Formative_DE_LE_Unit3

Last updated almost 3 years ago

36 questions

3.1 History of Life on Earth

3.2 The Development of Earth

3.3 Evidence for Plate Tectonics

3.4 Relative Dating

3.5 Evidence for Evolution

3.6 Mechanisms for Evolution

Formative_DE_LE_Unit3

Last updated almost 3 years ago

36 questions

3.1 History of Life on Earth

According to this cladogram, which species is the most advanced?

Place each organism in its correct location in the classification system.

Use 3.1 Explore 1 to help you sequence the events of Earth's history that shows how life formes possibly appeared.

Birds evolved from a different line of reptiles.
Early arthropods, which are also invertebrates, first appeared.
Proto-amphibians (animals having characteristics of both fish and amphibians) first appeared.
The first primates evolved.
Over the course of several million years, some amphibians evolved into organisms that scientists call “reptile-like amphibians.”
Amphibians evolved out of their “proto” phase to become some of the most dominant animals on land.
Mammals first appeared on Earth. Scientists use fossils to trace the evolution of one group of reptiles into early mammals.
The first simple animals appeared.
Modern humans emerged.
The first animals with bilateral symmetry evolved.

The following passage discusses changes in the environment and how living things respond to those changes. Which sentences state incorrect information? Select all that apply.

There have been many changes in Earth's environmental conditions throughout its history. If living things do not adapt to these changes, they will evolve. Fossils can show us the ways in which organisms have evolved over time. One example of a dramatic environmental change occurred during the Cretaceous period, when approximately 75 percent of animals became extinct. This event is one of several mass extinctions that have occurred in Earth's history. While scientists are not sure of the cause of this event, global climate changes due to the impact of a large asteroid is one theory. When an environment is not changing, or is in balance, such as in parts of the rainforests of the Amazon, the ecosystem has rich biodiversity because there are many different species of plants and animals. This is a fragile balance. Human activities, such as deforestation, result in the extinction of species, causing an increase in biodiversity. Environmental changes can be caused by nature and humans, and how species respond to those changes determines whether their species will continue.

Observe the diagram of the phylogenic tree. Choose the correct word from each drop-down menu to show the relationships between the organisms.

The group __________ is the common ancestor of all other groups in the evolutionary tree shown. Based on the information in the tree, nematodes are most closely related to __________. Annelids are more distantly related to Echinodermata than to __________. Chordates are descendants of __________.

Fossils can be formed from either the _______ or the marks, such as footprints or _______ (trace fossils), left by an organism. When most organisms die, they _______ and leave no trace of their existence. Therefore, fossils are formed very rarely. Most fossils form in environments where _______ is taking place. Sediments, such as mud or fine volcanic ash, provide the best environment for _______ . Organisms that die on _______ are less likely to be fossilized than those that die in lakes or shallow seas. This means that environments such as lakes and shallow seas produce lots of fossils. Organisms that lived or died in these environments are _______ in the fossil record.

Fossils allow scientists to understand the history of life on Earth. Unfortunately, gaps exist in the fossil record. Which of the following organisms are least likely to form fossils and, therefore, are likely to leave a gap in the fossil record?

bird
jellyfish
earthworm
snail
fish
oyster

More likely to form fossil due to bones
More likely to form fossil due to shell
Most likely not form a fossil because it is soft bodied

3.2 The Development of Earth

Classify the sentences about the water cycle and the carbon cycle as to whether they are true or false.

Liquid H2O is involved in the carbon cycle. __________

Plants participate in the water cycle. __________

The water cycle has a steady amount of water stored in each state: solid, liquid, and gas. __________

The atmosphere has equal amounts of water and carbon. __________

Temperature affects the absorption of water into the atmosphere. __________

Choose the phrases that best describe aspects of the cycle that allows Earth’s crust to form and reform.

Match the terms about photosynthesis with their definitions.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
photosynthesis		a source of energy for many living things
glucose		a colorless, odorless gas common in the atmosphere
cellular respiration		a process where CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored in other spheres
carbon storage		a molecule that absorbs energy from light in a chemical process
chlorophyll		a chemical process where the reactants carbon dioxide and water form the products glucose and oxygen
CO2		a colorless, odorless compound which can exist in a liquid, solid, or gas state under normal conditions on Earth
H2O		a chemical process where the reactants oxygen and glucose release the products energy, carbon dioxide, and water

Drag and drop to match the descriptions to the internal layer(s) of Earth that they best describe. Each description may be used for more than one layer.

composed of iron and nickel
solid
liquid
hottest portion of the planet
forms part of the lithosphere
contains the largest mass
causes movement of tectonic plates

Inner Core
Outer Core
Mantle
Crust

Put the various phases of Earth’s formation in the correct order.

