Content Benchmark L.12.D.4
Students know the extinction of species can be a natural process. E/S
1st Item Specification: Recognize that most species that have lived on Earth are now
extinct.
Depth of Knowledge Level 1
1. Most of the species that have lived on Earth are now
A. endangered.
B. extinct.
C. evolved.
D. unchanged.
2. When there are no more living members of a species, that species is said to be
A. endangered.
B. extinct.
C. evolved.
D. unchanged.
Depth of Knowledge Level 2
3. Extinction can be beneficial because when
A. some species become extinct, it allows others to thrive.
B. some species become extinct, other species will become extinct.
C. species become extinct, it always leads to evolution.
D. species become extinct, biodiversity is decreased.
2nd Item Specification: Explain that extinction can be slow or rapid.
Depth of Knowledge Level 1
4. The Paleozoic Era ended with the disappearance of many land and marine
species. This type of event in geological time is known a(n)
A. endangered species.
B. boundary transition.
C. mass extinction.
D. transitional change.
5. Which of the following statements about extinction are true?
A. Extinction can occur rapidly when natural disasters occur or slowly
through natural selection and evolution.
B. Extinction always occurs rapidly and is caused by natural disasters, natural
selection, and evolution.
C. Extinction happened slowly through most of history, but recently sped up
due to human activity.
D. Extinction rates were rapid in the past due to natural selection and
evolution caused extinction but today they are slow.
Depth of Knowledge Level 2
6. The graph below shows extinction rates through the past 600 million years.
(From http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/10/fossil-records-.html)
The graph demonstrates that extinction rates
A. have not changed much through time.
B. steadily increase through time.
C. steadily decrease through time.
D. have been both gradual and rapid through time.
7. The graph below shows the percent of genera that became extinct through the past
550 million years.
(From http://www.greenspirit.org.uk/resources/chronology.htm)
What can you infer based on this graph?
A. In general, less species become extinct today than in the past 600 million
years.
B. In general, more species become extinct today than in the past 600 million
years.
C. The greatest mass extinction occurred between 300-400 million years ago.
D. The greatest mass extinction occurred between 500-600 million years ago.
8. The diagram below shows the number of extinctions in the recent past, distant
past, and the future. The longer the bar, the more extinctions that have occurred.
(From http://www.greenfacts.org/en/ecosystems/figtableboxes/figure1-8-species-extinctions.htm)
This diagram indicated that mammals went extinct
A. more rapidly in the distant past than in the recent past
B. more gradually in the distant past than in the recent past
C. at the same rate in the distant past than in the recent past
D. at the same rate as marine species in the distant past
Content Background L.12.D.4
Students know the extinction of species can be a natural process. E/S
Answers to Sample Test Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
B, DOK Level 1
B, DOK Level 1
A, DOK Level 2
C, DOK Level 1
A, DOK Level 1
D, DOK Level 2
A, DOK Level 2
A, DOK Level 2