The document outlines the essay portion of the BIOL 101 comprehensive final exam at the University of Maryland University College, detailing submission instructions and the importance of originality in responses. Students must answer short essay questions with specific evidence and choose from a set of longer essay questions, covering topics such as natural selection, health impacts of diets, genetics, and the scientific method. The exam accounts for 20% of the total grade, with an emphasis on careful citation of sources and avoidance of plagiarism.

1. BIOL 101
Comprehensive Final Exam – Essay Portion
University of Maryland University College
Directions: Please complete the AnswerSheet file electronically
and submit it via Assignments by March 6th
at 11:59 PM ET. Save your AnswerSheet in the following
format: “LastName FINAL” (e.g., SmithFINAL).
Sources: You may use any electronic or print source from
BIOL 101. When appropriate, you may use the
internet to locate additional supporting evidence (look for
questions requiring it). AS ALWAYS, BE SURE TO
CITE ANY EXTERNAL RESOURCES YOU USE NEXT TO
THE APPROPRIATE QUESTION.
Note: you may not consult any “living” resource in or out of
this class, so do not seek assistance from your
peers or any other person. All essays will be run through the
anti-plagiarism website, TurnItIn.com, and any
plagiarized material will be given a zero.

2. This exam is worth 200 points or 20% of your total grade. This
section of the exam is essay, which is worth
100 pts (or half of the total points for the final exam). The
other half of the final exam is a series of multiple-
choice questions, which is a separate link in our LEO
classroom. Read the directions carefully below—you
have some choice in the Essay section. If you have any
questions, e-mail me.
SHORT ESSAY QUESTIONS:
Complete all three. Answers should not exceed 1-2 paragraphs
for each question. Worth 10 points each.
1. A population of grasshoppers in the Kansas prairie has two
color phenotypes, green and brown.
Typically, the prairie receives adequate water to maintain
healthy, green grass. Assume a bird that
eats grasshoppers moves into the prairie. How will this affect
natural selection of the grasshoppers?
How might this change in a drought year?
2. Using material from this class, support the following
statement with at least five pieces of evidence: a
plant-based (or vegetarian) diet is good for your health and the

3. planet. Be sure to cite any external
evidence you use.
3. DNA and RNA are similar yet distinct components of the
cell. Describe three differences between
RNA and DNA with respect to their chemical composition and
structure. Provide a detailed
description of each characteristic you chose in your response.
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
Pick FIVE to answer—ONE FROM EACH PAIR. Each answer
should be approximately 3-4 paragraphs in
length—maximum. Worth 14 points each.
4. Molecules of life and Cells (PICK A OR B TO ANSWER)
A. Pick three animal organelles and compare each one to a
department or feature in a grocery or
department store. In other words, the organelles in a cell are
analogous to various machines
and/or features in a store.
B. List the four “large molecules of life.” Identify their
composition and structure, and describe one
function they perform in the cell.

4. 5. Combining Micro and Macro concepts (PICK A OR B TO
ANSWER)
A. Water is crucial for life as we know it. One of the most
important characteristics of water is its
ability to act as a solvent. Explain why water is such a good
solvent for polar and charged
molecules. In what ways are humans negatively impacting the
hydrologic cycle—how might
these effects impact solvency properties in nature? Be specific.
B. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is thought to be
responsible for global warming. Explain
what type of bond(s) carbon forms that are relevant to global
warming. How does the
destruction of Earth’s rain forests impact the carbon cycle and
contribute to global warming?
6. Genetics and evolution (PICK A OR B TO ANSWER)
A. How can you explain the occurrence of birth defects (caused
by altered genes) in children and
grandchildren of WWII atomic bomb victims, when the victims
themselves were only mildly
affected?

5. B. During the past 50 years, more than 200 species of insects
that attack crop plants have become
highly resistant to DDT and other pesticides. Based on what you
have learned in this class
regarding evolution, explain the rapid and widespread evolution
of resistance. Now that DDT has
been banned in the US, what do you expect to happen to levels
of resistance to DDT among
insect populations?
7. Understanding The Scientific Method (PICK A OR B TO
ANSWER)
A. Before bringing a new drug to the marketplace, extensive
testing is done on the drug by
administering the drug to large numbers of individuals. Explain
the importance of the scientific
method, sample size, controls and variables in the drug
evaluation process.
B. You are interested in how pH affects the functioning of the
enzyme, metabolase. Design an
experiment that would reveal the ideal pH required for optimal
functioning of metabolase.
i. Design a study that will allow you to assess how various pH
levels affect metabolase
functioning.
ii. Be sure to state your hypothesis, define your controls,

