Released Items: Biology 30
Released Items: Biology 30
Released Items: Biology 30
Biology 30
Students
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2020
Please note that if you cannot access one of the direct website links referred to in this document, you can
find diploma examination-related materials on the Alberta Education website.
The blueprint summary on the following pages shows the keyed response, outcome classification
according to the program of studies, classification of cognitive level, and difficulty for each question.
An explanation of the cognitive levels can be found in the 2019-2020 Biology 30 Information Bulletin.
The percentage reported in the Difficulty column indicates the proportion of students who answered the
question correctly.
Additional Documents
Provincial Assessment supports the instruction of Biology 30 with the following documents and online
resources.
These documents contain information about administrations of the diploma examinations for the upcoming
school year, course clarifications, information about standards, sample questions, and assessment samples
for classroom use.
The Biology 30 Practice Tests contain questions from some previous diploma examinations and some
practice questions that have been released.
Keyed Cognitive
Question Answer(s) Outcome Level Difficulty (%)
Keyed Cognitive
Question Answer(s) Outcome Level Difficulty (%)
Keyed Cognitive
Question Answer(s) Outcome Level Difficulty (%)
Numerical Response
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
Some neurons have one or more types of potassium channels known as Kir2.1
in their membranes. The presence of these channels causes a greater-than-
normal number of potassium ions to diffuse out of the neuron.
Ottersen, Ole Petter. 2005. Neurobiology: Sculpted by competition. Nature 434, no. 7036 (April 21):
969. doi:10.1038/434969a.
2. Which of the following rows identifies two processes in neurons that could
account for the intensifying of sweetness when sugar is combined with flavour
modulators?
The enteric nervous system (ENS) plays an important role in the control of the
involuntary muscles of the digestive system, which are responsible for the
mechanical mixing of food.
3. Which of the following rows identifies the division of the nervous system in which
the neurons of the ENS are classified and identifies the type of neuron that
directly stimulates the muscles of the digestive system?
Numerical Response
2. Match each of the areas of the brain numbered in the diagram above with
its function, as given below.
Number:
Function: Control of Control of Control of Control of
muscle pituitary voluntary autonomic
coordination secretion activity nervous
activity
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
Laser eye surgery involves the use of a laser to remove small amounts of eye
tissue. In one type of laser eye surgery, vision is improved by reshaping the cornea.
5. Which of the following rows identifies the structure that is reshaped during the type
of laser eye surgery described above and best describes the function of the
structure identified?
Pendred syndrome is a genetic disorder that can result from the development of an
abnormal cochlea.
The Human Ear
6. The structure of the human ear that develops abnormally in a person with
Pendred syndrome is numbered
Babies are typically born between the 37th and the 42nd weeks of pregnancy.
Babies born before the 37th week are considered pre-term. Researchers studied
whether or not long-term stress in the mother was associated with pre-term births of
their babies. Women with the highest amount of stress in the forms of negative life
impacts and pregnancy-related anxiety throughout their pregnancies were found to
have the greatest risk of pre-term birth.
Dole, N., D. A. Savitz, I. Hertz-Picciotto, A. M. Siega-Riz, M. J. McMahon, and P. Buekens. 2003. Maternal stress and
preterm birth. American Journal of Epidemiology 157 (1): 14–24. doi:10.1093/aje/kwf176.
7. A woman who is at the greatest risk of pre-term birth would be expected to have
A. lower-than-normal levels of epinephrine, and her blood-glucose levels
would be higher than normal
B. lower-than-normal levels of cortisol, and her blood-glucose levels would
be lower than normal
C. higher-than-normal levels of epinephrine, and her blood-glucose levels
would be lower than normal
D. higher-than-normal levels of cortisol, and her blood-glucose levels would
be higher than normal
A student was asked to label the glands and hormones on a diagram representing the
hormonal control of cortisol release.
A. 1 and 2
B. 1 and 4
C. 2 and 3
D. 2 and 4
10. Which of the following rows describes the expected change in the level of
thyroxine and the resulting change in the level of TSH in a person whose diet
is deficient in iodine?
11. Which of the following rows identifies a hormone in which a person with
Hashimoto disease is expected to be deficient and describes the function of
the hormone?
A. insulin
B. cortisol
C. glucagon
D. epinephrine
1 Provides fructose
2 Provides genetic material
3 Contains digestive enzymes
4 Contains an alkaline substance
Numerical Response
3. Match each description of sperm and seminal fluid numbered above with the name
of the structure or substance associated with it given below. (There is more than
one correct answer.)
