WorksheetsSSA Review (Diversity & Evolution of Organisms: Big Idea 15)
Total questions: 32
Worksheet time: 2hrs 38mins
Mushrooms, bread molds, and yeasts are classified together in the fungi kingdom. Specific characteristics are used to classify these organisms. Which of the following is a characteristic used to classify these organisms as fungi?
They are parasites.
They are unicellular.
They are prokaryotes.
They are heterotrophs.
A certain reptile species is a herbivore and exists only on an isolated island. Which of the following would most likely result in the extinction of the reptile species over a period of twenty thousand years?
The reptile species produces many offspring with many unique traits, and the vegetation remains constant.
The reptile species produces few offspring with some unique traits, and the vegetation remains constant.
The reptile species produces few offspring with no unique traits, and the vegetation changes quickly.
The reptile species produces many offspring with some unique traits, and the vegetation changes slowly.
Green algae, slime molds, and protozoa are classified together in the kingdom Protista. Which of the following is one characteristic of all members of this kingdom?
They are all viruses.
They all spread diseases.
They are all single-celled.
Their cells all have a nucleus.
Millions of years ago, a mass extinction of nearly all the dinosaurs occurred. This extinction included the herbivore Protoceratops. Many scientists think that a massive meteorite crashed into Earth. The impact sent up large clouds of dust that blocked out sunlight for months or even years. Which of the following explains how the impact could have caused Protoceratops to become extinct?
Plants did not have enough sunlight to make their own food.
Protoceratops did not have enough sunlight to make its own food.
The dust settled and covered the plants that Protoceratops used as food.
The animals that Protoceratops used as food could not find enough plants to eat.
White Sands, New Mexico, is an area of desert where the ground is white instead of dark. Lizards living in other parts of the desert have dark, striped skin. Many lizards of the same species living at White Sands have white skin. Which of the following statements best explains this?
All lizards can change their skin color to match their environment.
All the white lizards born in the desert move to the White Sands area.
Lizards born in the White Sands area acquire white skin during
their lifetimes.
White skin has developed in the White Sands lizard population through natural selection.
Earth has undergone several ice ages in its history. During an ice age, much of Earth's surface is covered by glaciers. Which types of organisms would natural selection favor most if Earth had another ice age?
organisms that make food by photosynthesis
organisms that hunt other organisms for food
organisms that are able to swim in deep water
organisms that have thick fur and layers of fat
As a first step, the scientist classifies both organisms as belonging to the domain Eukarya. Which of the following observations best supports this classification?
Both organisms have cell walls.
Both organisms are made up of many cells.
Both organisms live in damp, shady places.
One organism has chloroplasts, and one does not.
Which pair of classifications is best supported by the information in the table?
Organism 1 belongs to kingdom Plantae, and Organism 2 belongs to Fungi.
Organism 1 belongs to kingdom Fungi, and Organism 2 belongs to Plantae.
Organism 1 belongs to kingdom Fungi, and Organism 2 belongs to Animalia.
Organism 1 belongs to kingdom Animalia, and Organism 2 belongs
to Protista.
Luis is conducting an investigation to determine if modern horseshoe crabs evolved from extinct organisms called trilobites. Which of the following should Luis use to determine if there is evidence to support his idea?
the fossil record of trilobites
the population size of trilobites
the traits of all extinct animals
the population size of horseshoe crabs
A fossil is the remains or traces of organisms that have lived in the past. Which statement is true about fossils?
A fossil never includes a complete organism.
A fossil shows the evolution of an entire species.
Much of the evidence for evolution comes from fossils.
Fossils have provided a complete history of Earth’s life forms.
Although it is incomplete, the fossil record provides scientists with a great deal of information about species that have lived on Earth throughout its history. Which of the following statements does the fossil record support?
All organisms that have ever existed on Earth continue to live on Earth today.
Earth’s organisms have remained unchanged throughout its history.
Dinosaurs are the only types of organisms that have become extinct.
Not all species that are alive today were alive in the past.
A reptile fossil has been found. It shows evidence of modified scales that look similar to bird feathers. What inference can be made based on this evidence?
Reptiles evolved directly into birds.
It shows a link between ancient reptiles and birds.
The reptile species was alive at the same time as birds.
The reptile species went extinct due to the evolution of birds.
How does the use of radioactive dating help scientists develop the evolutionary tree of fossilized organisms?
It tells when a fossilized organism was born.
It tells where a fossilized organism was found.
It tells the approximate age of a fossilized organism.
It tells how quickly new species evolved from fossilized organisms.
This chart shows layers of undisturbed rock discovered at the bottom of the ocean. Species X, Y, and Z represent three species of fossilized fish that share similar characteristics. Considering the theory of evolution, which of these statements is best supported by the evidence?
Species Z is the direct ancestor of Species Y.
Species Y fossilizes more easily than species Z.
Species X evolved earlier in time than either Species Y or Z.
Species X and Y are more closely related to each other than either is to Species Z.
