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

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

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

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    Fossil card for a knee bone

    fieldentry
    speciesAu. anamensis
    ageabout 4.1 million years ago
    boneknee joint, wide below the joint
    showsit carried the body on a single leg during each step
    card saysthe owner was bipedal

  2. Ari reads a fossil card. What does bipedal mean on this card?

    • Walking on four limbs with the knuckles down
    • Walking on two legs while carrying stone tools
    • Walking on two legs
    • Swinging through trees by the arms

  3. Fact card on humans and chimpanzees

    fieldentry
    pairhumans and chimpanzees
    when the two lines separatedabout 6 million years ago
    card termcommon ancestor

  4. Bo reads a fact card. What does the term common ancestor mean here?

    • The oldest human fossil that scientists have found
    • An earlier species that both humans and chimpanzees come from
    • A relative of humans that lived after the two lines separated
    • A living chimpanzee species that modern humans descend from

  5. Lab card on endocasts

    fieldentry
    problembrains do not fossilize and leave a cavity in the braincase
    natural endocastsediment fills the cavity and hardens
    artificial endocastscientists make a copy of the inside of the braincase
    measurethe volume of the endocast

  6. Jun reads a lab card. What does an endocast show scientists?

    • The size and shape of the brain in the braincase
    • How tall the owner stood when walking upright
    • How the owner moved on two legs
    • How many years before today the skull's owner was living

  8. Esme reads the timeline. Which species lived from 2.4 to 1.4 million years ago?

    • H. erectus
    • Au. afarensis
    • H. habilis
    • H. sapiens

  9. Kira compares two rows of the timeline. Which statement about H. habilis and H. erectus fits it?

    Use the picture in question 4.

    • Both were living between 1.89 and 1.4 million years ago
    • H. habilis ended before H. erectus began
    • Both began at the same time, 2.4 million years ago
    • H. erectus began earlier than H. habilis, about 2.4 million years ago

  10. Luz picks the date 0.2 million years ago. Which two species were both living then?

    Use the picture in question 4.

    • H. habilis and H. erectus
    • Au. afarensis and H. habilis
    • H. sapiens and no other species on the timeline
    • H. erectus and H. sapiens

  11. Fossil evidence for walking upright

    fossilage (million years ago)bone
    Orrorin tugenensis6thigh bone
    Australopithecus anamensis4.1knee
    Australopithecus africanus2.5spine
    Homo erectus1.95hip bones

  12. Milo reads a table of fossils that show walking upright. Which fossil is the oldest?

    • Orrorin tugenensis
    • Australopithecus africanus
    • Australopithecus anamensis
    • Homo erectus

  13. Teeth and jaws of two species

    speciesteethjaw
    Au. afarensislargerlong and projecting
    H. sapienssmallershorter and less heavily developed

  14. Noah reads a card on teeth and jaws. Compared with Au. afarensis, what do H. sapiens jaws and teeth show?

    • Smaller teeth and a shorter jaw
    • Larger teeth and a shorter jaw
    • Smaller teeth but a longer, projecting jaw
    • Larger teeth and a longer jaw

  15. Ren reads a model tree. What does node W stand for?

    • A shared ancestor of humans, chimpanzees and bonobos
    • The first human fossil ever found
    • A species alive today, drawn beside the bonobo on the tree
    • The chimpanzee tip, which the human line came from

  16. Model tree (simplified, not to scale). Zee reads the dates on the model tree. Which statement fits it?

    • The chimpanzee-bonobo split is more recent than the human split
    • Humans split from bonobos but not from chimpanzees
    • The human split is more recent than the chimpanzee-bonobo split
    • Both splits happened about 6 million years ago
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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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