Chapter 1—An Introduction to the Science of Botany Key
1. In 2006, the human population of the world exceeded ____ people.
2. Plants provide …
3. Current evidence indicates the earliest fossilized cells are approximately ____ years old.
4. The study of plant structures is called …
5. The study of the evolutionary relationships among plant groups is …
6. Botany, the scientific study of plants. is also known as …
7. Which of the following is the basic functional and structural building block of living things?
8. ____ are groups of cells organized into associations that perform specific functions.
9. A population is …
10. Which level of biological organization includes organisms and their nonliving environment?
11. Photosynthesis converts ____ energy into ____ energy in plants.
12. Cellular respiration requires …
13. Which of the following is a waste product of photosynthesis?
14. A plant placed on a windowsill will bend toward the outside light. This is an example of a plant …
15. The life of an oak tree begins with an acorn. This acorn falls to the ground and germinates. The young
seedling becomes established in the soil and grows into a sapling. Eventually, the oak tree is mature and starts
producing acorns. This sequence of events is known as …
16. The process by which organisms adapt to their environment over time is …
17. All organisms have a genetic system based on …
18. Adaptations may involve changes in …
19. The most fundamental distinction in the living world is that between …
20. The organisms of which Kingdom obtain their nutrients by secreting digestive enzymes into food substance
in their environment, then absorbing the predigested nutrients?
21. The kingdom Protista contains:
22. The Kingdom Fungi contains …
23. Which of the following kingdoms is NOT in the domain Eukarya?
24. The largest of the following taxonomic categories is …
25. Who devised the binomial system of nomenclature?
26. The binomial Quercus rubra refers to …
27. Which of the following is the correct way to write the scientific name for the garden pea?
28. What does a scientist do with a hypothesis?
29. You want to know what fertilizer will allow you to grow the largest tomatoes. You purchase two different
fertilizers. You start applying each fertilizer, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, to two separate
groups of tomato plants. What is missing from your experiment?
30. The following activities are part of the scientific method. What is the last step usually followed by
scientists?
31. A scientific ____ is a hypothesis that is supported by a great quantity of data and numerous observations.
32. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
33. People in highly developed countries use a disproportionately large share of natural resources compared to
people in lesser developed countries.
34. Most plants have been studied and their usefulness is understood.
35. Because the area of botany is so broad, botanists specialize in a particular area of botany.
36. Another name for the science of botany is plant taxonomy.
38. Although other organisms grow and develop, plants only grow.
39. Animals, but not plants, can respond to stimuli.
40. Carbohydrates are important products of photosynthesis.
41. Sexual reproduction involves the union of gametes, and asexual reproduction does not.
42. Genes are the units of heredity information in an organism.
43. The fact that all bacteria lack nuclei is not considered an important difference from other organisms.
44. The kingdom Protista contains only unicellular organisms.
45. Phylum is a classification category that includes kingdoms.
46. Natural selection is the mechanism by which evolution works.
47. Variables are the factors that scientists change when conducting a set of experiments.
48. Deductive reasoning proceeds from specifics to generalities.
49. To the scientist, the word “theory” means an educated guess.
50. ____________________ is the scientific study of plants.
51. The study of the interrelationships among plants and between plants and their environment is called
____________________.
52. Molecules are built of ____________________ that are bonded together.
53. Structures within cells are called ____________________.
54. The ____________________ refers to all of Earth’s communities, collectively.
55. ____________________ refers to an increase in size and weight of an organism.
56. During ____________________ there is a transformation of the plant from being a juvenile to being an
adult.
57. ____________________ is the type of reproduction where an individual gives rise to a virtually identical
offspring, without the union of gametes.
58. During the process of ____________________, light energy is converted to chemical energy.
59. Food molecules are broken apart to obtain energy during the process of ____________________.
60. ____________________ are sequences of DNA that are hereditary units.
61. The ability of populations to change in response to changes in the environment is called
____________________.
62. The broadest classification category is the ____________________.
63. ____________________ are organisms that lack a nucleus and other organelles.
Prokaryotes or
64. The kingdom ____________________ contains single-celled and simple multicellular organisms.
65. The kingdom ____________________ contains multicellular organisms that almost always
photosynthesize.
66. The narrowest classification category is the ____________________.
67. The two parts of the scientific binomial (binomial system of nomenclature) are ____________________ and
____________________.
68. The basic units of information collected by scientists are called ____________________.
69. Scientists modify hypotheses and theories as new ____________________ become available.
70. The part of an experiment in which conditions are not altered is the ____________________.
71. The ____________________ reasoning process examines specifics and develops general concepts from
them.
72. Explain why the current decrease in biological diversity is a serious problem.
73. Botany is such a broad field that no botanist could study it all. Instead, botanists specialize in a particular
area. Name three areas of specialization and describe what is studied in each.
74. Describe the hierarchical organization of the living world, starting with the atom and ending with the
biosphere.
75. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are often described as being complementary reactions. Explain why
this is so.
76. Distinguish between asexual and sexual reproduction.
77. Plants can respond to stimuli from the environment. Give an example of a stimulus and the response that the
plant makes to the stimulus.
78. Why do biologists consider evolution to be the unifying theory of biology?
79. Describe the hierarchical system of classification.
80. Explain why scientific experiments must have a control.
81. Jane wants to know whether saltwater is harmful for plant growth. To test this, she will water five bean
plants every two days with saltwater. What should Jane use for her control group? Also, what variables should
she keep the same between these two groups of plants?
82. Distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning.