BIO 1500 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE 2026/2027 | REVIEW QUESTIONS &
PRACTICE TEST
Recognize dragonflies as formidable aerial and aquatic predators - Correct answer✅✅ -large,
powerful, intense
-operating in air
-aquatic larvae
Identify dragonflies as ancient insects (when, what, why) - Correct answer✅✅ when: Carboniferous
Period (360-300 mya)
what: among the first insects to fly
why: first fossils: 325 mya
Identify huge body size as the outstanding characteristic of animals (including dragonflies) in the
carboniferous - Correct answer✅✅ -Dragonflies had a wingspan of 3 feet and weighed 150 grams
-Environmental factors (oxygen, carbon, temperature)
-High energy demands, natural selection, and prey
Describe the life stages of dragonflies - Correct answer✅✅ egg, larvae, adult dragonfly
Develop more than one hypothesis for why dragonflies were so big - Correct answer✅✅ -The
carboniferous period provided them more oxygen causing them to be larger in size
-Different prey were around during the period that caused them to be larger in size
Evaluate these hypotheses based on your explorations in EarthViewer - Correct answer✅✅ Oxygen
concentration, larger size made them better predators, aerial predation was more prevalent during this
time, so they needed to be larger in order to survive.
Identify the most important and least important attribute: team-working skills,content knowledge,
communication skills, learning skills, etc. ... for employers and medical schools - Correct answer✅✅
Most important- team working skills
Least important- knowledge of job
,Recognize how the different components of the course contribute to your final class grade, in particular-
the relatively small contribution of each individual test- the importance of the final exam as an
opportunity to improve- how lab and discussion scores are combined for the "lab/Discussion" part of the
final grade- why unexcused absences in discussions will significantly reduce your overall grade - Correct
answer✅✅
Memorize the dates of major milestones in the history of life on earth, as indicated in the online
learning module. - Correct answer✅✅ Earth formed 4.6 bya
oldest rock 3.8 bya
oldest fossils/signs of life 3.5 bya
cyanobacteria 2500 mya
aglae 1200 mya
cambrian explosion 545 mya
first dinosaurs 230 mya
first birds 150 mya
dinosaur extinction 65 mya
modern humans 200,000 ya
Relate the Carboniferous to the big picture of the history of life on earth: when was it? - Correct
answer✅✅ -The Carboniferous period happened recently when looked at in the big picture of the
history of time
-Although life began relatively soon after the earth cooled, most major evolutionary changes occurred in
the most recent fifth of earth's history
Identify interesting and 'unusual' events in the history of earth - Correct answer✅✅ "snowball" ice age
Recall environmental characteristics of the Carboniferous time - Correct answer✅✅ -O2 was the
highest it has ever been
-Temperature was hot
, Describe the general pattern observed in the distribution of major events in the history of life, as
portrayed in the Timeline video from class. - Correct answer✅✅ There was a large amount of time
where not much happened and a lot start happening towards the end of deep time.
Relate the changes of O2 levels in the atmosphere to biological events in the history of life. - Correct
answer✅✅ -cyanobacteria were first ones to do photosynthesis, making more O2 in environment
-1.5 mya, green algae w chloroplasts started making more O2 but didn't increase at first because
chemical reactions removed it
Recognize that all O2 on earth stems from biological processes. - Correct answer✅✅ O2 on earth
comes from photosynthesis within plants. O2 is a byproduct of photosynthesis
Recognize that the geology of earth has been dramatically changed by biology. - Correct answer✅✅
things were oxidized and minerals began to form
There was global mass extinction because free O2 was toxic to cells. O2 removed methane from the
atmosphere, causing an ice age. Some prokaryotes evolved. In the world today we see the effects of
anti-oxidants and photo-oxidation. In photosynthesis, too much O2 can cause damage to chlorophyll.
Describe the mechanism of diffusion at the level of single particles - Correct answer✅✅ diffusion is the
spontaneous movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to low concentration, single
particles move unpredictably and never stop moving
Describe the pattern observed due to diffusion at the level of many particles - Correct answer✅✅ with
many particles diffusion has no set pattern other than from high to low concentration. the particles
move randomly on both sides in any direction
Explain how the behavior of single particles explains the observed pattern at the many-particles level -
Correct answer✅✅ Each particle moves on its own, going from a naturally high concentration to a low
one, but this occurs by random particle movements. The particles naturally go to a lower concentration,
but this happens only by the particles colliding with other moving particles. This then leads us to be able
to predict, generally, where the molecules are going, because as we stated, we cannot predict the exact
movement of each individual particle.
