General Science Seminar
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
The General Science Seminar is an interdisciplinary course designed to introduce students to current topics, research methods, and ethical considerations across various scientific fields. Through presentations, discussions, and collaborative activities, students engage with contemporary scientific issues, develop critical thinking skills, and strengthen their abilities to communicate scientific concepts effectively. The course encourages exploration of real-world applications of science and provides opportunities to interact with guest speakers and experts, fostering a broader understanding of the scientific enterprise.
Recommended Textbook
Life in the Universe 3rd Edition by Jeffrey O. Bennett
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12 Chapters
1027 Verified Questions
1027 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/3825 Page 2
Chapter 2: The Science of Life in the Universe
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76322
Sample Questions
Q1) Copernicus
A) provided strong observational evidence that the Earth moved about the Sun
B) proved that the orbital shapes of the planets were ellipses and not circles
C) was the first person to suggest the Earth moved around the Sun
D) revived Aristarchus's suggestion of a Sun-centered solar system and described it mathematically
Answer: D
Q2) Johannes Kepler
A) developed a theory of gravity to explain the motions of the planets
B) obtained the first observational evidence suggesting the Earth moved about the Sun
C) made detailed measurements of the motions of the planets in the sky
D) showed that the orbits of the planets were ellipses and not circles
Answer: D
Q3) The possibility of extraterrestrial life was first considered
A) after the invention of the telescope
B) only during the past few decades
C) many thousands of years ago during ancient times
D) at the turn of the 20th century
Answer: C
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Page 3
Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) How does the wavelength (in a vacuum) of a high-frequency electromagnetic wave compare with a low-frequency electromagnetic wave?
A) it is impossible to tell because frequency and wavelength are not related
B) the lower-frequency wave has the longer wavelength because frequency and wavelength are inversely proportional to each other
C) the two waves have the same wavelength because the wavelengths of all electromagnetic waves are the same
D) the higher-frequency wave has the longer wavelength because frequency and wavelength are directly proportional to each other
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following sequence of electromagnetic radiations is in order of increasing wavelength?
A) radio, infrared, UV, gamma ray
B) gamma ray, UV, radio, microwave
C) X-ray, visible, infrared, radio
D) UV, infrared, visible, microwave
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: The Habitability of Earth
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135 Verified Questions
135 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76320
Sample Questions
Q1) Analysis of rocks returned from the lunar maria during the Apollo program suggest they formed
A) during the period of early bombardment constituting the first few hundred million years of the Earth's history
B) fairly recently during the last million years or so
C) roughly 65 million years ago
D) between 3.9 and 3.0 billion years ago
Q2) Plate boundary faults occur where plates are
A) colliding
B) forming
C) separating
D) sliding past each other
Q3) On the surfaces of which terrestrial planets is plate tectonics observed?
A) Earth, Venus, and Mars
B) on all of the terrestrial planets
C) Earth and Venus
D) only on the Earth
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Chapter 5: The Nature of Life on Earth
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76319
Sample Questions
Q1) All organisms have finite lifetimes and must eventually die. Which of the basic characteristics of life corrects for this?
A) energy utilization
B) response to the environment
C) evolutionary adaptation
D) reproduction
Q2) Perhaps the most fundamental role that enzymes play in living cells is
A) attacking foreign bodies like bacteria and viruses
B) carrying oxygen across cell membranes
C) facilitating the replication of DNA and the reading of the genetic code
D) the breaking down of more complex molecules
Q3) Organisms that are found living kilometers beneath Earth's crust are referred to as
A) asthenophiles
B) magmaphiles
C) sublithophiles
D) endoliths
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Chapter 6: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76318
Sample Questions
Q1) Organisms far from each other on the "Tree of Life"
A) are genetically very similar
B) are genetically very different
C) look very similar to the eye
D) are genetically identical
Q2) The layered colonies of microbes found in western Australia that resemble some of the Earth's earliest living organisms are called
A) living stromatolites
B) microfossils
C) zircons
D) protocorals
Q3) What is one piece of evidence that some organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts within eukaryotes used to be independent prokaryotes that were incorporated into eukaryotic cells?
A) prokaryotes are seen incorporating into cells today
B) organelles float around independently inside eukaryotic cells
C) the DNA inside organelles is not made of the same four bases as the DNA in the host cells
D) they have their own DNA and reproduce independently of the host cell
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Page 7
Chapter 7: Searching for Life in Our Solar System
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56 Verified Questions
56 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76317
Sample Questions
Q1) Mars may have been more Earth-like in the past because
A) its atmosphere was thicker
B) it was rotating more rapidly
C) the Sun was dimmer, putting out less solar radiation
D) it was not as close to the Sun
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a basic requirement for chemically based life?
