Biology Test Preparation Practice

    Developing Possible Solutions

    NGSS: HS-LS2-7
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    Base your answer to question 6 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    In China, farmers switched from growing conventional cotton, which required spraying with insecticides 15 times each year, to a genetically modified cotton variety called Bt cotton. The Bt cotton produces a protein toxic to the insects that destroy the cotton crop. Since the switch to Bt cotton, the use of chemical insecticides has decreased by 60%.

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    Base your answer to question 9-12 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Environmentalists and public health experts are warning the public about some chemicals that they come in contact with daily, such as PBDEs and phthalates. PBDEs are used to make children’s clothing flame retardant and phthalates are used to manufacture many plastic bottles, toys, and cosmetics. Both of these chemicals accumulate in the body and endanger health.

    In one family tested, the young children had PBDE levels seven times that of their parents. These levels were two to three times the levels that caused thyroid problems in animals. Animal studies have shown that phthalates cause reproductive defects. Even at low levels, phthalates may contribute to infertility and impaired testes in males. Both chemicals can cause nervous system damage.

    Biomonitoring is a technology used to test for levels of industrial chemicals found in the body. The technology is less than ten years old, but results from animal studies led some countries to ban PBDEs in 2004.

    Presently, the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) does not require chemical manufacturers to conduct human toxicity studies prior to approval for use. If concerns regarding risk or exposure arise during the approval process, the EPA can ask for additional testing. Additional testing occurs for approximately 10 percent of the new chemicals submitted each year. The EPA has also set up voluntary testing programs with major chemical manufacturers to rate some of the 3,000 most widely used chemicals.

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    Base your answer to question 13-16 on the information and graph below and on your knowledge of biology.

    At an observatory in Mauna Loa, Hawaii, scientists have been measuring and collecting data related to changes in the atmosphere since the 1950s. The remote location of the observatory makes it ideal for studying atmospheric conditions that can cause climate change. One specific measurement taken is the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Information for a 7-year period is shown in the graph below.

    human influences on the environment, human influences on the Earth's resources, human influences on the environment, human influences on basic processes of natural ecosystems, human influences on the environment, human influences on global stabilities of ecosystems, human influences on the environment, human efforts on reverse of the damage to ecosystems fig: lenv12013-exam_g27.png

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    Base your answer to question 17 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Bisphenol-A (BPA), is an industrial chemical commonly added to disposable, plastic water bottles to make them sturdier. BPA has been shown to inhibit the development of tadpoles into frogs. Some tadpoles exposed to high levels of BPA develop into frogs without legs. Others, when exposed to the chemical as tadpoles, fail to reabsorb their tails and thus grow into frogs with significantly long tails.

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    Base your answers to questions 19 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    New York State relies on natural gas for 24% of its energy supply. It is estimated that large deposits of natural gas are located in New York State. It is possible to extract the gas via high-volume hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking). Hydrofracking involves freeing the natural gas by using a large amount of water treated with chemicals, which produces large quantities of waste products. Some people are in favor of hydrofracking, while others are against it. One side is concerned about the negative effect it will have on the environment. The other side points out the potential benefits it might provide.

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    Base your answers to questions 20 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Mosquito Technologies of New York, Inc., has developed a Mosquito Killing System (MKS) to help control the mosquito population and reduce the transmission of West Nile Virus. The MKS works by taking advantage of the natural hunting strategies of mosquitoes, such as heat sensing and carbon dioxide detection. Beneficial insects do not use the same hunting strategies. The MKS unit produces heat and releases carbon dioxide in cycles, mimicking the breathing and body temperatures of humans, pets, and other warm-blooded animals. This attracts the mosquitoes to the device and, once inside, a vacuum pulls them in, where they pass through an electrocution grid, killing them. The mosquito remains are then returned to the environment through the bottom of the unit.

    The unit contains a solar-powered photocell that turns the device on at dusk and turns it off at dawn.

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    Base your answers to questions 21 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.

    Solid Waste Management Act of 1988

    In the Solid Waste Management Act of 1988, the New York State legislature established our State Solid Waste Management Policy. The solid waste management priorities in New York State are:

    (a) first, to reduce the amount of solid waste generated; (b) second, to reuse material for the purpose for which it was originally intended or to

    recycle material that cannot be reused; (c) third, to recover, in an environmentally acceptable manner, energy from solid waste

    that can not be economically and technically reused or recycled; and (d) fourth, to dispose of solid waste that is not being reused, recycled or from which

    energy is not being recovered, by land burial or other methods approved by the department.

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