Download File

Multiple Choice Quiz
‘Evolution & Natural Selection’
Questions sourced from AAAS, http://assessment.aaas.org/topics
Key Concept:
When inherited traits are favorable to individual organisms, the proportion of
individuals in a population that have those traits will tend to increase over
successive generations.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about individuals of the same species?
A. Individuals of the same species may have different inherited traits.
These
different inherited traits may cause differences in each individual's chances of
survival and reproduction.
B. Individuals of the same species have the same inherited traits, therefore each
individual has an equal chance of surviving and reproducing as any other
individual of the same age and gender.
C. Individuals of the same species have the same inherited traits but different
acquired traits, such as what they have learned and skills they have
developed. Only these different acquired traits can cause differences in each
individual's chances of survival and reproduction.
D. Individuals of the same species may have different inherited traits, but these
different traits do not cause differences in each individual's chances of
survival and reproduction.
2. Which of the following is REQUIRED for the process of natural selection
A. Members of the same species must compete with one another.
B. Members of different species must compete with one another.
C. There must be a sudden environmental change.
D. Traits must be inherited from one generation to the next.
to occur?
3. A
species lives in a particular environment. What is TRUE about the environment
that the species lives in and about how the species will look over thousands of years?
A. The environment will stay the same, and the traits of the species will stay the
same.
B. There will be changes to the environment, but the traits of the species will stay
the same.
C. There will be changes to the environment that could lead to changes in the
traits of the species.
D. There will be changes to the environment, and the traits of the species will
change, but the changes in the environment could never lead to changes in the
traits of species.
4. Which of the following is REQUIRED for the process of natural
A. Numerous species must have recently become extinct.
B. A food source must disappear.
C. There must be a sudden environmental change.
selection to occur?
D.
Traits must be inherited from one generation to the next.
5. A
population is a group of individuals of the same species. According to the theory
of natural selection, what is likely to happen to a population when a change occurs in
its environment (for example, the amount of rainfall decreases or the temperature
increases)?
A. The individuals that have traits better suited to the changed environment
would be more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less suitable
traits.
B. All of the individuals would try to develop new traits so that they could
survive and reproduce in the changed environment.
C. Some of the individuals would try to develop new traits so that they could
survive and reproduce, and the other individuals would die.
D. Because all individuals of the same species have the same traits, one
individual would never have an advantage over another in its population.
They would either all survive or all die.
6. Individual
members of a species could have differences in inherited characteristics
that affect which of the following?
A. Both their ability to find food and their ability to avoid predators
B. Their ability to find food but not their ability to avoid predators
C. Their ability to avoid predators but not their ability to find food
D. Neither their ability to find food nor their ability to avoid predators
7. A
population is a group of individuals of the same species. Could a population
living today differ from their ancestors from many generations ago? Why or why not?
A. Yes, they could differ after many generations because an environmental
change can cause individuals in each generation to try to change some of their
inherited traits to ones that are better suited to the new environment.
B. Yes, they could differ after many generations because an environmental
change can affect which inherited traits are most helpful, and therefore which
individuals are more likely to survive and reproduce.
C. Yes, they could differ after many generations because an environmental
change can cause individuals to use some of their inherited traits more than
before and pass down better versions of those traits to their offspring.
D. No, they could not differ after many generations because all members of a
population are the same species and therefore have the same set of inherited
traits.
8. According to
the theory of natural selection, what is likely to happen to a population
of birds after the seeds they normally eat are no longer available and all that is left are
seeds that are harder to crack open? Note: a population is a group of individuals of
the same species.
A.
The individual birds that already have the kind of beak that allows them to eat
the seeds that are harder to crack open would be more likely to survive and
reproduce.
B. All of the individual birds would develop new beaks as they continued to
attempt to eat the seeds that are harder to crack open. All of the birds would
survive and reproduce.
C. Some of the individual birds would try to develop new beaks so that they
could eat the seeds that are harder to crack open. Those birds would be more
likely to survive and reproduce, and the other birds would likely die.
D. Because the population of birds is all of the same species, they all have the
same physical traits. No individual bird would have an advantage in cracking
open the seeds, and all of the birds would die.
9. Individual
members of a species could have differences in inherited characteristics
that affect which of the following?
A. Both their ability to find food and their ability to attract mates
B. Their ability to find food but not their ability to attract mates
C. Their ability to attract mates but not their ability to find food
D. Neither their ability to attract mates nor their ability to find food
10. Could individuals
of a species look different today than individuals of the same
species did many generations ago? Why or why not?
A. Yes, all individuals can change a little and pass those changes on to their
offspring.
B. Yes, some individuals can change a little and pass those changes on to their
offspring.
C. Yes, some individuals with certain traits are more likely to survive and pass
those traits on to their offspring.
D. No, species do not change even after many generations, so individuals of the
same species would not look different.
11. A
population is a group of individuals of the same species. Can the percent of
individuals with certain traits in a population change because the environment
changes?
A. Yes, when the environment changes, individuals in a population can change
their inherited traits to better fit the environment, and this changes the percent
of individuals with certain traits in that population.
B. Yes, when the environment changes, individuals with certain inherited traits
survive and reproduce and other individuals with different inherited traits die,
and this changes the percent of individuals with certain traits in a population.
C. No, the percent of individuals with certain inherited traits in a population
changes randomly from one generation to the next, never as a result of
changes to the environment.