A) a liquid medium to transport biological molecules
B) a source of molecules from which to build living cells
C) oxygen from photosynthesis
D) a source of energy to fuel metabolism
Q3) The planet Saturn is approximately 10 times farther away from the Sun than the Earth is. Given this, how much sunlight does it receive compared to the Earth?
A) 1/1,000th
B) 1/10,000th
C) 1/100th
D) 1/10th
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Chapter 8: Mars
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90 Verified Questions
90 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76316
Sample Questions
Q1) Why is the possible contamination of the Earth by Martian microbes in a future sample return mission not considered to be a significant problem?
A) Martian microbes will certainly be destroyed by terrestrial microbes
B) any Martian microbes will be destroyed by high-energy particles and radiation on their trip back to Earth
C) Martian microbes will be rapidly destroyed by oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere
D) Martian microbes are likely to be quite different than terrestrial microbes and, hence, will probably not be able to affect life on Earth
Q2) What field of science are the experiments on the two Mars Exploration Rovers most closely related to?
A) physics
B) biology
C) geology
D) astronomy
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Chapter 9: Life on Jovian Moons
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54 Verified Questions
54 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76315
Sample Questions
Q1) When the Huygens probe touched down on Titan, it landed
A) in a vast ocean of liquid methane
B) on a solid surface of frozen water and methane ices that resembled a streambed
C) in a shallow pool of liquid methane
D) on the slopes of an icy volcano covered with water and methane ice
Q2) In addition to being the second-largest moon in the solar system, Saturn's moon Titan, is
A) the only moon to have its own internal magnetic field
B) the only moon to have its own atmosphere
C) more geologically active than the Earth
D) the only moon to show evidence for a subsurface ocean of water
Q3) Most of the smallest Jovian moons are most likely
A) captured asteroids and comets
B) captured objects from outside the solar system
C) small clumps of gas left over from the formation of the host planet
D) fragments of other moons
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Chapter 10: The Nature and Evolution of Habitability
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76314
Sample Questions
Q1) If we allow for moisture loss due to a moist greenhouse effect, the inner boundary of the Sun's habitable zone would be
A) just inside the orbit of the Earth
B) roughly halfway between the orbits of Venus and Mercury
C) roughly halfway between the orbits of the Earth and Venus
D) just outside the orbit of the planet Mercury
Q2) The term "global warming" refers to an increase in the average temperature
A) at the poles
B) at the equator
C) of the ozone layer
D) of the planet as a whole
Q3) When the Sun becomes a red giant
A) some life on Earth may still be able to survive on the surface
B) life will probably not be able to survive even beneath the surface
C) life may still be able to survive in the atmosphere
D) the Earth will be destroyed
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11
Chapter 11: Habitability Outside the Solar System
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100 Verified Questions
100 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the least common class of star in our galaxy?
A) A-type
B) M-type
C) O-type
D) G-type
Q2) Which of the following extrasolar planets would be easiest to detect using the Doppler shift method?
A) a massive planet far from its parent star
B) a low mass planet far from its parent star
C) a low mass planet close to its parent star
D) a massive planet close to its parent star
Q3) Red giants
A) are mature stars that are fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores
B) are dead stars
C) have exhausted their nuclear fuel and are in the process of dying
D) are in the process of forming
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12
Chapter 12: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
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76 Verified Questions
76 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/76312
Sample Questions
Q1) Any reply to a detected SETI signal should
A) be decided upon by the group of scientists who first detected the signal
B) be decided upon by the government of the country who first detected the signal
C) be sent immediately as a signal is received
D) represent a consensus of the Earth's population
Q2) The organisms with the highest Encephalization Quotient (EQ) ratios are
A) whales
B) dolphins
C) chimps
D) humans
Q3) Which factor in the modified Drake equation may well turn out to be the primary factor in determining the current number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy?
A) N<sub>hp</sub>, the number of habitable planets in our galaxy
B) f<sub>civ</sub>, fraction of life-bearing planets where intelligent civilizations have at some time arisen
C) f<sub>now</sub>, fraction of civilization-bearing planets that have intelligent civilizations on them now
D) f<sub>life</sub>, fraction of life-bearing habitable planets
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13
Chapter 13: Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox
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66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When an electron collides with a positron producing a pair of high gamma rays, we call this process
A) pair production
B) matter obliteration
C) photodisintegration
D) annihilation
Q2) Particles of matter and antimatter have the
A) same charge and mass
B) same charge but different mass
C) different charge and mass
D) same mass but opposite charge
Q3) The main practical problem associated with building an interstellar ramjet is
A) making the ship large enough to scoop up enough hydrogen fuel given that the density of hydrogen in space is so low
B) producing enough thrust to accelerate the spacecraft to a high enough speed
C) separating the matter and antimatter fuels from each other
D) receiving enough photon energy to propel the craft
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