Number:
Name: Sperm Sperm Seminal fluid Seminal fluid
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
14. Which of the following rows identifies the hormonal pathway, numbered in
the diagram above, that is directly affected by TNF-alpha and the type of
cell stimulated by the hormonal pathway?
A. decreased spermatogenesis
B. decreased secretion of testosterone
C. increased activity of the Sertoli cells
D. increased activity of the interstitial cells
Numerical Response
4. In the diagrams above, the four areas where N. gonorrhoeae can grow
are numbered , , , and .
(Record all four digits of your answer in any order in the numerical-response section on
the answer sheet.)
A. epididymis
B. vas deferens
C. seminal vesicle
D. seminiferous tubule
Intersexual fish are genetically male when hatched, but as adults they contain
both ovarian and testicular tissue. Intersexual fish have been found in some
British waterways, and researchers hypothesize that the development of these fish
results from the presence of a reproductive hormone in the waterways.
Jobling, Susan, Richard Williams, Andrew Johnson, Ayesha Taylor, Melanie Gross-Sorokin, Monique Nolan, Charles R.
Tyler, Ronny van Aerle, Eduarda Santos, and Geoff Brighty. 2006. Predicted exposures to steroid estrogens in U.K. rivers
correlate with widespread sexual disruption in wild fish populations. Environmental Health Perspectives 114 (S1): 32–39.
doi:10.1289/ehp.8050.
17. Which of the following rows identifies the hormone that is most likely
responsible for the development of intersexual fish between hatching and
adulthood, and the gland that normally produces the hormone identified?
18. The hormone that is most likely administered to women undergoing IVF
as described above is
A. LH
B. FSH
C. estrogen
D. progesterone
19. Which of the following graphs represents the levels of estrogen and
progesterone during a typical menstrual cycle, if ovulation occurs on day 14 of
the cycle?
Scientists hypothesize that stress decreases both the production and release of
progesterone.
Wang, L., X. Wang, W. Wang, C. Chen, A. G. Ronnennberg, W. Guang, A. Huang, Z. Fang, T. Zang, L. Wang, and X. Xu.
2004. Stress and dysmenorrhoea: A population based prospective study. Occupational & Environmental Medicine 61, no. 12
(December): 1021–26. doi:10.1136/oem.2003.012302.
20. A woman who experiences stress during her menstrual cycle is expected to
21. Which of the following rows identifies the structure that is often enlarged in
pregnant women who have children with BWS and a hormone produced by
the structure?
Numerical Response
5. Match four of the boxes numbered in the diagram above with their
descriptions below.
Number:
Description: Endoderm Chorion Skeletal Umbilical
muscle cord
development development
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
22. If a pregnant woman takes danazol, the time of pregnancy during which her
female embryo is most likely to be affected by the drug is
To produce large rainbow trout for the sport-fishing industry, fish farmers subject
fertilized rainbow trout eggs to high pressure. The pressure causes a fertilized egg
to fuse with the chromosomes in a polar body. The resulting structure develops into
a larger-than-normal rainbow trout that is sterile.
A. n = 29
B. n = 58
C. 2n = 58
D. 3n = 87
In honey bees, female bees develop from fertilized eggs, and male bees
develop from unfertilized eggs.
More than 30 mutations have been described in honey bees, including alterations in
eye colour and wing size. Most of these mutations are recessive.
Harbo, J. R., and T. E. Rinderer. 1980. Breeding and genetics of honey bees. Agriculture Handbook, no. 335: 49–57.
24. The honey bees expected to have a higher proportion of recessive phenotypes are
Chlamydia pneumonia is a bacterium that attacks cells by inserting its DNA into a
host cell and causing the production of proteins that alter the normal reproduction of
the host cell. One of these proteins is called CopN. In mammalian cells in which
CopN is present, the cell cycle stops in interphase after DNA has replicated.
Huang, Jin, Cammie F. Lesser, and Stephen Lory. 2008. The essential role of the CopN protein in Chlamydia pneumoniae
intracellular growth. Nature 456, no. 7218 (November 6): 112–15. doi:10.1038/nature07355.
25. Compared to mammalian cells in which CopN is not present, mammalian cells in
which CopN is present have
The following micrograph shows mitosis in some cells in an onion root tip.
