CLEP Biology case studies
CLEP Biology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The CLEP Biology exam is a College-Level Examination Program test that lets candidates earn college credit by demonstrating knowledge equivalent to a one-year college general biology course. It is aimed at students entering or already enrolled in college who want to place out of introductory biology, and it is accepted at institutions that set their own credit-granting policies. The exam covers molecular and cellular biology, organismal biology, and population biology, with approximately equal weight given to each area. It contains approximately 115 questions to be answered in 90 minutes, and some of those are pretest questions that are not scored. The CLEP Biology case studies are 5 cases and about 2,406 words.
1The Dilated Cardiomyopathy Puzzle: A Mitochondrial Defect
A 34-year-old woman presents with fatigue, shortness of breath, and palpitations. Echocardiography shows a dilated left ventricle with an ejection fraction of 30% (normal 55%).
407 words, about 2 min2The Vanishing Pollinators: A Community Ecology Dilemma
A 50-hectare meadow supports a community of 20 plant species and 10 bee species. The plants rely on bees for pollination; some are generalists (visited by many bee species), while two are specialists (each pollinated by a single bee species).
466 words, about 2 min3The Antibiotic Resistance Trade-off: A Hospital Outbreak
A hospital ICU experiences an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP). The strain carries a plasmid with the blaKPC gene, which encodes a carbapenemase.
468 words, about 2 min4The Rising Star: Altitude Adaptation in a Plant Species
A species of alpine plant, Silene acaulis, grows from 1,000 m to 3,000 m elevation in a mountain range. At lower elevations, plants are tall (30 cm) with large leaves; at higher elevations, they are compact (5 cm) with small, thick leaves.
471 words, about 2 min5The Predator-Prey Cycle: A Case of Overabundance
A wildlife reserve has a population of 200 deer and 20 wolves. The deer population grows at a rate of 0.5 per year (exponential) in the absence of wolves.
594 words, about 3 min