The format of the exam will be similar to, but not identical to, the previous exams. There will be two short questions where you have to write out your answer; you will not see these short questions ahead of time, but a complete answer should be 2-3 sentences long. There will also be the usual longer, two-paragraph essay. Three questions will be on the actual exam and they will be selected from the five questions given at the end of this page.
Sample Multiple Choice Questions (these specific questions will NOT be on the exam)
The next two questions deal with the following situation: You are at a location where the sun rises 40 degrees to the north of east and the sun does get very high in the sky during the day.
1. Of the following choices, where are you?
A. Costa Rica, a country in the tropics, near the earth's equator.
B. Alaska, a state which is quite far to the north.
C. The earth's north pole.
D. Delaware.
E. cannot be determined from the information given.
2. Which season of the year is it?
A. summer. B. spring or fall. C. winter. D. the monsoon season.
3. A galaxy is a(n)
A. Whirlpool-shaped cloud of gas located in the solar system, in the asteroid belt.
B. Huge collection of millions or billions of stars.
C. object which expanded, in the Big Bang, to form the present Universe.
D. cloud of gas which is about to form one single star with a bunch of planets around it.
4. Suppose you were to use a soccer ball and a tennis ball to represent a scale model of the earth-moon system. Which of the following would be the most reasonable representation?
A. the tennis ball is the earth and the soccer ball, 1 meter away, represents the moon.
B. the soccer ball is the earth and the tennis ball, located 1 foot (0.3 meters) away, is the moon.
C. the soccer ball is the earth and the tennis ball, located 30 feet (9 meters) away, is the moon.
D. the soccer ball is the earth and the tennis ball, located 1 mile away, is the moon.
5. The Big Bang Theory
A. is not accepted by astronomers any more.
B. can explain the expanding Universe and some other things we see in the sky.
C. is consistent with the idea that the Universe is a few thousand years old.
D. explains Polynesian wayfinding.
Possible Essay Questions (three of these WILL be on the exam, and you write on ONE)
1. Because western nations have greater economic wealth, it has been all too easy in the past to presume that all forms of western science have always been superior to other ways of trying to understand nature. Does Polynesian wayfinding demonstrate that this myth of the superiority of western science is false? Justify your answer.
2. Craig Venter, President of Celera Corporation, received the Common Wealth Award in the Delaware Biotechnology Building on Saturday, April 28th. Celera was one of two teams to unveil its map of the human genome in February of 2001. (It is really true that he receives the award on April 28th, 2001). You are a journalist covering this event. Based on your knowledge of the Human Genome project, write two paragraphs of your news story: One paragraph should describe why he is getting the award. The second paragraph should reflect the views of the protesters who lined up outside the building arguing that the award is premature. (To my knowledge, there were no actual protesters at the event.)
3. You are an editor for the University of Delaware newspaper THE REVIEW. Someone submits the following article for inclusion in the newspaper. The credibility of the newspaper depends on your publishing articles that are reasonable. Do you:
Publish this article? (If so, write an essay stating why you think it is justifiable to publish it).
Reject this article? (If so, write an essay stating why you are rejecting it.)
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4. Coal being burned at the EdgeMoor power plant turns a wheel which then generates electricity. The electricity then flows through wires and eventually arrives in room 130 Sharp Lab, where you are taking this examination. It goes into a light bulb and produces some light, but only 20 % of the energy going into the light bulb makes light in the fluorescent bulbs which are in the room. Describe the flow of energy in this system (you should probably draw an energy chain), and also describe how the energy from the turning wheel at EdgeMoor is converted into electrical current.
5. Suppose that you are working for Josie's Party Supply company. One of your customers, for some strange reason, wants you to supply balloons to them that sink to the ground rather than float in the air - so helium balloons won't work. However, these balloons should be like helium balloons in all other respects. The manager turns to you because you have had some chemistry in college. The possible gases that your store can get commercially are fluorine (F, which in its gaseous form comes as a molecule, F2 ), hydrogen (H, also a molecule in gaseous form), chlorine (Cl, also a molecule), Argon (Ar), and Krypton (Kr). The atomic numbers of these gases are
H-1, F-9, Cl-17, Ar-18, and Kr-36. Select one or two of these gases as being the best for this purpose and justify your choice. Hint: You may want to use the periodic table which is supplied.
Answers to the multiple choice questions: 1D, 2A, 3B, 4C, 5B.
Updated 5/20/01 5:40 PM