Study Guide Questions with Actual
Answers 2026 Updated.
What are the three motivating factors of all living organisms (including humans)? - Answer 1.
Food, 2. Water, 3. Sex
What is scientific inquiry used for? - Answer Scientific inquiry is used to ask and answer
questions about nature.
What is a hypothesis? - Answer A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a set of
observations that leads to predictions that can be tested by experiments.
What is the scientific method's sequence of steps in hypothesis-based science? - Answer
Observation -> Question -> Hypothesis -> Prediction -> Experiment -> Result
What is the core theme of biology? - Answer Evolution
What is Evolutionary Theory useful in? - Answer Medicine, agriculture, forensics, and
conservation
What do all forms of life share in common properties? - Answer 1. Order
2. Reproduction
3. Growth and development
4. Energy processing
5. Response to the environment
6. Regulation
7. Evolutionary adaptation
What are the major levels of biological organization? - Answer Biosphere, Ecosystem,
Community, Population, Organism, Organ System, Organ, Tissue, Cell, Organelle, Molecule
What are genes? - Answer Genes are the units of inheritance that transmit information from
parents to offspring and control the activities of a cell. They are grouped in very long DNA
molecules called chromosomes.
, How is the diversity of life organized? - Answer The diversity of life is organized into three
domains:
Bacteria,
Archaea,
and Eukarya.
What is matter? - Answer Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass.
What is an element? - Answer An element is a substance that cannot be broken down to
other substances.
How many natural elements exist in nature? - Answer There are 92 natural elements in
nature, but only a few exist in a pure state.
What are compounds? - Answer Compounds are combinations of elements that organisms
are composed of.
What is the composition of a carbon atom? - Answer A carbon atom has 6 protons, 6
neutrons, and 6 electrons.
What are isotopes? - Answer Isotopes are different forms of an element that have the same
number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
What is a radioactive isotope? - Answer A radioactive isotope has a nucleus that decays
spontaneously, giving off particles and energy.
What is cohesion in water? - Answer Cohesion is the tendency of molecules of the same kind
to stick together.
What is adhesion? - Answer Adhesion is the tendency of two kinds of molecules to stick
together.
What is Surface tension? - Answer Surface tension is a measure of how difficult it is to break
the surface of a liquid.
How do hydrogen bonds affect water's temperature? - Answer Hydrogen bonds give water a
greater ability to resist temperature change than other liquids.