Explain the relationship between distance and time during diffusion - Correct answer✅✅ diffusion
time increases with the square of the distance
PRACTICE TEST
Recognize dragonflies as formidable aerial and aquatic predators - Correct answer✅✅ -large,
powerful, intense
-operating in air
-aquatic larvae
Identify dragonflies as ancient insects (when, what, why) - Correct answer✅✅ when: Carboniferous
Period (360-300 mya)
what: among the first insects to fly
why: first fossils: 325 mya
Identify huge body size as the outstanding characteristic of animals (including dragonflies) in the
carboniferous - Correct answer✅✅ -Dragonflies had a wingspan of 3 feet and weighed 150 grams
-Environmental factors (oxygen, carbon, temperature)
-High energy demands, natural selection, and prey
Describe the life stages of dragonflies - Correct answer✅✅ egg, larvae, adult dragonfly
Develop more than one hypothesis for why dragonflies were so big - Correct answer✅✅ -The
carboniferous period provided them more oxygen causing them to be larger in size
-Different prey were around during the period that caused them to be larger in size
Evaluate these hypotheses based on your explorations in EarthViewer - Correct answer✅✅ Oxygen
concentration, larger size made them better predators, aerial predation was more prevalent during this
time, so they needed to be larger in order to survive.
Identify the most important and least important attribute: team-working skills,content knowledge,
communication skills, learning skills, etc. ... for employers and medical schools - Correct answer✅✅
Most important- team working skills
Least important- knowledge of job
,Recognize how the different components of the course contribute to your final class grade, in particular-
the relatively small contribution of each individual test- the importance of the final exam as an
opportunity to improve- how lab and discussion scores are combined for the "lab/Discussion" part of the
final grade- why unexcused absences in discussions will significantly reduce your overall grade - Correct
answer✅✅
Memorize the dates of major milestones in the history of life on earth, as indicated in the online
learning module. - Correct answer✅✅ Earth formed 4.6 bya
oldest rock 3.8 bya
oldest fossils/signs of life 3.5 bya
cyanobacteria 2500 mya
aglae 1200 mya
cambrian explosion 545 mya
first dinosaurs 230 mya
first birds 150 mya
dinosaur extinction 65 mya
modern humans 200,000 ya
Relate the Carboniferous to the big picture of the history of life on earth: when was it? - Correct
answer✅✅ -The Carboniferous period happened recently when looked at in the big picture of the
history of time
-Although life began relatively soon after the earth cooled, most major evolutionary changes occurred in
the most recent fifth of earth's history
Identify interesting and 'unusual' events in the history of earth - Correct answer✅✅ "snowball" ice age
Recall environmental characteristics of the Carboniferous time - Correct answer✅✅ -O2 was the
highest it has ever been
-Temperature was hot
, Describe the general pattern observed in the distribution of major events in the history of life, as
portrayed in the Timeline video from class. - Correct answer✅✅ There was a large amount of time
where not much happened and a lot start happening towards the end of deep time.
Relate the changes of O2 levels in the atmosphere to biological events in the history of life. - Correct
answer✅✅ -cyanobacteria were first ones to do photosynthesis, making more O2 in environment
-1.5 mya, green algae w chloroplasts started making more O2 but didn't increase at first because
chemical reactions removed it
Recognize that all O2 on earth stems from biological processes. - Correct answer✅✅ O2 on earth
comes from photosynthesis within plants. O2 is a byproduct of photosynthesis
Recognize that the geology of earth has been dramatically changed by biology. - Correct answer✅✅
things were oxidized and minerals began to form
There was global mass extinction because free O2 was toxic to cells. O2 removed methane from the
atmosphere, causing an ice age. Some prokaryotes evolved. In the world today we see the effects of
anti-oxidants and photo-oxidation. In photosynthesis, too much O2 can cause damage to chlorophyll.
Describe the mechanism of diffusion at the level of single particles - Correct answer✅✅ diffusion is the
spontaneous movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to low concentration, single
particles move unpredictably and never stop moving
Describe the pattern observed due to diffusion at the level of many particles - Correct answer✅✅ with
many particles diffusion has no set pattern other than from high to low concentration. the particles
move randomly on both sides in any direction
Explain how the behavior of single particles explains the observed pattern at the many-particles level -
Correct answer✅✅ Each particle moves on its own, going from a naturally high concentration to a low
one, but this occurs by random particle movements. The particles naturally go to a lower concentration,
but this happens only by the particles colliding with other moving particles. This then leads us to be able
to predict, generally, where the molecules are going, because as we stated, we cannot predict the exact
movement of each individual particle.
Explain the relationship between distance and time during diffusion - Correct answer✅✅ diffusion
time increases with the square of the distance