Rain falls and violent storms occur
The oceans are formed, but there is still no free oxygen in the atmosphere.
The increase of the gravitational forces reduces the volume of Earth.
The ozone layer protects Earth's surface and living things from the sun's radiation.
The denser elements sink toward the inner core.
Volcanic eruptions send out the lighter elements; some form the early atmospheric gases.
Primitive marine organisms perform photosynthesis.
Earth is an incandescent molten body.

3.3 Evidence for Plate Tectonics

Match each layer with each description.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
Atmosphere		air with floating liquids and solids
Outer Core		brittle, hard rock
Mantle		dense, slowly-moving semisolid
Inner Core		dense, hot liquid metal
Lithosphere		dense, hot solid metal

A pot of cold water is placed halfway over a gas burner as shown, with the burner turned on. What will happen inside the pot as it heats? Drag the events into the correct order.

Flame heats the bottom of pot.
Warmed water rises due to lower density.
Whole pot is same temperature.
Cooler water sinks due to greater density.
Bottom of pot heats water near the bottom of pot.

Match the terms related to radioactive decay and dating with their descriptions and definitions.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
alpha decay		release of a helium nucleus
gamma decay		release of electron and antineutrino
carbon-14		half-life of 5,730 years
uranium-238		release of radiation
beta decay		half-life of 4.5 billion years

Earth’s magnetic field is generated by the flow and circulation of the liquid _______ around the solid _______. This field is not static—it moves all the time. For this reason, magnetic north and true north (the north end of Earth’s rotational axis) do not always correspond. _______ is a fixed geographic location, but _______ is what attracts the needle in a compass. Magnetic north migrates over time in a phenomenon called _______. So, magnetic north does not always match up with true geographic north. The angle of this difference at any given location is called the _______.

Alfred Wegener developed the continental drift hypothesis with support from evidence found all over the world. This hypothesis stated that the continents had been connected to one another early in Earth’s history, but moved apart over time. Wegener did not have any evidence that could support an explanation for the mechanism behind this continental movement. Much later, the plate tectonics theory was proposed to explain this mechanism. The plate tectonics theory states that the Earth’s crust is divided into separate plates and that mantle convection drives their movement. Use your understanding of these two different ideas to think about evidence that supports each of them. Sort the individual pieces of evidence by deciding if it was originally used to support the continental drift hypothesis or the plate tectonic theory. Note that while plate tectonics theory builds on the continental drift hypothesis, each piece of evidence fits best in one column or the other, not both.

3.4 Relative Dating

Look at the picture and determine the relative age of the layers. Then write the letters of the layers in order from oldest to youngest rock layer.

Read the phrases and determine if the property or practice described explains relative age dating or not. Once you have decided, drag the phrase to the appropriate box.

cross-cutting relationships
chemical characteristics
estimated age
exact age
gaps in time occur
fossil study
law of superposition
looking at rock layers
radiometric dating
physical characteristics

Describes Relative Age Dating
Does Not Describe Relative Age Dating

Match the name of each law or principle to the statements it supports.

In an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rock, each layer is younger than the layer over which it lies.
An intrusion that cuts through a rock layer is younger than the rock layer.
A fault cutting through a rock layer is younger than the rock layer.
Rock layers are deposited horizontally.
Rock layers that are not horizontal have been disturbed.
Undisturbed layers will be horizontal.

Law of superposition
Principle of horizontality
Principle of cross-cutting relationships

The different periods of the Earth’s history have been investigated and interpreted based on the modern geological and biological theories. In the table below, some known and important events of the Earth’s past are placed in chronological order (from top to bottom). For each item, determine the principle that could better help understanding the corresponding period.

