** This quiz is formed from old regents examination questions and adapted from material I received through the Bio-Chem mentor network. The material does not have a copyright. I would be happy to give credit to the specific author if they would let me know they did this. I have also added review material of my own construction.
Making Connections (Lab Practice Quiz)
Choose the response which best completes each of the following statements or
answers each of the following questions.
Procedure Questions
1. What form should be used when creating a title for your
investigation?
(1.) "What is the answer to
....." (2.) " The effect of
.... on ....."
(3.) "Does exercise affect ...."
(4.) "I think that ...."
2. In designing your experiment, which step did you perform
first? (1.) collect and organize the data
(2.) design the data tables
(3.) determine the question you are trying to answer
(4.) decide how many subjects to test
3. Which activity was performed in lab to demonstrate muscle
fatigue?
(1.) repeatedly taking your pulse
(2.) repeatedly squeezing a clothespin
(3.) jogging around the school
(4.) constructing a histogram
4. Which best describes the proper technique for taking your
own pulse as described in
the lab directions? (1.) Press
your thumb lightly against your wrist. (2.) Press two
fingers firmly against the side of your
neck. (3.) Press two fingers firmly against your wrist.
(4.) Press two fingers lightly around your
wrist.
5. What was graphed in the histogram you created? (1.)
The number of students in each
average pulse range. (2.) How
pulse rate affected muscle fatigue. (3.) How muscle fatigue
affected pulse rate. (4.) The
number of clothespins squeezed per minute.
Conceptual Questions
6. If a scientist suspects that two activities have a
connection, what is one reliable way the scientist
can find out if he or she is correct?
(1.) He/she should ask many people if they have noticed the
same connection. (2.) He/she should
publish the idea in a scientific journal for peer review.
(3.) He/she should look for other
connections that might be related. (4.) He/she should design
and perform a controlled experiment to test
his suspicion.
7. A student squeezes a clothespin 115 times in one minute.
She then repeats the activity
and squeezes the clothespin 96 times in one
minute. Which would be the most likely
biological explanation for this?
(1.) Her muscle cells became fatigued as waste products
built up inside of them. (2.) Her
pulse rate became too fast to deliver oxygen to the cells.
(3.) The clothespin hinge became harder to
squeeze as it heated up. (4.) The experiment
was not designed properly, causing human error.
8. What is the best reason a person's pulse rate usually
increases after exercise?
(1.) As the blood moves faster, it makes
the heart pump faster.
(2.) Exercise raises blood sugar levels,
causing more insulin in the heart.
(3.) When the lungs breathe faster, the
heart has to work harder
to keep up. (4.) Muscles
need extra oxygen and food to replace what was used up.
9. In the experiment you designed, you measured the number
of times that a clothespin was
squeezed in a minute. What role
in the experiment did the clothespin squeeze data fill?
(1.) control (2.) hypothesis
(3.) dependent variable (4.) independent variable
10. Which could be best described as "a tentative statement about the
expected relationship
between variables"?
(1.) theory (2.) hypothesis (3.) conclusion (4.) experiment
Exam Questions Related to this Lab
11. A student formulated a hypothesis that cotton will grow larger
bolls (pods) if
magnesium is added to the soil.
The student has two experimental fields of cotton,
one with magnesium and one without.
Which data should be collected to support
this hypothesis? (1.)
height of the cotton plants in both fields (2.) diameter of the
cotton bolls in both fields
(3.) color of the cotton bolls in both fields (4.) length of
the growing season in both fields
12. In an investigation to determine the change in heart rate with
increased activity, a
biology teacher asked students to take
their pulses immediately before and immediately
after exercising for 2 minutes.
The data showed an average heart rate of 72 beats per
minute before exercising and 90 beats per
minute after exercising. If a valid conclusion
is to be made from the results of this
experiment, which assumption must be made?
(1.) In most students, the average
heart rate is not affected by exercise.
(2.) Each student exercised with
approximately the same intensity.
(3.) Exercise causes the heart rate
to slow down.
(4.) The heart rate of each student goes up
by 18 beats after jogging for 2 minutes
13. A student hypothesized that lettuce seeds would not germinate (begin
to grow) unless
they were covered with a layer of soil.
