Curriculum
Course: Checkpoint Biology 0893
time left:
:
:
Login

Curriculum

Checkpoint Biology 0893

Grade 6 - Unit 1: Cells and organisms

0/11 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 6 - Unit 4: Living organisms and classification

0/12 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 6 - Unit 7: Microorganisms and food webs

0/11 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 7 - Unit 1: Breathing and respiration

0/12 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 7 - Unit 4: Ecosystems

0/10 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 7 - Unit 7: Nutrition, health and movement

0/10 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 8 - Unit 1: Cells and organisms

0/10 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 8 - Unit 4: Living organisms and classification

0/12 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material

Grade 8 - Unit 7: Microorganisms and food webs

0/10 Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
Quiz

4.1 The Sonoran Desert

Submit quiz
Once you submit, you will no longer be able to change your answers. Are you sure you want to submit the quiz?
Cancel Submit

Sonoran Desert Checkpoint Biology quiz: free practice for Cambridge Checkpoint Biology 0893. Work through this Sonoran Desert Checkpoint Biology quiz and get instant feedback on every answer. If you get stuck, review the 5.1 The Sonoran desert lesson. More practice: Cambridge Checkpoint Biology 0893 — all units. Syllabus: Cambridge Lower Secondary programme.

  • Questions count: 39
  • Passing grade: B+
  • Time limit:
Start Quiz
1.
Cacti survive in the Sonoran Desert because they:
Need lots of rain
Store water and have spines to reduce water loss
Have large thin leaves
Grow only in winter
2.
Use the Sonoran Desert food web in the diagram. Which organism is both a secondary consumer and a tertiary consumer?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
The coyote, which also eats fruit
The rattlesnake
The red-tailed hawk
The Gila woodpecker
3.
A disease kills most of the kangaroo rats in the food web shown. Which prediction is best supported by the food web?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
Rattlesnakes decrease and more mesquite seeds survive
Hawks are unaffected because they never eat kangaroo rats
Jackrabbits decrease because they feed on kangaroo rats
Saguaro cacti decrease because they lose a source of food
4.
Sofia used a data logger to record temperatures in the Sonoran Desert over one summer day. Her results are in the graph. Which statement uses her data to explain why kangaroo rats come out of their burrows only at night?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
The air is hotter at night than at midday, so rats avoid the day
At night the sand is below about 30 °C, but it reaches 68 °C by day
The sand stays at the same temperature all day and night long
The sand is coolest at 14:00, the time when the rats are feeding
5.
The bar chart shows the mean monthly rainfall at a site in the Sonoran Desert. A saguaro's pleated stem swells as it takes in water. At the end of which month is the stem most likely to be at its widest?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
May, when rainfall is at its lowest
January, in the middle of winter
April, at the end of the spring months
August, just after the heaviest rain
6.
The diagram shows cross-sections of the same saguaro stem drawn to the same scale, one in May and one in September. Which section was drawn in September, after the summer rains, and why?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
Y – its pleats have spread out to hold stored water
X – its deep folds show the stem is full of water
X – a narrow stem is needed to absorb rain quickly
Y – the spines grew longer to collect the rain
7.
The diagram shows the roots of two desert plants, P and Q. It has not rained for three months. Which plant can still take in water, and why?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
P, because its wide roots cover a larger area of soil
P, because the top layer of soil stays damp all year
Q, because its long root reaches damp soil deep down
Q, because its leaves take in water vapour from the air
8.
Amira soaked three identical sponges in water, shaped them as shown and left them in the sun. The bar chart shows her results. Which conclusion is supported by her data?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
Only the wax cover had any effect on how much water was lost
A smaller surface and a waxy cover both cut water loss
