**Optional (FL only).** Trends in human evolution
Grade 9 Science Worksheet

Circle the best answer.
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
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
Read this first
Earliest evidence for four trends (Smithsonian dates)
trend evidence from (million years ago) walking on two legs about 6 stone toolmaking (sharp flakes for cutting) at least 2.6 handaxes about 1.76 color symbols (ocher) by 0.35 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
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
Brain size of four species (cubic centimeter ranges from OpenStax Biology 2e)
species smallest (cubic centimeters) largest (cubic centimeters) Au. afarensis 380 450 H. habilis 600 750 H. erectus 775 1,100 H. sapiens 1,130 1,260 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
Jaws, teeth and brains of three species
species jaw teeth brain size (cubic centimeters) Au. afarensis long and projecting larger 380 to 450 H. habilis less projecting than Au. afarensis smaller 600 to 750 H. sapiens less heavily developed smaller 1,130 to 1,260 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
Average adult brain mass
group mass (grams) chimpanzee 384 modern human 1,352 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
Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Ren reads the model tree and its dates. What does node X stand for?
Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Tips from left to right: human, chimpanzee, bonobo. Node W is the root, where human and node X branch apart. Node X is where chimpanzee and bonobo branch apart. Node W is about 6 million years ago. Node X is about 2 million years ago. Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Tips from left to right: human, chimpanzee, bonobo. Node W is the root, where human and node X branch apart. Node X is where chimpanzee and bonobo branch apart. Node W is about 6 million years ago. Node X is about 2 million years ago. W X human chimpanzee bonobo root about 6 million years ago about 2 million years ago - 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
Tala looks for a species that was living at both 1.5 and 1.0 million years ago. Which species fits?
Timeline (Smithsonian date ranges, in millions of years ago), not to scale; 0 means today. Au. means Australopithecus and H. means Homo. Au. afarensis: 3.85 to 2.95. H. habilis: 2.4 to 1.4. H. erectus: 1.89 to 0.11. H. sapiens: 0.3 to 0. No tree is drawn. Timeline (Smithsonian date ranges, in millions of years ago), not to scale; 0 means today. Au. means Australopithecus and H. means Homo. Au. afarensis: 3.85 to 2.95. H. habilis: 2.4 to 1.4. H. erectus: 1.89 to 0.11. H. sapiens: 0.3 to 0. No tree is drawn. Timeline (Smithsonian date ranges, in millions of years ago), not to scale 3.85 to 2.95 2.4 to 1.4 1.89 to 0.11 0.3 to 0 Au. afarensis H. habilis H. erectus H. sapiens 0 means today. Au. means Australopithecus and H. means Homo. No tree is drawn. - H. habilis
- No species, since each species ended before the next began
- H. sapiens
- H. erectus
Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Zee says humans came from chimpanzees. Which reply fits the model tree?
Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Tips from left to right: human, chimpanzee, bonobo. Node W is the root, where human and node X branch apart. Node X is where chimpanzee and bonobo branch apart. Node W is about 6 million years ago. Node X is about 2 million years ago. Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Tips from left to right: human, chimpanzee, bonobo. Node W is the root, where human and node X branch apart. Node X is where chimpanzee and bonobo branch apart. Node W is about 6 million years ago. Node X is about 2 million years ago. W X human chimpanzee bonobo root about 6 million years ago about 2 million years ago - 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

