BIOLOGY 101 EXAM 5 2026 GRAPHING
AND INTERPRETING SCIENTIFIC DATA
REVIEW QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS
PROFESSIONAL GUIDE
◉ In terms of population dynamics, "boom-and-bust" cycling is a
situation in which
Question options:
A) a growing population overshoots the carrying capacity of its
environment and experiences a crash before stabilizing.
B) the populations of two competing species oscillate in unison.
C) the sex ratio in a population shows repeated oscillations.
D) a population moves back and forth between rapid growth and
decline.
Answer: D) a population moves back and forth between rapid
growth and decline.
◉ A test tube is inoculated with 1 × 10^3 cells of a bacterial strain
that has a generation time of 30 minutes. The carrying capacity of
the test tube for this strain is 6 × 10^9 cells. What will the bacterial
population be after 90 minutes of culturing?
Question options:
,A) 6 × 10^9
B) 3 × 10^3
C) 1 × 10^9
D) 8 × 10^3
Answer: D) 8 × 103
◉ You drive through Iowa in the spring and notice that along a
stretch of several kilometers, every third fence post has a male
redwing blackbird perched on it defending its nesting territory. This
is an example of
A) uniform dispersion.
B) random dispersion.
C) clumped dispersion.
Answer: A) uniform dispersion
◉ What is the age structure of a population?
A) the number of individuals alive in different age-groups at one
time point
B) the curve that results when the likelihood of being alive is plotted
as a function of age
, C) the curve that results when the likelihood of dying is plotted as a
function of age
D) the difference in the age distribution of a population at two
different points in time
Answer: A) the number of individuals alive in different age-groups at
one time point
◉ If most of the individuals of a human population are in their pre-
reproductive years, you would expect the population size to ________
after 20 years.
A) decrease
B) increase
C) decrease and then stabilize
D) stay the same
Answer: B) increase
◉ As a growing population nears its carrying capacity, birth rates
A) decline and/or death rates increase.
B) remain constant and death rates increase.
C) and death rates increase.
D) decline but death rates remain steady.
AND INTERPRETING SCIENTIFIC DATA
REVIEW QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS
PROFESSIONAL GUIDE
◉ In terms of population dynamics, "boom-and-bust" cycling is a
situation in which
Question options:
A) a growing population overshoots the carrying capacity of its
environment and experiences a crash before stabilizing.
B) the populations of two competing species oscillate in unison.
C) the sex ratio in a population shows repeated oscillations.
D) a population moves back and forth between rapid growth and
decline.
Answer: D) a population moves back and forth between rapid
growth and decline.
◉ A test tube is inoculated with 1 × 10^3 cells of a bacterial strain
that has a generation time of 30 minutes. The carrying capacity of
the test tube for this strain is 6 × 10^9 cells. What will the bacterial
population be after 90 minutes of culturing?
Question options:
,A) 6 × 10^9
B) 3 × 10^3
C) 1 × 10^9
D) 8 × 10^3
Answer: D) 8 × 103
◉ You drive through Iowa in the spring and notice that along a
stretch of several kilometers, every third fence post has a male
redwing blackbird perched on it defending its nesting territory. This
is an example of
A) uniform dispersion.
B) random dispersion.
C) clumped dispersion.
Answer: A) uniform dispersion
◉ What is the age structure of a population?
A) the number of individuals alive in different age-groups at one
time point
B) the curve that results when the likelihood of being alive is plotted
as a function of age
, C) the curve that results when the likelihood of dying is plotted as a
function of age
D) the difference in the age distribution of a population at two
different points in time
Answer: A) the number of individuals alive in different age-groups at
one time point
◉ If most of the individuals of a human population are in their pre-
reproductive years, you would expect the population size to ________
after 20 years.
A) decrease
B) increase
C) decrease and then stabilize
D) stay the same
Answer: B) increase
◉ As a growing population nears its carrying capacity, birth rates
A) decline and/or death rates increase.
B) remain constant and death rates increase.
C) and death rates increase.
D) decline but death rates remain steady.
