Name: _____________________________________ Date: ________________________

Regents Practice Questions for Unit Exam

Directions: Answer the questions below based on your knowledge of the Living Environment.
Record all answers in the space provided.

1. An experiment was carried out to determine how competition for living space affects plant height.
Different numbers of plants were grown in three pots, A, B, and C. All three pots were the same size. The
data collected are shown in the table below.

Analyze the experiment that produced the data shown in the table by:

a. Stating a hypothesis for the experiment:

*Remember: If________, then_________.

If competition for living space increases, then the plant height decreases.

b. Identifying one factor, other than pot size, that should have been kept the same in each experimental
group (constant):

amount of sunlight

c. Identifying the dependent variable: plant height

d. State whether the data supports or fails to support your hypothesis and justify your answer:

DEPENDS ON YOUR OWN HYPOTHESIS!

Supports: Pot A had the fewest plants and grew the most-16 mm. Pot C had the most plants and
grew the least- 8 mm.

2. A scientist wants to determine the best conditions for hatching brine shrimp
eggs. In a laboratory, brine shrimp hatch at room temperature in glass containers
of salt water. The concentration of salt in the water is known to affect how many
brine shrimp eggs will hatch. Design an experiment to determine which of three
saltwater concentrations (2%, 4%, or 6%) is best for hatching brine shrimp eggs.
In your experimental design, be sure to:

1
a. State how many containers to use in the experiment, and describe what would be added to each
container in addition to the eggs:

4 CONTAINERS: #1-2% saltwater concentration, #2- 4% saltwater concentration, #3- 6%

saltwater concentration, #4- CONTROL TANK: ocean water.

b. State two factors that must be kept constant in all the containers:

size of tank, amount of water, temperature of water, amount of eggs, etc…

c. State what data must be collected during this experiment:

amount of eggs that hatch

d. Describe a result that would indicate the best salt solution for hatching brine shrimp eggs:

The tank that has the most hatched eggs is the tank with the best salt solution.

3. The diagram below illustrates the result of growing a garlic bulb in a cup of distilled water over five
days.

Design an experiment consisting of a control and three different experimental groups to test the
prediction, “Garlic grows better as the salt concentration of the solution in which it is grown increases.” In
your answer, be sure to:
• describe the control to be used in the experiment
• state one type of measurement that should be made to determine if the prediction is accurate

 The control will be garlic grown in distilled water, or plain water without salt.

 You might measure the height of the leaf or the length or number of roots that sprout.

2
4. A television advertisement claims that a certain brand of cough drop reduces coughing for 8 hours.
Describe an investigation that could be used to determine if this claim is valid. In your answer, include at
least a description of:
• the treatment to be given to the experimental group
• the treatment to be given to the control group
• the data to be collected
• one observation that would lead to the conclusion that the claim is valid

 People in the experimental group will get the cough drop

 People in the control group will get a placebo(sugar pill)

 The data will be the amount of coughing that takes place over 8 hours.

 The people that take the cough drop would have reduced coughing over 8 hours.

Base your answers to questions 5 through 6 on the information and data table below and on your
knowledge of biology.

Onondaga Lake is a small lake located near Syracuse, New York. Industrialized municipal wastes have
been polluting the lake for decades. Eating fish from the lake has been banned due to mercury
concentrations in the fish. The data table below indicates the mercury concentrations in smallmouth bass
taken from Onondaga Lake. Smallmouth bass eat smaller fish, which feed on aquatic plants. At each
feeding level in the food chain, more mercury accumulates. The older and larger the fish, the greater the
concentration of mercury.

3
Directions (5–6): Using the information in the data table, construct a line graph on the grid below,
following the directions below.

5. Mark an appropriate scale, without any breaks in the data, on each labeled axis.
6. Plot the data on the grid. Surround each point with a small circle and connect the points.

7. A student, using a metric ruler, measured a larva as represented in the diagram below.

What is the length of the larva, in centimeters,

millimeters?

1.5cm 15mm

8. A student writes in a laboratory notebook:

I placed a piece of iron in a beaker of water and the iron sank to the bottom of the beaker.

What the student wrote in the laboratory notebook is an example of a(n)

(1) observation (2) prediction (3) inference (4) hypothesis

Base your answers to questions 9 and 10 on the graph and information below.

A group of science students have been learning how the human circulatory system reacts during exercise.
The students measured their heart rates both before and after they ran five laps around the school gym.
This was repeated two more times, with a 5-minute rest period between each trial. The average heart rates
of the students are shown in the bar graph.
4
 9. Use the data from the bar graph to complete the data table
below

72 124
76 134

82 146

10. State the general relationship between exercise and heart rate in humans.

Direct: As exercise increases, the heart rate increases.

11. A student attempted to find the volume of a piece of wood using water displacement. The diagram
below represents a graduated cylinder of water before and after the piece of wood was placed in it.

Explain why finding the amount of water displaced will not help the student find the correct volume of
this piece of wood.

The wood is not entirely covered by the water. In order to determine the volume of the wood, it
would have to be totally covered in water. Then, the increase in water level would equal the volume
of the wood.

5
12. The diagram below represents a person cooking eggs on a stove. The person has touched the hot
frying pan and pulled his hand away.

Which title is the best one for this diagram?

(1) A Human Requires Oxygen to Survive
(2) All Living Things Require Energy
(3) Metabolism is Influenced by Diet
(4) A Human Responds to a Stimulus

13. The graph below shows population data for one kind of insect over a 50-year period.

Which statement best describes the population of this insect over the
50-year period?
(1) It decreased steadily.
(2) It increased steadily.
(3) It remained constant.
(4) It followed a cyclic pattern.

14. A group of students conducted an experiment to test the hypothesis that radish plants watered with
acidic rainwater would not be as tall as radish plants watered with nonacidic rainwater. The students
planted two identical radish seeds in equal amounts of soil. One was watered with nonacidic rainwater,
and the other was watered with an equal amount of acidic rainwater. All other variables that would affect
plant growth were the same for both plants. The students measured the heights of the plants in
centimeters (cm).

Describe one way in which the students might improve the design of this experiment if it were repeated.
The students need to increase the sample size, having only two radish seeds is not an accurate
representation of the radish population’s response to changes in acidity.

6
Base your answer to question 15 on the diagram below and on your knowledge of biology.
The diagram represents the current percentage of each population by age and gender (male/female) for
two countries.

Approximately what percent of the population of Country A is less than 10 years old?
(1) 8% (2) 16% (3) 32% (4) 64%

Base your answers to questions 16 and 17 on the information and graphs below and on your knowledge of
biology.

The graphs show the relative enzymatic activity of four different enzymes in acidic (below pH 7) and
basic (above pH 7) environments.

7
16. Which enzyme would most likely function in the stomach? Support your answer.
Enzyme: Pepsin

The pH of the stomach is acidic (1.5–4.0), and pepsin works best at very low pH values.

17. The activity of which enzyme decreases in both acidic and basic environments?
(1) chymotrypsin (3) cholinesterase
(2) pepsin (4) papain

18. A group of students obtained the following data while trying to determine the effect of exercise on
pulse rate.

Which statement is an example of an

observation the students could have made?
(1) Pulse rates in beats per minute decrease
for all people after exercise.
(2) Student A most likely exercises regularly.
(3) The pulse rate of student C was
dangerously low.
(4) The pulse rate of student F increased by
30 beats per minute.