D. No, the percent of individuals with certain inherited traits in a population
cannot change because a population is all one species and so will always have
the same inherited traits.
12. A
species of bird ate many types of seeds, each type coming from a different
species of tree. The birds' beaks varied in size, with some individuals having slightly
smaller beaks and others having slightly larger beaks.
A few years went by without much rain, and the only species of tree that survived had
large seeds. Many generations later, almost all the birds had the slightly larger beaks.
How is this best explained?
A. The birds with larger beaks were better at eating the large seeds than those
with smaller beaks, so only the birds with larger beaks got enough food to
survive, reproduce, and pass the trait of large beaks to the next generation.
B. The birds with smaller beaks had to work harder than those with larger beaks
to crack open the large seeds. The more they used their beaks, the larger their
beaks became, so they were able to get enough food to survive, reproduce, and
pass the traits of large beaks to the next generation.
C. The birds with smaller beaks grew their beaks so that they would be better
able to eat the large seeds and get enough food to survive, reproduce, and pass
the trait of larger beaks to the next generation.
D. It was a chance occurrence that all the individual birds' beaks in the next
generation were larger. They were therefore able to eat the large seeds and get
enough food to survive, reproduce, and pass the trait of large beaks to the next
generation.
13. Moths
are a type of insect similar to butterflies. A species of moth lived in a forest
made up of a mixture of dark- and light-colored trees. Some of the moths were darkcolored and some were light-colored. The coloring of these moths is inherited from
parent to offspring. The dark moths were hidden from predators on the dark trees,
and the light moths were hidden on the light trees.
When the light-colored trees were killed by a disease, the forest was suddenly made
up almost entirely of dark-colored trees. Generations later, almost all the moths had
the dark coloring. Which of the following gives a correct explanation?
A. The light moths that survived did not mate and have offspring because they
saw that their offspring would easily be seen and eaten by predators.
B. The light moths that survived had dark offspring because the change in the
environment caused the parents to have offspring that would do better in the
changed environment.
C. The light moths saw that the dark moths were less likely to be eaten by
predators, so they made themselves dark as well.
D. The dark moths were better hidden from predators, so more of them survived.
Because dark parents outnumbered light parents, there were many more dark
offspring than light offspring in the next generation.
14. A
population is a group of individuals of the same species. Can the proportion of
individuals with certain traits in a population change because the environment
changes?
A. Yes, when the environment changes, individuals in a population can change
their inherited traits to better fit the environment, and this changes the
proportion of individuals with certain traits in that population.
B. Yes, when the environment changes, individuals with certain inherited traits
survive and reproduce and other individuals with different inherited traits die,
and this changes the proportion of individuals with certain traits in a
population.
C. No, the proportion of individuals with certain inherited traits in a population
changes randomly from one generation to the next, never as a result of
changes to the environment.
D. No, the proportion of individuals with certain inherited traits in a population
cannot change because a population is all one species and so will always have
the same inherited traits.
15. Which
of the following correctly describes what happens when a population of
bacteria becomes resistant to an antibiotic? Note: a bacterium is one individual in a
group of bacteria.
A. During treatment with an antibiotic, each individual bacterium tries to become
resistant to the antibiotic. Only some are able to willingly become resistant,
and these individuals survive to pass this trait to their offspring.
B.
During treatment with an antibiotic, all of the bacteria gradually become more
resistant to the antibiotic the more they are exposed to it. They all survive and
pass this trait to their offspring.
C. During treatment with an antibiotic, a population of bacteria usually dies.
Sometimes by chance, all members of the population become resistant at once,
survive, and pass their resistance to their offspring.
D. During treatment with an antibiotic, only those individual bacteria that already
have a trait that helps them survive the effects of the antibiotic will live. Their
offspring in the next generation will also have this trait.
16. According to
the theory of natural selection, what would happen to a species of
lizards when a new predator is introduced into the environment where the lizards live?
A. The lizards that already have the physical traits needed to avoid the new
predator would be more likely to survive and reproduce, and the ones that do
not would be less likely to survive and reproduce.
B. All of the lizards would try to develop new physical traits to avoid the new
predator.
C. Some of the lizards would try to develop new physical traits to avoid the new
predator, and the other lizards would die.
D. Because all lizards of the same species have the same physical traits, one
lizard would not have an advantage over another lizard. They would either all
survive or all die.
17. Some
of the individual members of a species of organism were moved to a new
location that had different environmental conditions than their original location.
According to the theory of natural selection, what could happen after many
generations to the descendants of the organisms that had been relocated?
A. The descendants would look the same as the original individuals because
species do not change.
B. The descendants would look different from the original individuals in some
ways, and they would look the same in some ways.
C. The descendants would become a completely different species that would
have no similarities to the original individuals.
D. The descendants would look the same as the original individuals because the
environment does not affect how species look.
Multiple Choice Quiz
‘Evolution & Natural Selection’
Answer Key
Item Number Item Code Correct Answer
1
EN045002
A
2
EN038003
D
3
EN043002
C
4
EN038002
D
5
EN021002
A
6
EN041002
A
7
EN026002
B
8
EN022002
A
9
EN039002
A
10
EN032002
C
11
EN034002
B
12
EN028002
A
13
EN029002
D
14
EN034003
B
15
EN030002
D
16
EN023001
A
17
EN033002
B