Introduction to Algae Quiz Answers - Coursera!

Introduction to Algae complete course is currently being offered by UC San Diego through Coursera platform.

About this Course: 

This course was produced by the Algae Technology Educational Consortium and UC San Diego with funding from the Algae Foundation, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Algae are an extremely diverse group of organisms that can be found in almost every ecosystem on the planet, and they play an essential role for life on earth. They are little bio-factories that use the process of photosynthesis to create chemical compounds that we can utilize for food, feed, medicine, and even energy. We’ve brought together some of foremost algae experts from industry and academia to teach you the fundamentals of algae.

This course will cover what algae are, why they are important, and why we are interested in them for both their environmental benefit, as well as their use for products. You will also explore the vast diversity of algae including the characteristics and applications of some of the main types of algae that are in commercial use today.

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Course Link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/algae

Introduction to Algae Week 1 Coursera Quiz Answers

Algae Basics Quiz Answers

Q1. The chloroplast of all algae are believed to have arisen from a eukaryotic cell engulfing a cyanobacteria cell.

• True
• False

Q2. Animals are more diverse than algae.

• True
• False

Q3. Algae are ecologically considered primary producers.

• True
• False

Q4. Seaweed has only recently been used as medical product.

• True
• False

Q5. Which of the following are uses for seaweed?

• sushi wrapper
• gelling agent
• sunscreen
• vitamin
• soap
• laboratory growth medium

Q6. What cell structure in algae was originally a cyanobacteria engulfed in a eukaryote in algae’s evolutionary past?

• Nucleus
• Chloroplast
• Cell Wall
• Chlorophyll

Q7. Brown algae evolved in the primary endosymbiosis phase.

• True
• False

Q8. Diatoms are the most diverse algae lineage.

• True
• False

Q9. What organism produced free oxygen in the atmosphere 3.5 billion years ago?

• cyanobacteria

Q10. Chlorophyll-a is present in all photosynthetic organisms that produce oxygen.

• True
• False

Q11. Approximately What fraction of oxygen on earth is produced by algae?

• 10%
• 25%
• 50%
• 100%

Q12. What type of DNA is in an algal chloroplast?

• Eukaryotic
• Symbiotic
• Protoplasmic
• Prokaryotic

Introduction to Algae Week 2 Coursera Quiz Answers

Algae Diversity Quiz Answers

Q1. Green algae are eukaryotic meaning they have a nuclear genome separated from their cytoplasm.

• True
• False

Q2. Green algae and plants are genetically closely related.

• True
• False

Q3. A defining characteristic of green algae is that they do not have a chloroplast.

• True
• False

Q4. How many genomes does a green algae cell have?

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Q5. The majority of red algae are found in fresh water.

• True
• False

Q6. Which cell structures in a green algae cell contain genetic material?

• Mitochondria
• Cytoplasm
• Endoplasmic reticulum
• Chloroplast
• Cell Wall
• Nucleu

Q7. What unique feature do diatoms have?

• They are the only algae that can fix nitrogen.
• They taste like licorice.
• They have cell walls made of silica (glass).
• If you listen closely to them, you can hear the sound of the ocean.

Q8. Red algae can have different morphology depending on the generation.

• True
• False

Q9. Which seaweed morphological strategy results in the largest of seaweeds?

• Flattened
• Filamentous
• Cylindrical
• Complex
• Siphonous

Q10. Considering the “tree of life”, which of the major taxa of seaweeds (Red, Brown or Green Algae) are most closely aligned with the Land Plants?

• Red Algae
• Brown Algae
• Green Algae
• None or closely aligned with land plants.

Q11. What is the evidence that cyanobacteria have been on earth for several billion years?

• Fossils
• Their cell structure
• Analysis of earth’s past oxygen levels
• Current ocean chemical composition

Q12. What unique adaptations do cyanobacteria have that have made them successful?

• They are the only prokaryotes that carry out oxygenic photosynthesis.
• Some can fix nitrogen into ammonia.
• They can consume most types of prokaryotes.
• They have unique cell walls to fend off predators.

Q13. Match the following seaweed thallus features with its land plant counterpart: A. Holdfast, B. Stipe, C. Blade

• A. Stem, B. Root, C. Leaf
• A. Root, B. Stem, C. Leaf
• A. Leaf, B. Root, C. Stem
• A. Root, B. Leaf, C. Stem

Q14. Which of the following is NOT a reason why there is an ongoing interest in using cyanobacteria in biotechnology applications?

• Robust growth under diverse environmental conditions
• Ability to grow in the dark
• Ability to carry out genetic manipulation
• Potentially valuable natural products/secondary metabolites

Q15. Diatoms have more sophisticated and efficient ways of utilizing carbon in the cell than green algae.

• True
• False

Introduction to Algae Week 3 Coursera Quiz Answers

Algal Ecology Quiz Answers

Q1. Algal diversity can enhance bioenergy production by which of the following mechanisms:

• Reducing the uptake of nutrients from the environment
• Increasing the dispersal of weedy species from the environment
• Expanding the range of environmental conditions that are favorable to growth
• Increasing losses to enemies like grazers or diseases
• Decreasing rate of photosynthesis

Q2. Which of the following is NOT a key difference between algae and terrestrial crop plants?

• Epidemics and grazers cause faster declines in algae populations.
• Algae disperse through the air and are rapidly colonized by weeds.
• Different species of algae vary more in terms of size and genetics.
• Algae produce more biomass in less space.
• Terrestrial plants are more diverse.

Q3. We expect algal production systems containing more species to produce more biomass AND vary more in productivity over time?

• True
• False

Q4. Which of the following are predators that can ingest microalgae?

