Life Has a History pre-post test key
Grades 5-8

Directions: Please answer the following questions as best you can. You will be given the same questions after you complete the tour so that you can see how much you have learned.

True or False:

1. True — Extinction is common.

2. True — Without variation, evolution cannot happen.

3. True — Millions of years passed between the extinction of dinosaurs and the appearance of the first humans.

4. True — A cladogram is a diagram that shows how a group of organisms might be related to each other.

5. False — All of the plants and animals on Earth have been described by science.

Multiple Choice:

6. Of all the species that have ever lived on this planet, how many have gone extinct?

a. More than 90%

7. Fossils allow us to learn about:

d. All of the above

8. Cladograms are diagrams that show us:

a. How organisms are related to one another.

9. If there is a change in the environment, which of the following statements best explains how natural selection works:

b. Those organisms that have features that are better adapted to the change in the environment will survive and reproduce.

Short Answer:

10. Name three kinds of fossils other than bones and teeth.

The answers will vary, but could include shells, tree trunks, leaves, footprints, burrows, pollen, tiny organisms, insects, eggs and nests, etc.