MBG 110 Introduction to Modern Biology Zoom Midterm Exam

 Midterm exam is administered via Zoom. It is a pencil-paper exam. Moodle will not be used. Official start time: 10:30 am. Enter rooms around 10 am.
 Students will be able to see Zoom information at 9:30 am or earlier in SRS on the exam date. Exam will last 2 hours + some extra time.
 You should complete exam registration procedure as instructed by the University before initiating the exam. Read relevant e-mails again if needed.
 You will need a stable uninterrupted internet connection, a laptop/desktop computer with camera and microphone capabilities for exam.
 A secondary camera is not needed. However, if your main computer camera stops, you may switch to cell phone/table/secondary computer camera.
Otherwise, no cell phone usage is allowed during writing part of the exam. Once you use you cell phone to take pictures, your exam is over.
 From start to finish, students should have their camera and microphone on all time. You should be visible to the camera all the time. Your face should not
leave camera view. Leaving exam area is not permitted. Do not mute yourself. Place your mirror on a location to increase spatial surveillance of camera.
 Before exam start, students and proctors can get accustomed to computer, camera, and microphone set-up; arrange their desk and chair, make their papers,
pencils, calculator, water bottle etc. ready. You may ask for instructions if anything is unclear. Failure to obey exam rules may cause grade reduction.
 Students should show their cheat sheet and university ID to proctors before exam starts. Put your mask down if you have it while doing that.
 You may have an A4/letter size hand prepared cheat sheet. You may use both sides. Proctors will check your cheat sheet for compliance before exam start.
 Proctors might ask you to show your desk, room, sheets and your surroundings anytime during exam. Do not cover your face or mouth with your hands.
 You may use a calculator during exam. It needs to be a stand-alone machine, not your cell phone or laptop/desktop computer.
 Every student should take the exam separately. If 2 or more students are in the same area, they should not communicate in any manner and sit as far away
from each other as possible. Communication with another person other than proctor in any form should be avoided too.
 Instructors will visit rooms and you may ask a question about the exam to them. Proctors will not be allowed to answer your exam questions.
 Exam consists of 10 questions totaling 100 exam points, which correspond to 30% of course grade. There is no optional/extra question in the exam.
 10 Exam questions are organized in separate groups (5+5), 1 per instructor. Only 1 group will be shown on Zoom screen in landscape format at any time. You
will be initially given 40-50 minutes per group. Afterwards, the screen will change into next exam question group.
 You are asked to write your answers to a single separate A4/letter size white paper per group. This means, you will need only 2 papers with only single side
to write down your answers. Questions are designed so that you do not need any more space than that. This means pen usage is not advised.
 Write your name-surname-ID-department-section number on each sheet. You may do so before exam start to save time.
 After all exam questions are shown for their required duration (80-100 min), you have the opportunity to go back to previous question group if you need.
You will need to ask proctor which group should be shown on screen. Communicate with proctor to switch visible questions back and forth during this time.
 After 2 hours and some extra time is over based on your needs, then exam writing part will come to an end. You may then take your cell phone and start
taking pictures of your answers. You need only 1 well-lit clearly visible picture per your answer sheet. You may use a Smartphone App like CamScanner.
 Turn your camera flash off to avoid excessive light on the sheet. Make sure your picture is in focus and your answers are clearly seen.
 If you have cheat sheet, picture both sides of that sheet lastly. You should have a total of 2 to 4 pictures at the end of the procedure.
 You may retake pictures to get the best visibility. Once all appropriately taken pictures are ready, send them to the system as instructed by University.
 At the end of the exam, every student should check if their files are received. Ask proctors and instructors to be sure your file is uploaded and all is OK.
 E-mail address to send your initial selfie and your answers: [email protected]. You may receive a confirmation e-mail after sending your files.
 If you finish exam earlier than the rest, the procedure is the same for you. You may not leave Zoom exam room before 11:15 am.
 Question Points: Part1: Q1: 10, Q2: 10, Q3: 10, Q4: 10, Q5: 10 Part 2: Q6: 10, Q7: 7, Q8: 6, Q9: 12, Q10: 15 Total: 100 pts
Q1) Every day the land heats much faster than the sea, and every night the land cools faster. When the land heats up, the air above it heats up as
well. On the other hand, the ocean heats up and cools down relatively slowly. Therefore, areas near the ocean generally stay cooler during the day
and have a more moderate temperature range than inland areas. Briefly explain why is the air temperature along the coast generally milder than
the air temperature of inland areas in the same regions? (10 pts)

Heat must be absorbed to break hydrogen bonds, and heat is released when hydrogen bonds form. Thus, water absorbs a large amount of heat
while warming up only a few degrees. Conversely, when water cools, water molecules slow down and more hydrogen bonds form, releasing a
considerable amount of heat. Earth’s giant water supply moderates temperatures, helping to keep temperatures within limits that permit life.
Heat given off from gradually cooling water warms the air. That’s why coastal areas generally have milder climates than inland regions.

