Question

Terry and James are partners in a mystery lab. The boys have a compound light microscope and several unlabeled slides. Their task is to find out everything they can about the samples on the slides. Terry puts a slide on the microscope stage and focuses the lenses on the sample. He can see that the sample is made up of tiny cells.

Even without knowing anything else about the cells he sees, What can Terry reasonably conclude about them?
• A. The cells are currently alive.
O B. The cells came from animals or plants.
O C. The cells were produced by other cells.
• D. The cells help an organism to fight off illnesses.

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

C. The cells were produced by other cells.

Answer 2

Why c?

Answer 3

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

Terry can reasonably conclude that the cells were produced by other cells because all cells come from pre-existing cells through the process of cell division. This is a fundamental concept in biology known as the cell theory. Therefore, seeing cells on a slide would indicate that they were produced by other cells rather than spontaneously appearing.

Answer 4

Why not d?

Answer 5

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

D. The cells help an organism to fight off illnesses is not a reasonable conclusion based solely on the fact that Terry can see cells on a slide. The function of the cells, whether they are involved in fighting off illnesses or not, cannot be determined just by looking at them under a microscope. This information would require further investigation and analysis beyond simply observing the cells.