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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did humans become dispersed across the planet?

2. Approximately 50 million years ago, Antarctica was:

3. At this time, how many plant and animal species are becoming extinct per week?

4. Regarding species that have gone extinct, scientists generally:

5. Approximately how many bacteria live on a square centimeter of human skin?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bryson caution regarding extinction?

2. How many elements occur naturally on Earth? How many are central to life?

3. What are bipeds? What are some of the unique challenges they face because of their structure?

4. What does a Swedish DNA study reveal about the origins of modern man?

5. What is a hominid? Describe some of the hominids that existed in the past.

6. How long do human cells live?

7. What is Carl Linnaeus known for?

8. What does the author say about oxygen and the highest elevations people can live at?

9. What is cytoplasm?

10. Describe what happened when the KT meteor crashed on Earth, killing off the dinosaurs.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Charles Darwin came up with the concept of evolution and natural selection, he was met by much opposition. Describe the controversy surrounding Darwin's theories. Why did people oppose his observations? How did he feel about this? Scientifically, what made his theories seem improbable?

Essay Topic 2

Explain what makes a fossil so rare. What conditions are required for a fossil to form? What do scientists say about the number of species represented by fossils? Describe the completeness or incompleteness of fossil records.

Essay Topic 3

How did the dinosaurs become extinct? Explain the sequence of events that happened after the asteroid hit. What was the outcome to other life forms? What conditions changed in the aftermath? What group of animals became dominant following the dinosaur extinction?

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