Evidences of Evolution

Francesco Redi ran a series of experiments to test spontaneous generation. He placed raw meat in two different containers. One container was completely open and the other had an air-tight seal. The open container produced maggots while the sealed container did not. Supporters of spontaneous generation refused to accept the results from the sealed jar as proof against spontaneous generation because they argued that air was necessary for spontaneous generation to occur.

Redi later setup a third container showing that spontaneous generation does not happen even in the presence of air. Which best describes his third container?

• a container covered with a thin piece of cheese cloth

• another open container

• another sealed container

• a sealed container with adult flies and meat

Louis Pasteur disproved the theory of spontaneous generation with his use of the swan neck flask. Sterilized broth did not grow bacteria in his swan neck flasks until he tilted the flasks allowing the broth to come in contact with the dust trapped in the “neck” of the flask.

What age old problem did the swan neck flask solve for those trying to disprove spontaneous generation?

• It allowed for faster sealing of the broth after boiling.

• It provided samples that were more easily sterilized and viewed.

• It allowed the broth to freely receive air while trapping dust and bacteria.

• It allowed the experimenter to smell the broth throughout the entire process.

Which of the following would be an example of homologous structures?

• the trunk of an elephant, the snout of a pig, and the nose of a dog

• the wings of a bat and the wings of a butterfly

• the tale of a dolphin and the hump on a camel’s back

• the arm bones of an ape and the front leg bones of a horse

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Which of the following would be an example of what evolutionists call a vestigial structure?

• The lack in size of the ostrich wing.

• The forelimb bones of a gorilla and a horse.

• The wings of a bat and the wings of a bird.

• The dorsal fin of a shark.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

A bird's wing and a butterfly's wing have the same function, but they have very different structures. These structures are classified as follows:

• homologous structures

• analogous structures

• vestigial structures

• embryological homologues

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Spallanzani showed in 1768 that microbes will not grow in a sealed flask that has been boiled for an extended period of time. Spallanzani successfully disproved spontaneous generation, but it was not accepted by the scientific community. How did Pasteur's swan-necked flask finally disprove spontaneous generation?

• The artificial environment in the flask created amino acids.

• The neck was open, allowing for air to reach the broth. The bacteria and debris were trapped in the neck.

• He was able to show that natural selection was the mechanism for evolution.

• The flask remained sealed until after boiling.

Evolutionary biologists say that similarities between different species are evidence of which of the following?

• Organs shrinking and losing their function

• Formation of the first cell in an organic soup

• The presence of a common ancestor in a species

• The concept that life comes only from life

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-3

Structures that appear to have lost size and function over the proposed evolutionary history of an organism are called ________________.

• homologous structures

• analogous strucutres

• vestigial structures

• embryology

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NGSS.HS-LS4-1