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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. With so many hominid species existing in the past, why did only one survive?

2. Who was Robert Fitzroy?

3. Trilobites are fossils of what?

4. Which body of water holds more than half of the planet's water?

5. Only one out of how many bones is ever fossilized?

Short Essay Questions

1. How long do human cells live?

2. What did Charles Darwin do on the HMS Beagle?

3. Describe the Indonesian volcanic eruption of 1815.

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

5. How much of Earth's land is suitable for humans to live on?

6. What type of scientific work did the monk and scientist Gregor Mendel do?

7. What are cyanobacteria? How did they affect the environment billions of years ago?

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

9. Throughout the history of Earth, what are some of the causes of different species going extinct?

10. How does DNA replicate itself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe, in detail, the composition and function of a cell.

Essay Topic 2

Describe what the author means about Yellowstone being a supervolcano. What do scientists know about Yellowstone's history? How did it form? What is a caldera? Describe other supervolcanoes the author writes about.

Essay Topic 3

The author shares many stories of one person making an important discovery and someone else getting credit for it. Cite two examples of this. Why does Bryson discuss these cases? What do you feel he is trying to reveal about scientific discoveries and the scientific community?

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