School Improvement in Maryland

Public Release Item: Public Release items have appeared on HSA forms and then are released for public viewing and use. Releasing items is one step to ensuring that schools, districts, and other stakeholders understand how the core learning goals are assessed on the HSA.

Goal 3 Concepts Of Biology

Expectation 3.1 The student will be able to explain the correlation between the structure and function of biologically important molecules and their relationship to cell processes.

Indicator 3.1.2 The student will be able to discuss factors involved in the regulation of chemical activity as part of a homeostatic mechanism.

Assessment Limits:

  • osmosis (predicting water flow across a membrane based on the cell’s environment; explain role in living systems)
  • temperature (effect upon enzyme activity and metabolic rate; effect upon rate of diffusion and states of matter)
  • pH (pH scale: relative values for acids and bases; effect on living systems: cellular, organismal)
  • enzyme regulation (effect of temperature, pH, and enzyme/substrate concentration on enzyme activity)

Selected Response Item - Released in 2003

Scientists wanted to study the effect of water temperature on the swimming speed of goldfish. They set up an experiment in which they raised populations of goldfish in two different aquariums. Population 1 was raised at 5°C. Population 2 was raised at 25°C. All other variables were constant in both aquariums. The results of this experiment are shown in the graph below.

Which of these is most affected in the cells of the goldfish when the water temperature is lowered?

  1. enzyme activity
  2. pH level
  3. DNA base sequence
  4. salt concentration
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2003_312_bio22.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2003

Which of these is the process by which water moves across a selectively permeable membrane?

  1. osmosis
  2. transpiration
  3. capillary action
  4. active transport
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2003_312_bio34.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Use the information below to answer the following.

Starch turns blue-black in the presence of iodine solution. A selectively permeable dialysis sac containing a starch solution is placed into a beaker of iodine solution.

If the dialysis sac is permeable only to water and iodine, what will the solutions in the beaker and the sac look like after two hours?

  1. The iodine solution in the beaker will turn blue-black; the starch solution will not change.
  2. The starch solution in the dialysis sac will turn blue-black; the iodine solution will not change.
  3. Neither solution will turn blue-black.
  4. Both solutions will turn blue-black.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2005_312_bio06.xml

Correct Answer:
B

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Starch turns blue-black in the presence of iodine solution. A selectively permeable dialysis sac containing a starch solution is placed into a beaker of iodine solution.

Which of these processes is demonstrated by the experiment shown in the diagram?

  1. cellular respiration
  2. active transport
  3. endocytosis
  4. diffusion
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2005_312_bio07.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Cells in the stomach produce pepsin, an enzyme, to help digest food. Pepsin works best at a pH of 2. Which of these graphs most likely shows what will happen to the activity of pepsin as the pH of the stomach is increased?



  1.  


  2.  


  3.  

/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2005_312_bio33.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item - Released in 2006

The table below lists enzymes that function in different locations in the human body, and the normal pH and temperature ranges of these locations.

Use your understanding of the structure and function of enzymes to

  • predict how the activity of pepsin will change after it moves from the stomach to the small intestine
  • explain your prediction using data from the table
  • describe how changes in pH and temperature affect enzyme activity
  • predict how a fever of 40°C would affect enzyme activity

Write your answer in your Answer Book.

/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2006_312_bio15.xml

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Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

Which of these substances moves across cell membranes by osmosis?

  1. salt
  2. sugar
  3. water
  4. protein
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2006_312_bio26.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

A scientist believes that a factory has been dumping acid into a local river. To test this hypothesis, which property of water should the scientist monitor?

  1. pH
  2. density
  3. polarity
  4. temperature
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2007_312_bio15.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item - Released in 2007

In an experiment, a group of students placed ten raisins in a container with 100 milliliters of water. They covered the container and let the raisins sit overnight. The students removed the raisins from the container and observed that they were larger. They also observed that the volume of water in the container had decreased.

What happened to the raisins to cause them to become larger? In your response, be sure to

  • name the process that caused the raisins to become larger
  • describe how this process caused the raisins to become larger
  • explain the role of this process in living systems

Write your answer in your Answer Book.

/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2007_312_bio18.xml

View Scoring Information

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

Use the information and the graph below to answer the following question.

Catalase is an enzyme found in plant and animal cells. Hydrogen peroxide is a harmful substance found in cells. Catalase causes hydrogen peroxide to break down into water and oxygen.

A student conducted an experiment to determine whether plant and animal cells have the same amount of catalase. She used liver and potato tissues in the experiment. The student followed the procedures below.

  1. Label two identical test tubes, 1 and 2.
  2. Pour 10 milliliters of hydrogen peroxide solution (1% concentration) into each test tube.
  3. Add a small piece of liver tissue to Test Tube 1.
  4. Add a small piece of potato tissue to Test Tube 2.
  5. Collect the oxygen released from each test tube for 25 seconds.
  6. Measure and record the volume of oxygen for each test tube.

The graph below shows the results from the experiment.

The student conducted a second experiment. She boiled the liver tissue completely and added it to the hydrogen peroxide solution. She observed that little to no oxygen was released in the second experiment.

Which of these statements best supports the student’s observations?

  1. Exposing catalase to high temperatures makes it inactive.
  2. Exposing catalase to high temperatures changes it into a different enzyme.
  3. Boiling liver breaks down hydrogen peroxide faster.
  4. Boiling removes oxygen from the liver.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2007_312_bio24.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

Read the decription of the experiment and use the table of results below to answer the following question.

A student designed an experiment to see if plants grow better when watered with a sugar solution. He divided the plants into six groups, measured the initial height of each plant, and calculated the average height for each group. Once a week for two months, he watered the plants in each group using a different sugar solution for each plant group. At the end of two months, he measured the final height of each plant and calculated the average height for each group. The student’s data are shown in the table below.

Which of these statements explains why the plants in Groups E and F died?

  1. The high sugar content caused too much water to move out of the root cells.
  2. The high sugar content caused too much water to move into the root cells.
  3. The high sugar content prevented the plant from capturing energy.
  4. The high sugar content clogged the pores in the cell membranes.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2007_312_bio30.xml

Correct Answer:
A