Biology Basics Quiz

Question 1

What is the basic unit of life?

Accepted Answer

A cell

Answer

An atom

Answer

A molecule

Answer

An organ

Question 2

What is photosynthesis?

Accepted Answer

The process by which plants convert sunlight, water, and CO₂ into glucose and oxygen

Answer

The process by which cells produce energy from oxygen

Answer

The process by which animals digest food

Answer

The process by which cells divide

Question 3

What is the function of mitochondria?

Accepted Answer

Energy production (ATP) through cellular respiration

Answer

Protein synthesis

Answer

Storing genetic information

Answer

Transporting substances in the cell

Question 4

What is DNA?

Accepted Answer

The molecule carrying genetic instructions for all living organisms

Answer

A protein that carries oxygen in blood

Answer

A type of carbohydrate providing energy

Answer

An enzyme that breaks down food

Question 5

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution proposes that species change over time through:

Accepted Answer

Natural selection — individuals with beneficial traits reproduce more successfully

Answer

God's design

Answer

Random mutation only, with no selection

Answer

Lamarckian inheritance — acquired traits are passed on

Question 6

What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?

Accepted Answer

Plant cells have a cell wall, chloroplasts, and large vacuoles; animal cells do not

Answer

Plant cells have no nucleus

Answer

Animal cells have cell walls; plant cells do not

Answer

Plant cells cannot reproduce

Question 7

What is an 'ecosystem'?

Accepted Answer

A community of living organisms interacting with each other and their physical environment

Answer

All living things on Earth

Answer

The range of species in a given area

Answer

A protected natural habitat

Question 8

What is the difference between a virus and a bacterium?

Accepted Answer

Bacteria are larger; viruses are not alive and cannot reproduce independently

Answer

Viruses can be treated with antibiotics; bacteria cannot

Answer

Bacteria are not alive; viruses are

Answer

There is no significant biological difference

Question 9

What is the role of enzymes in the body?

Accepted Answer

To act as biological catalysts, speeding up chemical reactions without being consumed

Answer

To store energy

Answer

To carry oxygen in the blood

Answer

To form structural components like muscles and bones

Question 10

What is 'homeostasis'?

Accepted Answer

The maintenance of stable internal conditions in an organism

Answer

The process of evolution by natural selection

Answer

The relationship between predators and prey

Answer

The cycle of nutrients through an ecosystem

Question 11

In biology, what are the five kingdoms traditionally used to classify life?

Accepted Answer

Plants, Animals, Fungi, Protists, Monera (bacteria)

Answer

Plants, Animals, Fungi, Bacteria, Viruses

Answer

Plants, Animals, Insects, Fungi, Bacteria

Answer

Producers, Consumers, Decomposers, Parasites, Pathogens

Question 12

What is respiration in biology?

Accepted Answer

The process by which cells release energy from glucose

Answer

Breathing in and out

Answer

The exchange of gases in the lungs

Answer

The breakdown of food in the stomach

Question 13

What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle in genetics?

Accepted Answer

Allele and genotype frequencies in a population remain constant without evolutionary influences

Answer

All inherited traits follow a 3:1 ratio

Answer

Dominant traits are always more common in a population

Answer

Natural selection always changes allele frequencies

Question 14

What is the function of the ribosomes in a cell?

Accepted Answer

Protein synthesis

Answer

Energy production

Answer

Cellular digestion

Answer

DNA replication

Question 15

What is a 'food chain'?

Accepted Answer

A sequence showing how energy passes from one organism to another in an ecosystem

Answer

The supply chain for food in human societies

Answer

The range of foods an animal eats

Answer

A classification of animals by what they eat

Question 16

What is 'natural selection' and who proposed it?

Accepted Answer

The mechanism by which organisms with favourable traits survive and reproduce; proposed by Darwin and Wallace

Answer

The idea that organisms evolve by effort and will; proposed by Lamarck

Answer

The randomness of genetic mutation; proposed by Mendel

Answer

The inheritance of acquired characteristics; proposed by Darwin

Question 17

What are chromosomes?

Accepted Answer

Thread-like structures of DNA and protein found in cell nuclei

Answer

Individual genes within a cell

Answer

The building blocks of DNA

Answer

Strands of RNA carrying genetic information

Question 18

What is 'osmosis'?

Accepted Answer

The diffusion of water across a semi-permeable membrane from low to high solute concentration

Answer

The active transport of molecules across cell membranes

Answer

The breakdown of glucose to release energy

Answer

The movement of ions against a concentration gradient

Question 19

What is biodiversity and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

The variety of life on Earth across species, genes, and ecosystems — it underpins ecological stability and resilience

Answer

The total number of individual organisms on Earth

Answer

The geographic distribution of species

Answer

The rate at which new species evolve

Question 20

What is the significance of the 1953 discovery of DNA's double helix structure?

Accepted Answer

It revealed how genetic information is stored and replicated, explaining heredity at the molecular level

Answer

It proved that proteins carry genetic information

Answer

It showed that DNA is the same in all species

Answer

It led immediately to genetic engineering