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9th grade Optional (FL only). Trends in human evolution worksheet

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**Optional (FL only).** Trends in human evolution

Grade 9 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Bo reads the timeline. How many years separate the end of Au. afarensis from the start of H. habilis?

    • 900,000 years
    • 1,550,000 years
    • 1,450,000 years
    • 550,000 years
  2. Esme compares range lengths. About how many times as long as the 0.3 million years of H. sapiens is the range of Au. afarensis?

    Use the picture in question 1.

    • 0.3 times
    • 9.8 times
    • 12.8 times
    • 3 times
  3. Read this first

    Earliest evidence for four trends (Smithsonian dates)

    trendevidence from (million years ago)
    walking on two legsabout 6
    stone toolmaking (sharp flakes for cutting)at least 2.6
    handaxesabout 1.76
    color symbols (ocher)by 0.35
  4. Kira uses the numbers in the table. Which statement about the first stone toolmaking fits it?

    • Handaxes have older evidence than the first stone toolmaking
    • Walking on two legs and stone toolmaking have evidence from the same time
    • Walking on two legs has evidence from about 3.4 million years before stone toolmaking
    • Stone toolmaking has evidence from about 3.4 million years before walking on two legs
  5. Luz compares two rows of the table. Which statement about handaxes and color symbols fits it?

    • Handaxes have evidence from about 1,410,000 years after color symbols
    • Color symbols and handaxes have evidence from the same time
    • Color symbols have evidence from about 1,410,000 years after handaxes
    • Color symbols have evidence from about 2,110,000 years after handaxes
  6. Brain size of four species (cubic centimeter ranges from OpenStax Biology 2e)

    speciessmallest (cubic centimeters)largest (cubic centimeters)
    Au. afarensis380450
    H. habilis600750
    H. erectus7751,100
    H. sapiens1,1301,260
  7. Milo reads the brain table. Which statement fits it?

    • Each species' range grows by the same amount as the one before
    • Each species' smallest value is above the largest value of the one before
    • Au. afarensis has a larger brain range than H. habilis
    • The ranges of neighboring species overlap
  8. Jaws, teeth and brains of three species

    speciesjawteethbrain size (cubic centimeters)
    Au. afarensislong and projectinglarger380 to 450
    H. habilisless projecting than Au. afarensissmaller600 to 750
    H. sapiensless heavily developedsmaller1,130 to 1,260
  9. Noah reads the table from the top row to the bottom row. Which trend does it show?

    • Jaws became larger as teeth became smaller
    • Jaws and teeth became smaller as brains became larger
    • Jaws and teeth became larger as brains became larger
    • Jaws and teeth became smaller as brains became smaller
  10. Average adult brain mass

    groupmass (grams)
    chimpanzee384
    modern human1,352
  11. Pia divides the modern human brain mass by the chimpanzee brain mass, to the nearest tenth. What is the result?

    • 2.5
    • 3.0
    • 3.5
    • 0.3
  12. Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Ren reads the model tree and its dates. What does node X stand for?

    • The shared ancestor of humans and chimpanzees, about 6 million years ago
    • A bonobo that gave rise to the chimpanzee
    • The earliest chimpanzee, which the human line came from
    • The shared ancestor of chimpanzees and bonobos, about 2 million years ago
  13. Tala looks for a species that was living at both 1.5 and 1.0 million years ago. Which species fits?

    • H. habilis
    • No species, since each species ended before the next began
    • H. sapiens
    • H. erectus
  14. Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Zee says humans came from chimpanzees. Which reply fits the model tree?

    • Wrong: humans came from bonobos, which split off about 2 million years ago
    • Right: node W is a chimpanzee species that lived about 6 million years ago
    • Wrong: node W is an earlier species, about 6 million years ago, that both lines descend from
    • Right: the chimpanzee tip sits beside the human tip, so it is the ancestor
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9th grade Optional (FL only). Trends in human evolution worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Trends in human evolution: reading date ranges, brains, walking, tools, jaws and language. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can say that humans and chimpanzees descend from one earlier species, from about 6 million years ago, and that neither came from the other.
  • I can read a species date range, say which species were living at one date, and find how long two ranges overlap or how far apart they are.
  • I can say that species date ranges can overlap, and that living earlier does not make a species the parent of a later one.
  • I can name the trends from about 6 million years ago and say that each has its own dates: walking on two legs, a bigger brain, stone tools, smaller jaws and teeth, and symbols and language.
  • I can read the three phases of brain growth and say that the pace changed: slight, then with body size, then fastest.
  • I can read brain sizes (cubic centimeters) and average brain mass (grams) from a table, and compare them by subtraction or division.

Standard: supports HS-LS4-1

Words to know

common ancestor: An earlier species that two or more living groups all descend from

bipedal: Walking on two legs

hominin: A species that came after the human-chimpanzee split, nearer to humans than to chimpanzees

fossil: A trace of a living thing from long ago, kept in rock

endocast: A copy of the inside of a braincase; it shows brain size and shape

million years ago: A date counted back from today; 0 means today

overlap: The stretch of time that two date ranges share

trend: A change in one direction over a long time

Common mistakes

Your child thought humans came from chimpanzees. Humans and chimpanzees share an earlier common ancestor, and both lines kept changing. Ask your child, 'Which node do the two lines share?'

Your child thought early human species form one line, each the parent of the next. Living earlier does not make a species a parent, and many species left no living descendants. Ask your child, 'What shows that one species gave rise to another?'

Your child thought one species must end before the next begins. Date ranges can overlap, so two species can live at the same time. Ask your child, 'Is that date inside both ranges?'

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with optional (fl only). trends in human evolution?

Your child thought humans came from chimpanzees. Humans and chimpanzees share an earlier common ancestor, and both lines kept changing. Ask your child, 'Which node do the two lines share?'

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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