Solved by a verified expert:Select 3 of the following questions and compose a cited 200- 300 wordresponse. Each response must have a unique academic citation.1. As discussed in the Biology and Society section, burning biomass toproduce electricity avoids many of the problems associated withgathering, refining, transporting, and burning fossil fuels. Yet the useof biomass as fuel is not without its own set of problems. Whatchallenges might arise from a large-scale conversion to biomassenergy? How do these challenges compare with those encounteredwith fossil fuels? Which set of challenges do you think is more likelyto be overcome? Does one energy source have more benefits andfewer costs than the others? Explain.2. Many infertile couples turn to in vitro fertilization to try to have a baby.In this technique, sperm and ova are collected and used to createeight-cell embryos for implantation into a woman’s uterus. At theeight-cell stage, one of the fetal cells can be removed without causingharm to the developing fetus. Once removed, the cell can begenetically tested. Some couples may know that a particular geneticdisease runs in their family. They might wish to avoid implanting anyembryos with the disease-causing genes. Do you think this is anacceptable use of genetic testing? What if a couple wanted to usegenetic testing to select embryos for traits unrelated to disease, suchas freckles? Do you think that couples undergoing in vitro fertilizationshould be allowed to perform whatever genetic tests they wish? Or doyou think that there should be limits on what tests can be performed?How do you draw the line between genetic tests that are acceptableand those that are not?3. The human body has not changed much in the last 100,000 years, buthuman culture has changed a great deal. As a result of our culture, wechange the environment at a rate far greater than the rate at whichmany species, including our own, can evolve. What evidence of rapidenvironmental change do you see regularly? What aspects of humanculture are responsible for these changes? Do you see any evidence ofa decrease in the rate of human-caused environmental changes?4. Mammals have a four-chambered heart, with two ventricles and twoatria. So do birds, alligators, and crocodiles, but other living reptileshave a three-chambered heart, with just one ventricle. Paleontologistsdebate whether dinosaurs had a three-chambered or a four-chamberedheart. Long-necked sauropod dinosaurs could have had unusualcirculatory demands because their head may have been raised farabove their heart. The farther the head is above the heart, the greaterthe systolic pressure needs to be for blood to reach the brain. Forexample, the long-necked dinosaur Brachiosaurus may have carried its head as much as 6 m (20 ft) above its heart. It is estimated that suchan anatomy demanded a systolic blood pressure of 500 mm ofmercury for blood to reach the brain! Some paleontologists considerthis evidence that dinosaurs had a four-chambered heart that supporteda dual circulatory system similar to that of birds and mammals, ratherthan the three-chambered heart of most nonbird reptiles. Can youexplain why?5. Design a laboratory experiment to measure the effect of watertemperature on the population growth of a certain phytoplanktonspecies from a pond.
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