The student planted 10 lettuce seeds under a
layer of soil and scattered 10 lettuce
seeds on top of the soil. To improve the reliability
of these results, the student should
(1.) conclude that darkness is necessary for seed
germination (2.) conclude that light
is necessary for seed germination (3.) revise the hypothesis
(4.) repeat the experiment using a larger
sample size
14. Diagrams, tables, and graphs are used by scientists mainly to
(1.) design a research plan
for an experiment (2.) predict the
independent variable (3.) test a hypothesis
(4.) organize data
15. An experimental design included references from prior experiments,
materials, equipment,
and step-by-step procedures.
What else should be included before the experiment can
be started? (1.) a set of data
(2.) a conclusion based on data (3.) safety precautions to be
used (4.) an inference based on
results
16. A student measures his pulse rate while he is watching television and
records it. Next, he walks to a friend’s house nearby and when he arrives,
measures and records his pulse rate again. He and his friend then decide to run
to the mall a few blocks away. On arriving at the mall, the student measures and
records his pulse rate once again. Finally, after sitting and talking for
a half hour, the student measures and records his pulse rate for the last time.
Which graph below best illustrates the expected changes in his pulse rate
according to the activities described above?
[True/False Section]
1. Different individuals may have different average
resting pulse rates.
2. The same individual rarely has a different resting
pulse rate at different times during the
day.
3. The collection of data can help scientists to answer
questions they have proposed.
4. Pulse rate tends to increase under physical or
emotional stress.
5. A decrease in the concentration of lactic acid in
the muscles produces muscle fatigue.
6. An increase in activity may produce muscle fatigue.
7. A procedure is an intellectual prediction of the
possible outcome of an experiment or a solution
to the problem.
8. A hypothesis can be of great value, even if it is not
correct.
9. Communicating your results with other individuals is known
as peer review.
10. Peer review may occur through scientific journals,
presentations, or via the internet.
11. Peer review is an unimportant part of the scientific method.
[Short Answer Section]
Use the information below and your knowledge of the scientific method gained in
completing the making connections lab to answer the questions which follow.
Some researchers have proposed that doing 50 jumping jacks prior to squeezing a
clothespin will increase the rate that that individual can squeeze a clothespin
in one minute. Other researchers dispute this claim.
1. Correctly state the problem being debated in this research.
Remember this needs to be in
the form of a question.
2. Using the correct format for stating a hypothesis,
correctly state a hypothesis for this experiment.
3. Design a procedure using a minimum of five steps
which could test this proposal.
4. Explain what is meant by the independent variable.
5. What is the independent variable in this experiment?
6. Explain what is meant by the dependent variable.
7. What is the dependent variable in this experiment?
8. Explain what is meant by a control.
9. What is the control in this experiment?
10. State or present data which will support your hypothesis for
this experiment.
11. Explain how the validity of the clothespin experiment could be
improved.
12. When a person exercises, changes occur in muscle cells as they
release more energy.
Explain how increased blood flow helps these muscle cells release more energy.
13. On a television talk show, a guest claims that people who
exercise vigorously for 15 minutes or more every day are able to solve math
problems more rapidly than people who have no vigorous exercise in their daily
routine.
Describe a controlled experiment that could be conducted to test this claim. In
your description be sure to:
• state the purpose of the experiment
• state why the sample to be used should be large
• describe how the experimental group will be treated and how the control
group will be treated
• state the specific data to be collected during the experiment
• state one way to determine if the results support the claim
Base your answers to questions 14 through 17 on the data table below and on
your knowledge of biology.
A group of students obtained the following data:
14. The activity of which body system was measured to obtain these data?
15. The activity of which other body system would be altered as a direct result
of the exercise?
16. What effect would exercise have on the system you identified in question 15?
17. Explain how this change in pulse rate helps maintain homeostasis in muscle
cells.
18. A student hypothesizes that the pulse rate of a person and
background music that is playing are related. The student designs
an experiment to test this hypothesis.
Identify the independent variable, dependent variable, and control
for this experiment.
Base your answers to questions 19 and 20 on the information below and on your
knowledge of biology.
A student squeezes and releases a clothespin as often as possible for 2 minutes
and then takes his pulse for 20 seconds. After a 2-minute rest, he repeats the
procedure. This pattern is repeated one more time.
The student’s 20-second pulse counts were 23, 26, and 21.
19. Complete the “Pulse/Min” column in the data table below for all three
trials as well as the average pulse rate per minute.
20. What additional data should the student have collected in order to determine
the effect of squeezing a clothespin on his pulse rate?
Link to the quiz answers