6. describe the materials you will use,
and dissect your IV(s) and DV(s).
iii. Conclude with a graphical prediction of your results.
8. Using the Scientific Method to Analyze Research (PICK A
OR B TO ANSWER)
A. You are a researcher at Stanford University. In between
surfing at Mavericks and growing your
own avocados, your lab group is investigating how the speed at
which cells complete mitosis
varies based on their location in the body. In one study, you
isolated human cells from hair
follicles, the tongue, and the earlobe. Half of your 200
participants are male, and the other half
are female with equal representation from all major racial
groups. Look at the data table below
which shows how many minutes, on average, it took for one cell
to complete a mitosis cycle.
Male Female
Hair follicle 48.2 mins 29.2 mins
Tongue 12.7 mins 13.1 mins
Earlobe 97.4 mins 94.9 mins
i. What type of study is this (experimental vs. correlational)?
Explain how you know.

7. ii. What are the controls, IV(s) and DV(s) in this study?
iii. What can you conclude based on the reported findings?
iv. Describe, in detail, how you would improve upon this study
if you were to do a follow-up.
v. Why might the study of “mitosis speed” be important?
B. The following article was found on USAToday.com. Read it
and answer the questions below.
i. What is/are the independent variable(s) in this research?
ii. What is/are the dependent variable(s) in this research?
iii. What factor is producing the negative impact on monarch
larvae?
iv. Name another important insect that genetically-modified
corn could affect and suggest the
ultimate repercussions of this effect. (HINT: Think of a
beneficial insect to humans.)
v. Explain if the newspaper’s interpretation of the above
findings is justified or not? (HINT: Think
in terms of correlation vs. experiment and lab vs. field settings.)
Butterfly Experiment Highlights Biotech Hazards
By Brian Tokar
Genetically engineered crops threaten monarch butterflies. The
headlines spread worldwide this past May, after three

8. researchers at
Cornell University published a study confirming what critics of
biotechnology have been saying for a decade: that the
environmental
consequences of genetic engineering would prove to be
widespread and very damaging.
This was far from the first study of its kind. After 25 years of
research in genetic engineering, over a decade of open-air field
tests, and three years
of aggressive promotion of genetically engineered crops in the
commercial marketplace, research on the health and
environmental effects of
engineered crops is finally beginning to catch up with the
industry juggernaut. But while biotech companies pour billions
of dollars every year into
developing and marketing new high-tech crop varieties,
researchers concerned about the health and environmental
consequences of these
technologies face scarce research funds, unrealistic burdens of
proof, and sometimes even professional ostracism. For more
than two decades,
assertions about the likely ill effects of genetic engineering
have been dismissed as mere speculation. As fast-merging “life
science” conglomerates
seek to control all aspects of seed production, agricultural
chemicals, and pharmaceutical manufacture, their reach is
having an ever more chilling
effect on many areas of science.

9. Dr. Losey and his two colleagues at Cornell University
collected pollen from one of the “pest-resistant” corn varieties
that is now being
aggressively promoted by Monsanto and other biotech
companies. The corn plants are genetically engineered to secrete
very high doses of a toxin
naturally produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis,
commonly known as Bt. While short-lived Bt bacteria normally
produce this toxin in an
inactive form, which becomes activated only when absorbed
into the highly alkaline digestive systems of organisms such as
the corn rootworm,
genetically engineered Bt crops produce up to 20 times as much
toxin in its activated form in every plant tissue throughout the
plant's entire life
cycle.
The Cornell researchers used a simple spatula to apply Bt corn
pollen to the leaves of common milkweed, which is the sole
food source for
monarch butterflies in their early larval stages throughout much
of North America. Three-day-old butterfly larvae were exposed
to the treated
milkweed, and others were placed on milkweed leaves that
either had no pollen on them, or only pollen from non-
genetically engineered corn.
After only four days, 44% of the larvae that were exposed to the

10. Bt pollen died, while both control groups had a 100% survival
rate. The surviving
Bt-exposed larvae were also reduced in weight by more than
60%. "These results have potentially profound implications for
the conservation of
monarch butterflies," the three researchers wrote in the
prestigious British scientific journal Nature. In subsequent
public statements, the researchers
instead emphasized the differences between the laboratory and
the field.