Evolution, Evidence & Life History — Chapter quiz · Life Science & Scientific Inquiry, Grade 7

Five focused units, a three-session investigation, chapter review, and chapter quiz.

Problem 1

Why can fossil absence be uncertain?
Answer and explanation

Preservation, exposure, and sampling vary, so an organism may leave no detected record.

Problem 2

A real layer sequence is overturned. Can its present bottom automatically be called oldest?
Answer and explanation

No. The simple rule assumed upright undisturbed deposition. Investigate the geological history before assigning order.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant biological process accurately.
  • Use the supplied evidence and show calculation steps with units where needed.
  • Connect a labeled model or mechanism with the claim.
  • State an assumption, evidence limitation, or useful next observation.

Problem 3

Why use both variant count and total count?
Answer and explanation

The share depends on the denominator; raw counts alone may misrepresent frequency change.

Problem 4

An individual becomes larger after extra food during one month. Is that alone evidence of natural selection?
Answer and explanation

No. It can be an individual developmental response. Selection requires inherited variation and differing reproductive contribution across generations.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant biological process accurately.
  • Use the supplied evidence and show calculation steps with units where needed.
  • Connect a labeled model or mechanism with the claim.
  • State an assumption, evidence limitation, or useful next observation.

Problem 5

Why is one short sequence an incomplete relationship test?
Answer and explanation

It may not represent the whole history and can be affected by sampling and different rates; additional regions and other evidence help.

Problem 6

Two living tips are drawn next to each other but share a deeper ancestor than another pair. Which determines relatedness in the model?
Answer and explanation

Shared branching nodes determine the modeled relationship, not distance between printed tip labels.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant biological process accurately.
  • Use the supplied evidence and show calculation steps with units where needed.
  • Connect a labeled model or mechanism with the claim.
  • State an assumption, evidence limitation, or useful next observation.

Problem 7

Does improvement in one chosen trait prove improvement in every trait?
Answer and explanation

No. Other outcomes and tradeoffs need separate evidence.

Problem 8

Can selecting for an existing trait guarantee a completely new desired trait appears next generation?
Answer and explanation

No. Selection acts on heritable variation and reproductive contribution; new changes are not guaranteed or produced by desire.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant biological process accurately.
  • Use the supplied evidence and show calculation steps with units where needed.
  • Connect a labeled model or mechanism with the claim.
  • State an assumption, evidence limitation, or useful next observation.

Problem 9

How should an assumed inheritance rule be reported?
Answer and explanation

State it as a supplied model assumption and distinguish it from measured offspring evidence.

Problem 10

A project uses only a graph of frequencies and claims a specific new mutation caused the change. What evidence is missing?
Answer and explanation

The graph does not identify a new sequence change or its transmission. Genetic and reproductive evidence, with alternatives such as movement and sampling considered, would be needed.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant biological process accurately.
  • Use the supplied evidence and show calculation steps with units where needed.
  • Connect a labeled model or mechanism with the claim.
  • State an assumption, evidence limitation, or useful next observation.

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