26. The phase of mitosis that has just finished in the cell labelled 1 in the
micrograph is
A. prophase
B. anaphase
C. telophase
D. metaphase
27. A conclusion supported by the data collected is that in the majority of onion root tip
cells
1 DNA replicates.
2 Sister chromatids separate.
3 Homologous chromosomes separate.
4 Crossing over between non-sister chromatids occurs.
Numerical Response
6. The order in which the events in the cell cycle numbered above
occur is , , , and .
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
A Human Karyotype
28. Based on the karyotype above, nondisjunction occurred in the parent during either
29. Which of the following rows identifies processes Y and Z as shown in Life Cycle 2?
30. The type of cell division represented by Process X in the life cycle of Equisetum is
A. mitosis, and the cells of the sporophyte are genetically different from the
cells of the embryo
B. mitosis, and the cells of the sporophyte and the embryo are genetically
identical
C. meiosis, and the cells of the sporophyte are genetically different from the
cells of the embryo
D. meiosis, and the cells of the sporophyte and the embryo are genetically
identical
32. Which of the following pedigrees best represents the inheritance pattern of NF1?
A. 0.00
B. 0.13
C. 0.25
D. 0.50
34. Which of the following expressions represents the frequency of the allele
that causes NF1?
A. p = 0.000 2
B. q = 0.999 8
C. q2 = 0.999 7
D. p2 + 2pq = 0.000 3
Genotype Phenotype
D_B_ Black
D_bb Chocolate
dd_ _ Yellow
Genotype Phenotype
A_B_ Black tabby
A_bb Chocolate tabby
aaB_ Solid black
aabb Solid chocolate
Numerical Response
7. What is the expected phenotypic ratio in the offspring that are produced by a
cross between a homozygous solid black cat and a heterozygous black tabby cat?
Ratio: : : :
Phenotype: Black tabby Chocolate Solid black Solid
tabby chocolate
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
The genome of Drosophila melanogaster, or fruit fly, has been fully sequenced.
One gene that is located on the X chromosome is the gene for crossveinless wings.
36. A female fly that is a carrier for crossveinless wings mates with a male fly that
has crossveinless wings. What is the probability that this mating produces female
flies with crossveinless wings?
A. 0.13
B. 0.25
C. 0.50
D. 0.75
Mutations in the MSTN gene are associated with abnormal muscle development
in whippets, dogs that were developed for racing.
Whippets with two copies of the mutated MSTN allele are more muscular than
normal and are known as bully whippets.
Whippets with two unmutated MSTN alleles have normal muscle development.
Whippets with one unmutated and one mutated MSTN allele are more muscular than
normal whippets but not as muscular as bully whippets. The MSTN gene is located
on chromosome 37.
Mosher, Dana S., Pascale Quignon, Carlos D. Bustamante, Nathan B. Sutter, Cathryn S. Mellersh, Heidi G. Parker, and
Elaine A. Ostrander. 2007. A mutation in the myostatin gene increases muscle mass and enhances racing performance in
heterozygote dogs. PLoS Genetics 3 (5): 779–86. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0030079.
37. The mode of inheritance of the MSTN gene that controls muscle development
in whippets is an example of
A. multiple alleles
B. a sex-linked condition
C. incomplete dominance
D. an autosomal recessive condition
38. Which of the following rows describes individuals I-2 and II-5?
Inheritance of ABO blood types is controlled by three alleles. The alleles for type
A blood (IA) and type B blood (IB) are co-dominant, and the allele for type O blood
(i) is recessive.
Generation I: The father has type A blood and the mother has type AB blood.
Generation II: The oldest child is a son with type A blood; the second-oldest
child is a daughter with type B blood; and the youngest child is a
son whose blood type is unknown.
Numerical Response
8. If the two parents in Generation I have another child, what is the probability
that this child will be a daughter with type A blood?
Answer:
(Record your answer as a value between 0 and 1 rounded to two decimal places in the numerical-
response section on the answer sheet.)
Numerical Response
9.
What is the cross-over frequency between genes 1 and 2?
Answer: %
(Record your answer as a percentage rounded to one decimal place in the numerical-
response section on the answer sheet.)
Numerical Response
10.
Match each of the contributions listed above with the names of scientists
given below who are most closely associated with that contribution.
Number:
Scientist: Mendel Morgan Franklin Watson and
Crick
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
A Cell Process
40. The amino acid sequence coded by the segment of the gene associated with
thalassemia shown above is
A. asparagine—aspartate—arginine
B. asparagine—glutamate—serine
C. leucine—histidine—threonine
D. leucine—glutamate—serine
In some horses, a particular gene mutation results in the production of a silver mane
and tail. The protein coded by the mutated gene contains the amino acid cysteine
instead of the normal amino acid, arginine.
