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Brooker Biology of Skin Color

Total questions: 13

Worksheet time: 11mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What does this image represent?

a)

weather conditions

b)

amount of ultraviolet light intensity

c)

skin color

d)

altitude

2.

Traveling away from the equator, what happens in general to the amount of UV intensity?

a)

The intensity decreases.

b)

The intensity increases

c)

The intensity stays the same.

d)

It is impossible to predict.

3.

Who would be most at risk of developing rickets, a bone disease caused by insufficient calcium absorption?

a)

Children born to mothers with dark skin living far from the equator.

b)

Adults with dark skin who live close to the equator.

c)

Children born to mothers with light skin, living close to the equator.

d)

Adults with light skin who live close to the equator.

e)

Anyone who eats a diet that includes a lot of fish

4.
Your skin color is determined by your
a)
Genetic Inheritance 
b)
Environmental factors
c)
Culture
d)
None of the above
5.
What is melanin?
a)
A protein pigment that absorbs and reflects light
b)
A protein that is waterproof and tough
c)
A cell found in the epidermis
d)
A vitamin that helps you sleep
6.
Different tones of human skin color evolved 
a)
in response to varying levels of UV radiation in the environment
b)
Randomly and for no reason at all
7.
If a person lives in an environment with low radiation what kind of skin color would be the best adapted
a)
Darker skin tones to increase production of Vitamin D Synthesis
b)
Darker skin tones to protect DNA and Folate
c)
Lighter Skin tones to increase production of Vitamin D
d)
Lighter Skin tones to protect DNA and Folate
8.

How does melanin protect cell's DNA from the damaging effects of Ultraviolet light?

a)

It relies on folate

b)

It doesn't you must use sunscreen

c)

it activates vitamin D3 production which takes care of that

d)

Forms a protective cap over the nucleus of skin cells

9.

What is the evolutionary benefit for dark skin near the equator?

a)

Skin cancer protection

b)

Folate Protection

c)

Easier vitamin D production

d)

More than one of the above is correct

10.
What is the evolutionary benefit of light skin in the northern latitude.
a)
Skin cancer protection
b)
Folate Protection
c)
It has no evolutionary relationship
d)
Easier vitamin D production
11.

What does sunlight (UV exposure) do to folate in our body?

a)

breaks it down

b)

builds it up

c)

creates it

d)

makes it stronger

12.

Folate is:

a)

a B-Vitamin

b)

needed for nervous system development in fetuses

c)

important for pregnancy

d)

all of the above

13.

The graph in Figure 2 summarizes the age at which people are diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Why does protection from skin cancer not explain the strong selective pressure for dark skin in high UV ares.

a)

Because the median age is 63.

b)

Because most people get skin cancer at a young age.

c)

Because most people get skin cancer at an old age.

d)

Because many people get skin cancer at an older age after they have already had children and probably passed the gene onto them.