• nanoflagellates
• dinoflagellates
• rotifers
• bacteria
• viruses
• amoebae
• copepods
• fungi
• ciliates

Q5. Microalgae can be infected by viruses, but not by microscopic fungi.

• True
• False

Q6. Because microalgae are so small, they are not able to evade their predators by changing their cell shapes or cell walls, but must instead rely on chemical defenses.

• True
• False

Q7. Pond crashes caused by biological contaminants are a currently a minor problem for industrial algal growth, accounting for less than 1% of unproductive culturing time.

• True
• False

Q8. An integrated pest management cycle includes:

• Intervening when pest populations reach a predetermined threshold
• Monitoring for the presence or activities of known pests
• Ignoring unknown or novel contaminants
• Ending once the intervention has occurred

Q9. When determining the cause of a catastrophic pond crash, population level data is sufficient to identify the causative agent; reproduction of the crash is not necessary.

• True
• False

Introduction to Algae Week 4 Coursera Quiz Answers

Algae Biomanufacturing Part 1 Quiz Answers

Q1. Petroleum was initially produced by photosynthesis.

• True
• False

Q2. For algae products, proteins are always more valuable than lipids.

• True
• False

Q3. Agriculture is considered bio-manufacturing.

• True
• False

Q4. In algae bio-manufacturing, what are the inputs?

• water
• carbon dioxide
• glucose
• sunlight
• oxygen
• nutrients

Q5. Heterotrophic algae grow in the dark.

• True
• False

Q6. Photosynthesis is a key function of heterotrophic organisms.

• True
• False

Q7. Which of the following are good traits for algae to grow heterotrophically?

• Ability to consume organic carbon
• Ability to grow in light limited conditions
• Ability to be sheer resistant
• Ability to grow in open containers

Q8. Which of the following are products that have been made from heterotrophically produced algae?

• Butter
• Flour
• Oil
• Nutritional Fatty Acids
• Nutritional Protein

Q9. What attributes of closed-system photobioreactors allow them to attain such high biomass productivities as compared to productivities for open pond systems?

• More environmental control.
• Ability to grow at large scales.
• There is less contamination.
• More types of algae can grow in closed systems.

Q10. Why are large open pond systems best applied for the production of biofuels?

• Biofuel requires more oxygen which is provided by open pond systems.
• Closed-system photobioreactors are actually better suited for biofuel production.
• In order to make algae biofuel profitable, large quantities need to be grown relatively cheaply.
• Algae used for biofuel production need more surface area.

Q11. Algae production facilities cannot use carbon dioxide exhaust from power plants because it would be toxic to the algae.

• True
• False

Q12. Algae is the most aqua-cultured organism in the world.

• True
• False

Q13. Nori seaweed starts as spores.

• True
• False

Q14. Gracilaria is typically farmed by trimming mature seaweed and planting directly into the sea floor.

• True
• False

Q15. What is the biggest impediment to seaweed farming in the U.S.?

• Competition with Asian markets
• Water use conflicts with fishing
• Unproductive seaweed species
• Drought

Introduction to Algae Week 5 Coursera Quiz Answers

Algae Biomanufacturing Part 2 Quiz Answers

Q1. 95% of algae is made up of:

• Potassium
• Carbon
• Calcium
• Nitrogen
• Oxygen
• Hydrogen

Q2. What is the most direct measurement of algae culture?

• Optical density
• Spectroscopy
• Cell number and size
• Biomass quantification

Q3. What growth stage is occurring in the circled part of the graph?

• Limitation
• Growth
• Rest
• Lag

Q4. Nitrogen is the only algae nutrient we can “make”.

• True
• False

Q5. What are the three essential macro-nutrients for algal growth?

• Phosphate
• Nitrogen
• Calcium
• Potassium
• Oxygen

Q6. Why is it so important to recycle nitrogen?

• Creating fixed nitrogen requires fossil fuel which is a limited resource.
• It is very expensive to mine nitrogen from the ground.
• There is a limited supply of nitrogen.
• There is an abundance of nitrogen so it is not important to recycle it.

Q7. Fixed nitrogen can only be artificially produced for agriculture.

• True
• False

Q8. What needs to be extracted from algae to make products like biofuels and urethane polymers?

• Proteins
• Chlorophyll
• Lipids
• Polyurethane

Q9. Why can’t the methods developed for extracting corn oil be applied to algae?

• Algae biomass is in water and it’s too expensive to dry.
• Algae has too many bi-products.
• The type of oil in corn is different from algae.
• Algae don’t produce as much oil as corn.

Q10. What was the unique solution to extraction from algae?

• Two-pot System
• Heat Exchange System
• Bligh and Dyer System
• Chloroform Extraction System

Q11. Which of the following algae-produced chemicals does not need to be processed to create valuable products?

• Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Biomass
• Lipids

Q12. Which of the following is true?

• Triacylglycerides are key proteins produced by algae.
• Algae produce triacylglycerides to store energy.
• Algae consume triacylglycerides to strengthen their cell walls.
• Triacylglycerides are generally small chemicals with short chains.

Q13. What is a drop-in fuel?

• Older fuel sources that are no longer in use today because of their low energy conversion.
• Fuel that reduces carbon emissions.
• Fuel that can be used in engines without needing to modify engine mechanics.
• Fuel additive to increase octane.Older fuel sources that are no longer in use today because of their low energy conversion.

Q14. It requires less energy to produce bio-based polyols than petroleum-based polyols.

• True
• False

Q15. In large scale algae production, the dewatering process usually starts with a centrifuge to remove the majority of the water and then another technique like filtration or dissolved air floatation to remove the remaining water.

• True
• False

Q16. What is considered a good percentage of biomass in media after dewatering?

• 1-2%
• 15-30%
• 50%
• 75-80%

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