Topic 5.1: Practical and Data-Analysis Skills Questions

Which piece of equipment is placed inside the eyepiece of a light microscope to measure the size of a cell directly?

Which expression correctly gives the chi-squared statistic, where O is each observed count and E is each expected count?

A bar chart shows mean leaf area for plants grown in shade (24 cm²) and in full sun (40 cm²). State the difference in mean leaf area between the two conditions.

A table gives the mean dry mass (g) of four wheat varieties: W = 3.8, X = 4.6, Y = 4.1, Z = 3.5. Which variety should be identified as having the greatest mean dry mass?

A correlation coefficient of r = 0.02 is found between shoe size and exam score in adults. What does this value indicate?

On a kite diagram of seaweed abundance up a rocky shore, each species is drawn as a symmetrical band along the transect line. What does the WIDTH of a species' band at a given point show?

An ecologist wants to record how plant species change from the edge of a woodland into a neighbouring open field. Which sampling method shows this change ALONG the set distance?

Four replicate counts of yeast colonies on a plate give 48, 52, 49 and 51. What is the mean number of colonies?

Six maize seedlings have leaf lengths (in mm) of 24, 28, 22, 30, 26 and 26. What is the mean leaf length?

A frequency graph shows the wing lengths of 80 butterflies grouped into length classes. Which feature of the graph shows the MODAL class?

A table records the mean browning index of cut apple slices after 30 minutes for five antioxidant dip concentrations (arbitrary units): 0% dip = 8.4, 1% = 5.1, 2% = 3.0, 3% = 1.8, 4% = 1.9. State the dip concentration that gave the lowest browning index.

To calculate the percentage change in a measurement, by which value must the change be divided?

A forensic scientist has only a tiny trace of DNA from a crime scene and needs millions of copies before it can be analysed. Which technique should be used?

Mean shoot lengths (cm) of four bean varieties after two weeks are: P 12, Q 9, R 21, S 15. What is the range of the data?

State what a higher value of Simpson's reciprocal diversity index ($D$) indicates about a community.

Four students each report the magnification of the same micrograph using the same correctly measured scale bar. Whose answer is written correctly?

In the Lincoln (capture–mark–recapture) index $N = \dfrac{n_1 \times n_2}{n_3}$, what does $n_3$ represent?

Which instrument is used to measure the rate of respiration of a small organism such as a germinating seed or a woodlouse?

A student warms an enzyme at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 °C and records how long it takes to break down a fixed mass of substrate. Which is the independent variable?

Plates of bacteria are kept at 15, 25 and 35 °C and the number of colonies is counted after two days. Which is the dependent variable?