Earth's History M/C Final Quiz

What is the principle of biogenesis?

• Living things come from pre-existing living things

• Living things arise from nonliving things

• Nonliving things arise from living things

• Living things come from nonliving things

Who conducted an experiment to disprove the idea of spontaneous generation involving maggots and rotting meat?

• Louis Pasteur

• Lazzaro Spallanzani

• Francesco Redi

• Stanley Miller

What did Lazzaro Spallanzani's experiment involving boiled broth in open and sealed flasks demonstrate?

• Microorganisms are not formed from air

• Microorganisms are produced by spontaneous generation

• Microorganisms are not produced by spontaneous generation

• Microorganisms are formed from air

What did Louis Pasteur's experiment involving curved-necked flasks demonstrate?

• The curved neck allowed the entry of microorganisms

• The curved neck prevented the entry of air

• The curved neck allowed the entry of air

• The curved neck prevented the entry of microorganisms

How is the age of rocks and fossils determined using radioactive dating?

• By measuring the amount of oxygen-16

• By measuring the amount of a particular radioactive isotope

• By measuring the amount of carbon-12

• By measuring the amount of carbon-14

What is the half-life of carbon-14?

• 75,000 years

• 4.5 billion years

• 5,730 years

• 1.3 billion years

What is the main hypothesis proposed by Sydney Fox regarding the formation of organic polymers?

• Formation of organic polymers by volcanic eruptions

• Formation of organic polymers by lightning and ultraviolet radiation

• Formation of organic polymers by deep-sea hydrothermal vents

• Formation of organic polymers by meteorite impacts

What is the term for an RNA molecule that can act as an enzyme and promote a specific chemical reaction?

• Ribosome

• Ribozyme

• Protein

• Nucleotide

What is the process in which groups of organisms form many new species to fill vacant ecological niches?

• Mass Extinction

• Continental Drift

• Adaptive Radiation

• Endosymbiosis

What is the phenomenon that occurred during the early Cambrian period where many phyla of animals suddenly appeared?

• Mass Extinction

• Cambrian Explosion

• Adaptive Radiation

• Continental Drift