Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. If one group is given some medicine that may cure a disease and the other group is given a sugar pill, the
group who got the medicine is the
A. Hypothetical group
B. Scientific group
C. Control group
D. Experimental group
2. Which is NOT a characteristic of all life?
A. Responsiveness
B. Evolution
C. Reproduction
D. Random cell structure
3. In an experiment that has a control and experimental group, the dependent variable is
A. Observed in the experimental group
B. Not observed in the control group
C. The result of the independent variable
D. All of these statements are true
4. A good hypothesis must
A. Be a logical explanation of events
B. Be testable
C. Account for all current information related to the events being studied
D. All of these statements are true
5. A characteristic of life is
A. Chemical bonds
B. The use of oxygen
C. The production of CO2
D. Cellular organization
6. Which of the following is an example of adaptation, one of the characteristics of life?
A. The evolutionary changes that occur to a species
B. Sexual reproduction
C. Organismal organization
D. Metabolism
,7. A control group differs from an experimental group
A. In the number of test organisms used
B. By the independent variable
C. In several ways
D. In no way
8. A reason an automobile engine is not considered to be living is that it is not able to
A. Utilize energy
B. Change its activities
C. Make copies of itself
D. Utilize chemical reactions
9. All of the chemical reactions that take place within your body are known as
A. Organismal structure
B. Metabolism
C. Irritability
D. Adaptation
10. A controlled experiment is one in which
A. Variables are allowed only in the control group
B. Only one independent variable is allowed in the experimental group
C. All the variables are controlled
D. Dependent variables are introduced in the control group
11. Removal of herbal medicines from USDA regulation by the DSHEA in 1994 led to
A. Marketers proving that the medications work
B. Marketers providing misinformation about the effectiveness of the herbal medicines
C. Decreased use of herbal medicines
D. None of these statements is true
12. One of the characteristics of life is
A. The ability to diffuse materials
B. Being able to adapt to new environmental conditions
C. Being made up of inorganic material
D. All of these statements are true
13. Science is
A. An organized study of information
B. Impossible to define
C. A process for collecting and organizing knowledge
D. The study of life
,14. If you want to set up a controlled experiment to determine the effects of caffeine on sleeping behavior in
mice, you take a group of mice and divide it into two groups. Both are fed the same food, both are watered,
both have 12 hours daylight, and 12 hours dark. Group one is given caffeine. What is appropriate to give to
group two?
A. 2 x amount of caffeine
B. 1/2 x amount of caffeine
C. No caffeine
D. Caffeine in different form
15. Science is
A. Able to supply solutions to most human problems
B. Always correct
C. Distinguished from nonscientific areas of study by the way information is gathered
D. A body of information gathered about nature in the last 2,000 years
16. The scientific method involves each of the following EXCEPT
A. Systematic search for information
B. Observation and experimentation
C. Forming and testing possible solutions
D. Formulation of laws and principles that control the observed facts
17. When a scientist sees patterns among a number of isolated facts,
A. Laws or principles can be developed
B. The patterns are assumed to have meaning
C. Elaborate tests must be developed to see if a cause-and-effect relationship exists
D. As a rule, the pattern must be published
18. Information from experiments is considered valid if
A. The same results are obtained each time the experiment is performed
B. The results were predicted by the hypothesis
C. The same results are obtained by several scientists
D. All of these statements are true
19. In science, reliable results are obtained when
A. Experiments give the same results repeatedly
B. A careful scientist sees a clear pattern
C. Additional testing is required
D. Most experiments give the same results
20. Which of the following is NOT a science?
A. Economics
B. Astronomy
C. Engineering
D. Biology
, 21. Art, theology, and philosophy are nonsciences because they
A. Are not worthwhile fields of study
B. Are basically untrue
C. Deal with things that cannot be tested by the scientific method
D. Are bodies of knowledge too small to qualify as science
22. When using the scientific method, scientists make several fundamental assumptions. Which of these does
NOT make sense, based on your knowledge of the scientific method?
A. There are specific causes for events observed in the natural world
B. The causes for events can be identified
C. There are general rules or patterns that can be used to describe what happens in nature
D. An event that occurs repeatedly probably has different causes
23. Empirical evidence is
A. Gained from observation of an event
B. Derived from literature
C. Developed from conclusions
D. Formulated from empirical rules
24. Of the following, the area that is LEAST likely to be a science is
A. Agriculture
B. Music
C. Medicine
D. Aircraft design
25. Astronomy and astrology are different in that
A. Astrology does not use facts
B. Astronomy does not make predictions
C. Astrology does not test its rules
D. Astronomy does not form rules
26. Pseudoscience and nonscience differ in that
A. Nonscience is not valuable and pseudoscience is valuable
B. Pseudoscience deceives, misleads, or misinforms and this is not a primary characteristic of nonscience
C. Nonscience forms hypotheses and pseudoscience does not
D. Pseudoscience has led to major changes in intellectual thought and nonscience has not
27. Biological study brought about
A. The development of rockets
B. The atom bomb
C. Vaccinations for disease
D. TAY-Sachs disease