Q2) Fats are large lipids which are a diverse group of molecules that are classified together because they share one trait: They do not mix well with
water. Why are fats insoluble in water? Explain it by describing the structure of a fat molecule briefly. (10 pts)

A fat molecule has 3 fatty acids connected to a glycerol molecule. A fatty acid consists of a carboxyl group (the functional group that gives these
molecules the name fatty acid, —COOH) and a hydrocarbon chain, usually 16 or 18 carbon atoms in length. The nonpolar C—H bonds in the
hydrocarbon chains are the reason fats are hydrophobic. Fats are insoluble in water because they are hydrophobic and do not have any polar
bonds.
Q3) What organelles are likely to be present in greater abundance in a cell that is secreting a large amount of protein (e.g., an antibody-secreting
plasma cell) than in a cell secreting very little protein (e.g., a skin cell)? (10 pts)
Ribosome / Rough ER / Golgi Apparatus / Mitochondria or Chloroplast (for energy)
Secreted proteins must be formed at ribosomes that are attached to the rough ER. The protein product is then able to enter the lumen of the
rough ER where it is marked for transport to the Golgi apparatus. In the Golgi apparatus, the protein is further packaged and marked for its final
destination outside the cell.
Q4) A chromosome entering meiosis is composed of two chromatids, each of which is a double-stranded DNA molecule.
a. In our species, at the end of meiosis I, how many chromosomes are there per cell? How many chromatids? How many DNA strands? 23, 46,
92
b. At the end of meiosis II, how many chromosomes are there per cell? How many chromatids? How many DNA strands? 23, 23, 46
c. When is the diploid chromosome number restored in our species? At fertilization. When is the two-chromatid structure of a typical
metaphase chromosome restored in our species? At S phase of the next cell cycle.
Q5) Within the human body, meiosis occurs repeatedly as the testes or ovaries produce gametes. In the occasional mishap of cases, the process
occurs with errors. (10 pts)

a. What is the main cause of numerical chromosome abnormalities in human? Non-disjunction in meiosis I or II.
b. How can reciprocal translocation be associated with a disease? In chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), an exchange of a portion of Chr
22 happens with a fragment from the tip of Chr 9. A shortened Chr 22 is produced. It causes cancer by creating a fused gene that leads to
uncontrolled cell division.

Another answer could be translocation breakpoint could be from the intragenic region so disrupts/breaks/truncates a disease-causing
gene.

Q6) Energy enters biomass of ecosystems from the sun. It later exits the biomass of ecosystems. Indicate A) these energy types, B) how producers
process energy differently than consumer and decomposers, C) explain why biomass entering energy is greater than the biomass exiting energy
level. Ignore physical loss of energy such as reflection from surfaces. You may use drawings and labels to help with explanations. (10 pts)
Incoming energy type from the sun to ecosystem biomass: Light energy
Outgoing energy type from the ecosystem biomass to rest of the universe: Heat/thermal energy
Difference in energy processing and ecosystem entry/exit level: Light energy is converted to chemical energy used to form organic molecules in
photosynthesis by producers and then that chemical energy is used by consumers and decomposers as food. Chemical conversions
between/within organisms create heat.
Q7) In a hypothetical habitat, background color and beetle color vary between black and white. After observing the correlation between beetle and
background colors, A) form a scientific hypothesis and B) explain how you can quantitatively test it by introducing same species of beetles of with
black and white colors to these backgrounds and elaborate on the expected outcome of tests. (7 pts)
Hypothesis: Beetles use camouflage and the same matching color as their background hides them from predators.
Test and Expected Outcome: Introduce beetles that match or contrast the background color and observe their numbers. White beetle numbers
should go down in black background and vice versa. While matching color beetles might survive longer and have a higher number after same
duration.
Q8) During earlier days of Covid-19, surgical masks were scarce and authorities were asking the public not to buy them to leave enough for medical
personnel while claiming that they do not help much against the disease. Later, it was found that mask usage can significantly reduce disease
transmission rate in populations and its usage was mandated. A) Explain this contradictory shift in public health advice in terms of how the process
of science moves forward. B) Give an example of how science and technology is connected in the fight against Covid-19. (6 pts)
Process of science moving forward: Results may lead to revision of the original hypotheses or formation of alternate ones. Scientists share
information with others and revise their claims in view of new data.
Science-technology connection example: Scientific findings show that Covid-19 symptoms include fever. People have started to use thermal
cameras to check body temperatures.
Q9) A) Khabib studies cytoskeletal components of eukaryotic cells. He has 3 drugs that each disrupt and destroy a separate classification of
cytoskeletal fibers when given to cells. When drug A is given to human liver cells, their cell nucleus is disrupted even though they are in G-zero (G0)
phase. Drug B prevents an amoeba from moving on a surface. Drug C stops vesicular transport in an egg cell and flagella movement of a sperm cell.
Indicate which drug targets which cytoskeletal component. B) Conor studies plant cells. He injects water with high sodium concentration to cells
located at the tip of a tree leaf. He later observes an increase of sodium concentration in all parts of the leaf. Explain why this happens. (12 pts)
Drug A: intermediate filaments. Drug B: microfilaments. Drug C: microtubules.
Leaf observation: Desmosomes connect plant cytoplasms and ions can pass through them and spread to all leaf cells.
A10) Dustin has 5 different types of human cells: A malignant lung cancer cell, a normal respiratory tract lung cell, a sperm cell, an intestinal
digestive tract cell, a ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) breast cell. He does not know which of the 5 cell sources (labeled as A, B, C, D, E) is which due
to loss of relevant lab records. He knows the following information about these cell labels: Cell A formed tight junctions with neighboring cells in
the human body of origin. Cell B was detected via a mammogram in the human body of origin and removed via mastectomy. Cell C contains cilia
tasked with mucus removal in the human body of origin. Cell D is missing an autosome and has 22 chromosomes in total. Cell E caused metastasis
in the human body of origin even though it was not supposed to be a mobile cell. Match the cell labels with the most plausible cell types. (15 pts)
A: Intestinal digestive tract cell. B: DCIS breast cell. C: Normal respiratory tract lung cell. D: Sperm cell. E: Lung cancer cell.