Flat shapes like leaves lose the least water in hot sunshine
The shape of a model has no effect on how much water is lost
9.
Kai pushed thermometers into the sand at different depths next to a kangaroo rat burrow, as shown in the diagram. How much cooler is the soil at the depth of the nest than at the surface?
Dr Dabour Hub Science Diagram and Course Material
17 °C cooler than the surface
10 °C cooler than the surface
31 °C cooler than the surface
27 °C cooler than the surface
10.
Hamid made a feeding table for some Sonoran Desert organisms. Which food chain correctly shows the direction of energy flow?
Wildflower seeds → harvester ant → horned lizard → roadrunner
Roadrunner → horned lizard → harvester ant → wildflower seeds
Harvester ant → wildflower seeds → horned lizard → roadrunner
Wildflower seeds → horned lizard → harvester ant → roadrunner
11.
The table compares the daily water balance of a kangaroo rat and a laboratory rat of similar size. What do the data suggest about how the kangaroo rat survives without drinking?
It drinks secretly at night so it was never seen drinking
It gets water from food and loses little in urine
It loses more water in urine than the laboratory rat does
It needs no water at all, because it gains none each day
12.
Rangers counted organisms in one area of the Sonoran Desert for five years. Which explanation fits all of their data best?
Rattlesnakes ate the seeds, so seeds fell in the drought
Kangaroo rats rose in 2020 because seeds were scarce
Drought cut seed numbers, so rats and then snakes fell
Rainfall had no effect on any of the populations counted
13.
The table shows the mean ear length of four kinds of hare and the mean temperature where each lives. Which statement describes and explains the pattern?
Warmer habitat, shorter ears – less surface to keep heat in
Ear length has no link at all with the mean temperature
Colder habitat, longer ears – to trap warm air near the head
Warmer habitat, longer ears – more surface to lose heat
14.
Carlos measured abiotic factors at three spots in the Sonoran Desert at 13:00. Using his data, where should a small desert toad spend the day to lose the least water?
On open sand, where there is the most light to warm it
In the burrow, the coolest and most humid spot
Under the creosote bush, the most humid of the three
On open sand, because the air there is the driest spot
15.
Why do the spines of a saguaro cactus help it to lose less water than broad leaves would?
Spines have a far smaller surface area
Spines keep the cactus cool so that it stops sweating
Spines take in water vapour from the air on cold nights
Spines are hollow tubes that store water for the plant
16.
Ravi says, "A saguaro has no proper leaves, so it cannot make its own food." Which reply is best?
It is right – the saguaro gets food from its roots instead
It is right – the spines absorb food made by other plants
It is wrong – the saguaro makes its food only at night
It is wrong – the green stem photosynthesises
17.
Long-nosed bats feed on nectar from saguaro flowers and carry pollen between them. What would most likely happen to saguaros over many years if these bats disappeared?
More saguaros, because the bats eat the cactus stems
No change, because saguaros never need to be pollinated
Fewer flowers pollinated, so fewer new saguaros
More spines grow on the saguaros to replace the bats
18.
Which description treats the Sonoran Desert as an ecosystem, not just a habitat?
All its organisms plus temperature, rain and soil
Only the place where a coyote hunts and rests
Only the populations of cacti and bushes there
Only the rainfall and the temperature there
19.
Each option pairs a Sonoran Desert organism with an adaptation. Which pairing is correct?
Kangaroo rat – very concentrated urine
Saguaro – a taproot that reaches deep water
Jackrabbit – fat stored in its tail
Gila monster – large ears that lose heat
20.
Each option pairs a key term with a meaning. Which pairing is correct?
Abiotic factor – the number of coyotes in the area
Habitat – all the populations of different species
Nocturnal – active in the hottest part of the day
Biotic factor – a living influence, e.g. predators
21.
In the food chain mesquite seeds → kangaroo rat → rattlesnake → hawk, each option pairs an organism with its role. Which pairing is correct?
Kangaroo rat – producer in the chain
Mesquite – primary consumer in the chain
Rattlesnake – secondary consumer
Hawk – primary consumer in the chain
22.
Each option pairs a desert animal with the way it depends on the saguaro cactus. Which pairing is correct?