The first living organisms begin to populate the water bodies on Earth __________

Continents move together, generating climate disruptions, extinction of marine invertebrates, and the formation of mountain chains __________

Ninety percent of the marine species and 70 percent of the land species become extinct in the Great Dying __________

Dinosaurs proliferate on land and in marine habitats __________

An asteroid impacts leads to the extinction of more than 75 percent of all species, including the dinosaurs __________

Mammals become more diverse and widespread on Earth __________

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
angular unconformity		an unconformity in which younger sediments have been deposited on top of the eroded surface of tilted or folded older rock layers
disconformity		an unconformity in which the rock layers are parallel
nonconformity		an unconformity in which sedimentary rock layers overlie an erosion surface cut into igneous or metamorphic rocks

3.5 Evidence for Evolution

_______ are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms that provide information about Earth’s history. Using _______, scientists are able to estimate a fossil’s age based on the known radioactive decay rates of various _______ that accumulated in the organism when it was alive. Fossils are also dated by their specific presence in older or younger _______ in Earth’s history.

A scientist examines the two animals shown below and concludes that they must have shared a common ancestor at some point. Based on your understanding of homologous structures, determine whether his conclusion is valid. Explain your reasoning.

Interpret the molecular clock of Cytochrome c shown here, then select the statements that are true.

_______ is the study of the distribution of organisms, species, ecosystems, and biomes around the world.

_______ is an ongoing process that occurs in all populations. Since natural selection is one driving force behind _______, it makes sense that evolutionary processes are readily observable in natural and man-made systems. Evolution has been observed in wide variety of studies, perhaps the most famous of which is work conducted on the _______ medium ground finch. Observations of this bird, made over a few decades on one of the islands in the archipelago, has shown that, within the population, the size of its beak changes in response to competition with other bird species and fluctuates dramatically in response to _______.

3.6 Mechanisms for Evolution

Some examples of scientific concepts are listed below. Match each example with the correct concept.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
variation		In a population of sheep, some are brown and some are white.
adaptation		An insect avoids predators by looking like a leaf.
evolution		A new species ofplant develops and another species of plant dies out.

Genetic variations allow for an individual to be successful in a particular environment. Which outcomes show where characteristics are likely to be successful for an individual, and which outcomes show where they are not?

an individual is unable to reproduce
an organism dies off before reaching maturity
an offspring living in the Arctic is born with white fur
an individual that lives in the ground has claws
a plant that lives in the desert needs limited water
an individual has less than the average number of offspring
a creature that lives in the ocean has gills to breathe in the water

Successful
Unsuccessful

Choose the best words or phrases to explain how Darwin’s theories have changed our understanding of how life originated on Earth.

Before Darwin's theories, scientists thought that species __________. Because of Darwin's research, scientists now believe that species __________. New types of life originate on Earth because they __________.

Determine whether each of these organisms resulted from natural selection or artificial selection.

A population of birds develop harder beaks in order to eat seeds with hard shells
A farmer sells grapes that are the offspring of crosses between his best strains
Dogs are descendedfrom wolves that have been domesticated
A species of fern that can grow in acidic soil becomes the predominant organism in an ecosystem after the soil becomes acidic

Artificial Selection
Natural Selection

 
Different birds descended from the same common ancestor can have different traits. Choose the best words or phrases that explain what may cause these differences.

Different populations of birds can diverge into different species with different traits because of __________. Some populations may live in areas that have plentiful nectar in flowers. In these places, birds with a long, thin beak would have a __________. In other areas, hard seeds may be plentiful. In these places, birds with short, strong beaks would have a__________. The populations with the appropriate traits would __________ more often, resulting in an increase in the frequency of birds with strong beaks within the population.

Based on your understanding of natural selection, determine how each of these scenarios would change the allelic distribution of a population.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
		An introduction of an invasive predator that eats mainly small fish
		An increasing preferencd of females for males with blond fur coloring
		The introduction of a new species of mouse that only eats only medium sized seeds

A student breeds a population of flowers with two alleles, red and white. Over time, the white allele, q, decreases in frequency. She plots the frequency of this allele found in her population in the graph below. Assuming that Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium holds, what is the frequency of heterozygotes in generation 6?

Many different sources of evolution can drive changes in a species. Determine what was responsible for population change in each of these cases.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
Mutation		The appearance of pink-furred rabbits in a population of white rabbits
Bottleneck Effect		A flood drowns most of the grass population in an ecosystem
Founder Effect		A storm carries a group of butterflies to an unfamiliar forest where they establish a new population
Sexual Selection		A change in the color of a male bird's feathers makes it more attractive to females