Christmas biology

During Christmas, you may hear people talk about "kissing under the mistletoe," a plant decoration. While mistletoe is a plant, it takes a lot of its water and nutrients from trees that it lives on. What is the best word to describe mistletoe?

• host

• parasite

• autotroph

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

Reindeer are often portrayed during Christmas. As animals, we know that they are...

• autotrophic eukaryotes

• autotrophic prokaryotes

• heterotrophic eukaryotes

Many plants are used to decorate for the holidays. What is NOT true about plants?

• are autotrophic

• are eukaryotic

• have cell walls

• are unicellular

Name the substance that makes Christmas trees green.

• E-102 (tartrazine)

• Chlorophyll

• Chloroplasts

• Phenolphthalein

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

What nutrient is turkey an excellent source of?

• Carbohydrate

• Lipid

• Protein

• Fiber

Sodium bicarbonate is the scientific name for this ingredient in many holiday cookies.

• flour

• sugar

• baking powder

• baking soda

Many holiday dishes are topped with this commonly use compound containing sodium chloride.

• sugar

• pepper

• salt

• baking powder

A common plant decoration during Christmas is holly. While a pretty decoration, holly berries are toxic for humans, causing vomiting, etc. A type of holly that lives in Japan is called Ilex serrata. What is the name of the genus?

• Holly

• Illex

• serrata

Peppermint is a popular flavor during the holiday season. This mint was first described by Carl Linneaus who was is known for what?

• Inventing binomial nomenclature

• Popularizing binomial nomenclature

• Getting rid of binomial nomenclature

Christmas trees are usually evergreen conifers, which are trees that are green all year and have pinecones and needles. Conifers must have male and female structures to reproduce; this is an example of what type of reproduction?

• asexual reproduction

• sexual reproduction

• conjugation

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS3-2