In 1859, Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution based on natural selection. What observation about the natural world does this theory explain?
how the fossil record was formed
how a species change over time
how a species always retains its characteristics
how catastrophic events lead to extinctions
Some weed species have developed the ability to resist pesticides. How does the theory of evolution by natural selection help to explain this ability?
Due to genetic variations, some weeds in the population had the ability to resist pesticides.
The weeds developed pesticide-resistant variations because their survival depended on it.
As the weeds evolved, natural selection resulted in an unfavorable variation in a population.
In any population of weeds, some weeds will be naturally immune to all kinds of pesticides.
The theory of evolution by natural selection states that certain organisms are more likely to survive and reproduce than others. What do these organisms possess in order to survive?
adaptive traits
large body size
similar characteristics
ability to reproduce sexually
Which field of science is best used to support the Theory of Evolution by natural selection?
ecology
genetics
geology
animal behavior
Extinction is the dying out of a species. What can lead to the extinction of a species if the environment changes?
having traits that enable the species to adapt to the changed environment
an increase in the reproductive rate within the species
a lack of adaptations in the species that help individuals survive and reproduce in the changed environment
the presence of genetic variations among the individuals of the species
The illustration shows an animal known as the woolly mammoth. This woolly mammoth had thick fur that enabled it to thrive in cold climates, such as that found in Russia. This animal is now extinct. Scientists think that the woolly mammoth became extinct about 4000 years ago. What was the most likely cause of the extinction of the woolly mammoth?
The animals’ tusks were too large for its body to support.
The animals’ body size was too large to enable it to move.
The animals did not have a body covering suited to survival in cold climates.
The animals did not have adaptations needed to survive changes in its environment.
A species lives in a tropical rain forest where it feeds upon the vegetation. What is most likely to cause this species to become extinct?
The species produces offspring with few genetic variations.
The species produces offspring with many genetic variations.
The species produces more offspring after each mating season.
The species produces offspring that also feed upon the vegetation.
Organisms are classified according to shared characteristics. This process has led to the development of a classification system that has various levels of organization. Which of the following levels of classification is of the highest hierarchy?
class
domain
kingdom
species
The domain Bacteria is made up of a kingdom of organisms known as Eubacteria. Which statement is true about organisms classified as Eubacteria?
They are all eukaryotes.
They are all multicellular.
They are all parasitic.
They are all prokaryotes.
In the 1700s, Carolus Linnaeus tried to classify all living things. He developed a seven-level system of classification, which is still used today. Linnaeus grouped lower levels into successively higher levels, based on shared characteristics. What group is made up of different orders?
class
family
genus
species
The illustration shows that the number of types of organisms changes from one classification level to another. Why are there fewer kinds of organisms at each lower level of classification?
The higher the level of classification, the more closely related the organisms become.
The lower the level of classification is, the more complex the organism becomes.
The higher the level of classification is, the smaller the size of the organism.
The lower the level of classification, the more closely related the organisms become.
All plants are classified together in the plant kingdom. What is one way that plants are different from fungus?
Plants are multicellular.
Plants are prokaryotic.
Plants cannot move freely.
Plants produce their own food.
An organism is multicellular, cannot move about freely, lives on land, and decomposes other organisms for food. Into which kingdom would this organism be classified?
Archaea
Fungus
Plant
Protist
Two kingdoms of organisms are the Eubacteria and Archaea. What do all of the organisms classified into these two kingdoms have in common?
They include only multicellular organisms.
They both include eukaryotes.
They are both included in the same domain.
They are both made up of single-celled prokaryotes.
A population of raccoons lives in a wetland. The raccoons have many inherited variations in their traits. Which of the following statements best describes the genetic variation of this population?
It increases the population's chances of survival if the wetland changes.
It decreases the population's chances of survival if the wetland changes.
It increases the population's chances of survival if the wetland stays the same.
It decreases the population's chances of survival if the wetland stays
the same.
Scientists think that the modern horse (Equus) is related to along line of extinct organisms that once lived on Earth. Scientists have learned about the horse's extinct ancestors from their fossils. The chart below is based on this fossil evidence. Based on the fossil evidence in the diagram, which of the following is the best conclusion about the evolution of the modern horse?
The modern horse evolved from an animal that had twice as many teeth.
The modern horse evolved from an animal that was probably a predator.
The modern horse evolved from an animal that had two toes on each forefoot.
The modern horse evolved from an animal that was less than one-third the height of the modern horse.
Most scientists today classify all organisms in three domains. Which of the following domains are made up of organisms whose cells do not have nuclei?
only Archaea
Archaea and Bacteria
Archaea and Eukarya
Bacteria and Eukarya
A new species of woodpecker with a very long beak evolves. Which statement most likely explains how the environment influenced the development of this new species?
The long beak is a trait developed through genetic engineering to make the woodpecker more popular with breeders.
The long beak is an adaptation developed through natural selection to help woodpeckers fight off newly evolved predators.
The long beak is an adaptation developed through natural selection to help woodpeckers hunt insects that live deep in tree trunks.
The long beak is a trait inherited from another bird species that moved to the woodpecker's environment to mate with woodpeckers.