Long-nosed bat – eats the spines for water
Gila woodpecker – nests in holes in the stem
Kangaroo rat – lives among its high branches
Coyote – digs its den inside the saguaro stem
23.
Which term is described as: to dig into the soil where it is cooler, as desert animals do during hot days?
predator
burrow
teddy bear cholla
saguaro cactus
24.
Which term is described as: the tall desert plant whose roots spread widely just under the soil to absorb any rain?
ecosystem
teddy bear cholla
saguaro cactus
predator
25.
Match the term to its correct meaning: predator
all the living things in a place together with the non-living parts they interact with
the sweet liquid in flowers that bats feed on at night
to affect one another - the actions of one organism affect another
an animal that hunts and eats other animals, such as a rattlesnake or a coyote
26.
Match the term to its correct meaning: germinate
a feature that helps an organism survive where it lives, such as surviving with little water
the very spiky cactus the cactus wren nests in, so few other animals come close
an animal that hunts and eats other animals, such as a rattlesnake or a coyote
what an uneaten seed does months or years later to produce a new plant
27.
The stem of a saguaro is _____, so it can expand like a concertina to store water after rain.
covered in soft hair
hollow like a straw
made of dry wood
folded into pleats
28.
The Gila monster can survive long periods without food by storing _____ in its tail.
extra water only
fat reserves
seeds from plants
sand and pebbles
29.
Creosote bushes and saguaro cacti are _____ because they make their own food by photosynthesis.
primary consumers
decomposers
producers
top predators
30.
The roots of a saguaro cactus spread out widely just under the soil. - True or false?
True
False
31.
The seeds of some desert wildflowers can stay dormant in dry soil for a long time and only germinate after enough rain has fallen. True or false?
True – the statement is correct
False – the statement is wrong
False – desert seeds germinate straight away
True, but only in the hottest month of the year
32.
In the food chain mesquite seeds → kangaroo rat → rattlesnake, the arrow points from the kangaroo rat to the rattlesnake because energy passes from the rat to the snake. True or false?
False – the statement is wrong
False – the arrow means "eats", so it should point to the rat
True, but only if the snake is a producer
True – the statement is correct
33.
High temperature, low rainfall and the number of coyotes are all abiotic factors in the Sonoran Desert. True or false?
True – the statement is correct
False – coyotes are a biotic factor
True, because coyotes live in the desert
False – rainfall is a biotic factor
34.
In the chain seeds → kangaroo rat → rattlesnake → hawk, removing the rattlesnakes would at first let kangaroo rats increase, so fewer seeds would survive. True or false?
False – the statement is wrong
False – the kangaroo rats would all die too
True – the statement is correct
False – seeds are not affected by kangaroo rats
35.
Kiara wrote: "The cactus grew spines because it wanted to save water." This is a correct scientific description of an adaptation. True or false?
True – the statement is correct
False – it should say the cactus has spines
True, because plants choose their features
True, but only for young cactus plants
36.
A coyote that eats both saguaro fruit and kangaroo rats is acting as a primary consumer and as a secondary consumer. True or false?
True – the statement is correct
False – the statement is wrong
False – a coyote is only ever a producer
False – eating fruit makes it a decomposer
37.
The large ears of a jackrabbit help it to keep warm during cold desert nights. True or false?
False – the ears help it lose heat
True – the statement is correct
True, because ears trap a layer of warm air
True, but only in the winter months
38.
Kangaroo rats produce large amounts of very dilute urine to help cool their bodies. True or false?
True – the statement is correct
False – their urine is very concentrated
True, because they drink so much water
True, but only during the daytime heat
39.
Decomposers are not needed in a desert food web because dead plants and animals simply dry out. True or false?
True – the statement is correct
True, because nothing rots in hot weather
True, but only in the rainy season
False – decomposers recycle the nutrients
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
Part of Grade 7 - Unit 4: Ecosystems — see every lesson and quiz in this unit.
Accepted payment methods