections)
Galapagos Islands - ANS Home to many unique species, such as the marine iguanas
4 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Behavior - ANS A response to a STIMULUS mediated by the nervous system
Stimulus (senses) - ANS - External (e.g Sight, touch, smell, sound etc)
-Internal ( feeling hunger, fatigue fear, pain)
example of stimulus and response - ANS Stimulus- Sun shinning through a window
Response- Plant growing in the direction of the sun
OR
Stimulus - Presence of a potential mate
Response - a male display behavior ( during breeding season)
All cells come from - ANS pre-existing cells
Where did life come from? - ANS "Panspermia" Hypothesis, Life originated elsewhere in the
universe, and was "seeded" on earth from space from ( comets.. etc)
Classic "life-spark" experiment made by - ANS Stanely L. Miller ( and Harold Urey)
1 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
,LUCA - ANS last universal common ancestor .. The three domains are Bacteria, Eukaryotes,
and Archaea.
After LUCA, Charles Darwin calls it "Descent with modification" which is known as " Biological
Evolution"
Eukaryotes have a larger more complex cell than Prokaryotes but have the same - ANS rRNA
Alexander von Humboldt - ANS he is considered one of the founders of modern geography
work on botanical geography was foundational to the field of biogeography; set about the task
of collecting and analyzing data about the relationships between the spatial distribution of
rocks, plants, and animals. He is named after a lot of things and it was from 1769-1859
The "Central dogma " of biology - ANS discovery of the structure and function of the DNA
double helix by WATSON and CRICK ( and also Rosalind Franklin & Maurice Wilkins) in
Cambridge, UK
"The secret of life" - ANS Watson and Crick finding out about the double helix
Evolution definition - ANS "The change in the genetic characteristics of a population over
time" -- This is normally a small change (microevolution ) but demonstrated to form new
species
Darwin 1859 "On the Origin of Species" - ANS focused on Natural selection as the key
process of biological change over time
Darwin never used the word evolution instead he used - ANS Descent with modification
2 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
,Plato claimed - ANS ...that every organism was an example of a perfect essence or type
created by God and that these types were unchanging
Typological thinking - ANS Based upon the idea that species are UNCHANGING types and that
observable variations within species are UNIMPORTANT
Great Chain of Being (Aristotle) - ANS - Species were fixed types
-Species were organized into a sequence based on increasing sixe and complexity
-Sequence started with minerals and lower plants
-Humans were at the top of the cain
Georges Buffon (1707-1788) - ANS Suggested that the earth was much older than previously
believed
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) - ANS - Suggested a dynamic relationship between
species and environment.
- Acknowledged behavior toward environment and environmental change as the driver of
evolution.
- Suggested that repeated behavior through generations drove change within species.
"Life driven from simple to complex"
Adaptation occurs in individuals through - ANS Inheritance of acquired changes
ex: Neck of giraffe, and loss of leg feathers in wading birds
Somatic modification of individuals - ANS Are not heritable ( only genetic changers are) and
nor permanent
3 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
, Darwin claimed that ______ among individuals in a population was the key to understanding of
evolution - ANS variations
Paleontology is the study of - ANS fossils
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) PARIS - ANS Fossils resemble but are not exactly the same as
modern species
Beagle Voyage (1831-1836) - ANS -observed high level of diversity on Galapagos as
compared to mainland SA
-while there are fundamental similarities between organisms, there is also a remarkable variety
Captain of Beagle Voyage - ANS Robert Fitzroy
main purpose of Voyage of the beagle - ANS -Mapping coast of South America, and voyage
around the world making latitude/longitude measurement
"Principle of Geology" - ANS Charles Lyell, book demonstrated that natural processes
observable today were also responsible for events in the past. ( volcanoes, earthquake, floods,
erosion)
1st Fossils in Argentina - ANS Fossils of giant extinct sloths, armadillo relatives, and camel
family relatives was a evidence for Darwin " descent with modification"
( Distributions are evidence of historical connections)
Galapagos Islands - ANS Home to many unique species, such as the marine iguanas
4 @COPYRIGHT THESTAR 2025/2026
