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Biology Quiz Questions and Answers

40 biology questions with answers: cells, DNA, the human body, plants, animals and the scientists who explained them.

40 questions · tap “Show answer” under each one · Answer key

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Round 1

  1. Which part of a cell is known as its powerhouse?

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    The mitochondrion

    It makes most of the cell's energy carrier, ATP. Source

  2. Which gas do plants take in to make food by photosynthesis?

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    Carbon dioxide

    They give off oxygen as a by-product. Source

  3. Which pigment makes leaves green?

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    Chlorophyll

    It absorbs red and blue light and reflects green. Source

  4. Which small organ stores the bile made by the liver?

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    The gallbladder

    Bile helps the body digest fats. Source

  5. Who discovered the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, in 1882?

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    Robert Koch

    March 24, the day he announced it, is World Tuberculosis Day. Source

  6. Which blood cells carry oxygen around the body?

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    Red blood cells

    The protein hemoglobin holds the oxygen. Source

  7. Which blood cells help a cut stop bleeding?

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    Platelets

    They clump together to form a clot. Source

  8. What is the largest organ of the human body?

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    The skin

    The liver is the largest organ inside the body. Source

  9. What is the longest bone in the human body?

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    The femur

    It runs from the hip to the knee. Source

  10. The smallest bone in the human body is in which part of it?

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    The ear

    The stapes, in the middle ear, is about 3 mm long. Source

Round 2

  1. Which organs filter the blood to make urine?

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    The kidneys

    Most people have two, each about the size of a fist. Source

  2. Which organ makes insulin?

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    The pancreas

    Insulin lets cells take sugar from the blood. Source

  3. Who proposed evolution by natural selection, at the same time as Alfred Russel Wallace?

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    Charles Darwin

    'On the Origin of Species' came out in 1859. Source

  4. Which monk's experiments with pea plants laid the foundations of genetics?

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    Gregor Mendel

    His work was ignored until 1900, 16 years after his death. Source

  5. Who created the two-part scientific names for living things, like Homo sapiens?

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    Carl Linnaeus

    He was an 18th-century Swedish botanist. Source

  6. Which antibiotic did Alexander Fleming discover in 1928?

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    Penicillin

    He noticed a mold killing the bacteria on a dish. Source

  7. Who named the 'cell' after looking at cork under a microscope?

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    Robert Hooke

    He described it in his book 'Micrographia' in 1665. Source

  8. Where is most of the DNA kept in an animal or plant cell?

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    The nucleus

    Mitochondria hold a little DNA of their own. Source

  9. What do bacteria cells lack that animal and plant cells have?

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    A nucleus

    Their DNA floats in the cell; they're called prokaryotes. Source

  10. A frog belongs to which group of animals?

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    Amphibians

    Most amphibians start life in water and move onto land. Source

Round 3

  1. Which of these animals is a mammal?

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    The dolphin

    Dolphins breathe air and feed their young on milk. Source

  2. What is the change from a caterpillar into a butterfly called?

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    Metamorphosis

    It happens inside a chrysalis. Source

  3. What is the cell division that makes two identical cells called?

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    Mitosis

    Meiosis makes egg and sperm cells, with half the chromosomes. Source

  4. What is the movement of water through a cell membrane called?

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    Osmosis

    Water moves toward the side with more dissolved substances. Source

  5. Where in the lungs does oxygen pass into the blood?

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    The alveoli

    These tiny air sacs number in the hundreds of millions. Source

  6. What is a nerve cell called?

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    A neuron

    A nephron is a filtering unit of the kidney. Source

  7. What are the proteins that speed up chemical reactions in living things called?

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    Enzymes

    Digestive enzymes break food down into smaller molecules. Source

  8. Which vitamin does the skin make when it's in sunlight?

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    Vitamin D

    The body needs it to absorb calcium. Source

  9. A lack of which vitamin causes scurvy?

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    Vitamin C

    Sailors once got it on long voyages without fresh fruit. Source

  10. Which of these animals is cold-blooded?

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    The lizard

    It warms up by lying in the sun. Source

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Round 4

  1. Which tiny fungus makes bread dough rise?

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    Yeast

    It gives off carbon dioxide, which makes bubbles in the dough. Source

  2. What are the tiny pores on a leaf that let gases in and out called?

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    Stomata

    They open and close with two guard cells. Source

  3. What is an animal that eats only plants called?

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    A herbivore

    Cows, deer and rabbits are herbivores. Source

  4. What is the hard outer covering of insects and crabs called?

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    An exoskeleton

    To grow, the animal must shed it and build a new one. Source

  5. Which of these is NOT one of the four bases in DNA?

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    Uracil

    Uracil takes thymine's place in RNA. Source

  6. Who made the first rabies vaccine, in 1885?

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    Louis Pasteur

    He also gave his name to pasteurization. Source

  7. What is the jelly-like substance that fills a cell called?

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    Cytoplasm

    The cell's parts float in it. Source

  8. What are animals with a backbone called?

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    Vertebrates

    Most animal species are invertebrates, such as insects. Source

  9. Which part of a plant cell, missing in animal cells, holds the chlorophyll?

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    The chloroplast

    Chloroplasts are where photosynthesis happens. Source

  10. In the name Homo sapiens, what is 'Homo'?

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    The genus

    The second word, sapiens, names the species within it. Source

Answer key

Round 1

  1. The mitochondrion
  2. Carbon dioxide
  3. Chlorophyll
  4. The gallbladder
  5. Robert Koch
  6. Red blood cells
  7. Platelets
  8. The skin
  9. The femur
  10. The ear

Round 2

  1. The kidneys
  2. The pancreas
  3. Charles Darwin
  4. Gregor Mendel
  5. Carl Linnaeus
  6. Penicillin
  7. Robert Hooke
  8. The nucleus
  9. A nucleus
  10. Amphibians

Round 3

  1. The dolphin
  2. Metamorphosis
  3. Mitosis
  4. Osmosis
  5. The alveoli
  6. A neuron
  7. Enzymes
  8. Vitamin D
  9. Vitamin C
  10. The lizard

Round 4

  1. Yeast
  2. Stomata
  3. A herbivore
  4. An exoskeleton
  5. Uracil
  6. Louis Pasteur
  7. Cytoplasm
  8. Vertebrates
  9. The chloroplast
  10. The genus

Link to this page

Sources

  1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion
  2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis
  3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyll
  4. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallbladder
  5. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert Koch
  6. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red blood cell
  7. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platelet
  8. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin
  9. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femur
  10. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapes
  11. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney
  12. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin
  13. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles Darwin
  14. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor Mendel
  15. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial nomenclature
  16. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin
  17. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert Hooke
  18. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell nucleus
  19. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prokaryote
  20. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog
  21. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin
  22. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis
  23. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitosis
  24. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis
  25. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary alveolus
  26. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuron
  27. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme
  28. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin D
  29. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy
  30. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectotherm
  31. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast
  32. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoma
  33. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbivore
  34. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoskeleton
  35. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleobase
  36. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis Pasteur
  37. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytoplasm
  38. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertebrate
  39. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroplast
  40. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo

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