CLEP Natural Sciences case studies
CLEP Natural Sciences · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The CLEP Natural Sciences exam is a College Board credit-by-examination option that lets candidates earn college credit for an introductory, non-major survey course sequence covering both biological and physical sciences. According to the College Board, it is designed for students who need to satisfy a distribution or general education requirement rather than for science majors, and it tests the understanding of scientific concepts expected of an adult with a liberal arts education. The CLEP Natural Sciences case studies are 5 cases and about 4,206 words.
1A Testcross That Does Not Behave: Linkage in Drosophila
A student in a genetics teaching lab sets up a testcross: 40 heterozygous female Drosophila (wild-type body colour, normal wings) are crossed to ebony-bodied, vestigial-winged males. The two loci are on the same chromosome, but the student has not been told whether they are linked.
791 words, about 4 min2Mark–Recapture in a Meadow About to Be Mowed
A conservation group must decide whether a population of flightless beetles in a 2.5-hectare meadow can survive a planned autumn mowing. In June they hand-collect 80 beetles, mark each with a small paint dot, and release them at the point of capture.
824 words, about 4 min3Two Unlabelled White Solids and a Very Hard Third
Two unlabelled white solids are found in a school store room. Solid A melts at about 801 °C; it does not conduct electricity as a solid but conducts well when molten.
870 words, about 4 min4A Block on a Ramp and the Missing Joules
A 2.0 kg aluminium block is released from rest at the top of a 25° incline and slides 2.5 m along the surface to the bottom, where a light gate records its speed as 4.0 m/s. A student predicts the speed at the bottom using v² = 2gL·sinθ, obtains about 4.6 m/s, and claims the light gate must be miscalibrated.
841 words, about 4 min5Reading a Roadcut: Trilobites, a Dyke, and Three Dates
A new roadcut exposes the following sequence, listed from bottom to top. Steeply folded, dark shale and sandstone containing fragmented trilobites.
880 words, about 4 min