Brunberg, Emma, Leif Andersson, Gus Cothran, Kaj Sandberg, Sofia Mikko, and Gabriella Lindgren. 2006. A missense
mutation in PMEL17 is associated with the Silver coat color in the horse. BMC Genetics 7 (October 9): 46. doi:10.1186/1471-
2156-7-46.
41. A change in DNA that could lead to the production of a silver mane and tail in
a horse is the change from
A. TCT to ACA
B. TCC to TCT
C. AGA to ACA
D. AGG to ACG
42. Which of the following statements describes the gametes in which the
mutations that cause Leigh syndrome are carried?
Male birds of the species Parus major express one of two different shades of
yellow in their breast feathers. Some males have bright yellow breast feathers, and
other males have pale yellow breast feathers. Males with pale breast feathers
produce sperm that are less mobile than sperm produced by males with bright
breast feathers. Females prefer to mate with males that have bright yellow breast
feathers.
Helfenstein, Fabrice, Sylvain Losdat, Anders Pape MØller, Jonathan D. Blount, and Heinz Richner. 2010. Sperm of colourful
males are better protected against oxidative stress. Ecology Letters 13, no. 2 (February): 213–22. doi:10.1111/j.1461-
0248.2009.01419.x.
43. Which of the following rows identifies a factor influenced by the expression of
two types of breast feathers of male birds and describes the potential effect of the
factor on the population’s gene pool?
Numerical Response
11. What is the frequency of the heterozygous genotype in the Finnish population
described above?
Answer:
(Record your answer as a value between 0 and 1 rounded to two decimal places in the numerical-
response section on the answer sheet.)
Numerical Response
12. Match each of the statements about B. papyrifera trees numbered above with the
term that best describes the statement given below. (Use each number only
once.)
Number:
Term: Climax Environmental Secondary Parasitism
communit resistance succession
y
(Record all four digits of your answer in the numerical-response section on the answer sheet.)
Grass can store varying amounts of silica. Rodents called voles use grass as a food
source, and the amount of silica present in the grass affects the growth of the vole
population. High silica content makes grass difficult for a vole to digest, which
leads to decreased growth and reproduction rates in the vole population. Fewer
voles consume grass when the silica content is high.
Massey, Fergus P., and Sue E. Hartley. 2006. Experimental demonstration of the antiherbivore effects of silica in grasses:
Impacts on foliage digestibility and vole growth rates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273, no.
1599 (September 22): 2299–304. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3586.
44. The relationship between the grass and vole populations is best described as
A. symbiotic
B. producer–consumer
C. interspecific competition
D. intraspecific competition
Wild boars were introduced to Alberta farms in the 1990s and then raised in
captivity. Some of the boars escaped from the farms. Despite the harsh climate
in Alberta, the non-captive wild boar population increased rapidly.
Non-captive wild boars compete with other wildlife populations for resources.
Government officials are concerned about the increasing non-captive wild
boar population and its effect on wildlife populations native to Alberta.
Municipal District of Big Lakes. 2010. Wild Boar Program. Accessed October 19. www.mdbiglakes.ca/services/agricultural/
asb-programs/wild-boar-program
45. Which of the following rows identifies an expected effect of the non-captive
wild boar population on wildlife populations native to Alberta and the reason for
the effect?
Effect on Wildlife
Populations Native
Row to Alberta Reason
A. Decreased growth Increased interspecific competition
B. Decreased growth Increased intraspecific competition
C. Increased growth Increased interspecific competition
D. Increased growth Increased intraspecific competition
The greater sage grouse is a large bird that lives in the Canadian prairies and is
considered to be a species at risk. In 2001, 108 male greater sage grouse were
counted at breeding sites in Alberta. In 2012, 13 male greater sage grouse
were counted at the breeding sites.
Alberta Wilderness Association. 2016. Issues: Wildlife, Sage-Grouse, History. www.albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlife/
sage-grouse/#parentHorizontalTab4.
46. The per capita growth rate of the population of male greater sage grouse in
Alberta between 2001 and 2012 was
A. 0.9
B. 7.3
C. –0.9
D. –7.3
47. Based on the graph, the growth pattern of Daphnia over the 160 days is best
described as
Female caribou reach sexual maturity at three years of age and will typically give
birth to one calf per year after that.