1. Biology Week 2015 Quiz Answers Ages 13-15
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2. TRUE/FALSE: Elderly people have more taste buds than younger people…
Question 1
(1)
TRUE/FALSE: Elderly people have more taste buds than younger people…
FALSE
Children have the most taste buds, which may explain why they are more sensitive and tend to be fussier about what they eat.
Contributed by The Physiology Society

3. Which is the largest part of the human brain –
Question 2
(1)
Which is the largest part of the human brain –
the cerebrum/cerebral cortex or the cerebellum?
The cerebrum/cerebral cortex
This part is further divided into four lobes and is associated with ‘higher’ brain functions such as memory, speech, problem solving, emotions, orientation and recognition.

4. Which animal uses the ‘waggle dance’ as a form of communication?
Question 3
(1)
Which animal uses the ‘waggle dance’ as a form of communication?
Answer: b) Honey bee
It uses a complicated, choreographed routine in order to share information and even specific directions to hive members as to the location of a food source or potential nest site.
Cat
Honey bee
Elephant
Ladybird
Eel
Biology Challenge

5. The wolf, water, zebra and swamp are species of what sort of animal?
Question 4
(1)
The wolf, water, zebra and swamp are species of what sort of animal?
Beetle
Fish
Spider
Orchid
Answer: c) Spider
There are about 40,000 known species of spiders in the world.
Biology Challenge

6. What is the scientific study of plants known as?
Question 5
(1)
What is the scientific study of plants known as?
Botany
Botanists currently study around 400,000 species of plants worldwide and botanical research has wide-reaching implications for food production, forestry, construction and environmental management.

7. Question 6
(1)
What do a fruit fly, a worm, a bacterium, a mouse and a frog all have in common?
They are examples of 'model organisms' - creatures that biologists use to study how cells work.
Model organisms tend to be easy to genetically manipulate, have a sequenced genome, have a short lifespan and are usually small and cheap to care for. (Also accept - they have DNA eukaryotic cells).
Contributed by the Biochemical Society

8. What is the normal internal body temperature of a human?
Question 7
(1)
What is the normal internal body temperature of a human?
35 °C
37 °C
39 °C
Answer: b) 37.0 °C
The average internal body temperature of a person varies during the day by about 0.5 °C and can change according to the time of day, activity levels and whether the individual is tired, sick, hungry or cold.

9. Who discovered penicillin, and how?
Question 8
(2)
Who discovered penicillin, and how?
Alexander Flemming
He accidently discovered penicillin in 1928 when he noticed a mould growing on a agar plate culture that had a bacteria-free circle around it, indicating its inhibitive properties. It was the work of Howard Florey and Ernst Chain who developed mass production of penicillin as a drug.
The three shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in ‘Physiology or Medicine’.
Contributed by the Biochemical Society

10. How many species of whale are there in the world?
Question 9
How many species of whale are there in the world? 
(1)
10-30
30-70
70-100
Answer: c)
This includes all three whale (cetacean) groups: porpoises, dolphins and whales.
Contributed by the Marine Biological Association

11. Question 10
(5)
A shoal of fish… a gaggle of geese… a colony of ants… Name the following animal groups:
A … of rhinoceroses
A … of owls
A … of porcupines
A … of mice
A … of bears
A CRASH of rhinoceroses
A PARLIAMENT of owls
A PRICKLE of porcupines
A MISCHIEF of mice
A SLEUTH of bears

12. Question 11
(1)
DNA contains two strands that wrap round each other in a double-helix. Does normal DNA spiral round to the right or left as you look down it?
Right-handed helix
Left-handed helices have been produced experimentally and may be present in living cells however.
Contributed by the Biochemical Society

13. Energy storage and form static structures such as cellulose and chitin
Question 12
(4)
Match the biological macromolecule to the function it serves in the cell.
Protein/polypeptide
Lipid
Nucleic acid
Polysaccharide
Form enzymes, involved with cell signalling and form structural components
Energy storage and form static structures such as cellulose and chitin
Main component in cell membanes, involved with cell signalling and energy storage
Genetic storage unit

14. What type of animal are the following famous on-screen characters?
Question 13
(5)
What type of animal are the following famous on-screen characters?
Beethoven
Sven
Nermal
Sonic
Charlotte
– St Bernard dog, Beethoven film
– Reindeer, Frozen
– Tabby cat, Garfield
– Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog
– Spider, Charlotte’s Web

15. How many years ago did the dodo go extinct?
Question 14
(1)
How many years ago did the dodo go extinct?
350 years ago
Evolving without the presence of predators, the dodo was fearless of humans and unable to fly.
As such it was easy prey when humans arrived on the island of Mauritius, the location to which it was endemic.

16. Which of the following cannot be seen under a light microscope?
Question 15
(1)
Which of the following cannot be seen under a light microscope?
Virus
Bacterium
Cell
Answer: a) Virus
Light microscopes use visible light and a series of lenses in order to magnify a sample and observe finer detail not detectable to the naked eye.
Light microscopes cannot detect viruses as these microscopic organisms are smaller than the wavelength of visible light.
Contributed by the Society for Applied Microbiology

17. Where are blood cells made?
Question 16
(1)
Where are blood cells made?
Bone marrow
Bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells, which can differentiate into three classes of blood cells.
White blood cells (leukocytes) which are involved in the body’s immune response to pathogens, red blood cells (erythrocytes) which supply the body with oxygen and platelets (thrombocytes), involved in the clotting process, are all formed from bone marrow.
Contributed by The Physiology Society

18. TRUE/FALSE: You can find seaweed in your toothpaste…
Question 17
(1)
TRUE/FALSE: You can find seaweed in your toothpaste…
TRUE
A type of red seaweed called Chondrus crispus is found in toothpaste.
It is used as natural stabiliser.
Contributed by the Marine Biological Association

19. Label the diagram of the human eye.
Question 18
(5)
Label the diagram of the human eye.
Optic nerve
Retina
Cornea
Lens
Iris

20. A jellyfish is composed of how much water? 35% 65% 95%
Question 19
(1)
A jellyfish is composed of how much water?
35%
65%
95%
Answer: c) 95%
Only 5% of a jellyfish is made up of solid matter, the rest is water.
Composed of three simple layers and a basic nervous system in the form of a nerve net, the jellyfish is seemingly graceful and beautiful in the water, responding to stimuli in their environment such as light.

21. Which animal would Sir David Attenborough most like to be? Seahorse
Question 20
(1)
Which animal would Sir David Attenborough most like to be?
Seahorse
Sloth
Slow worm
Siberian tiger
Salamander
Answer: b) Sloth
In a Royal Society of Biology interview, when asked this question, Attenborough replied a sloth, so he could enjoy “hanging around upside down, wanting nothing but another chew on a leaf”.
Video:

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