ANTH 1: Midterm 1 Study Guide
Exam Details: Your exam will consist of 40 multiple choice (1 point each) and 6 short answers
(10 points each) for a total of 100 points. It will cover material from Park Chs. 1-6, lectures,
homework assignments, and 4 films (Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, Accidents of Creation, The
Evolutionary Arms Race, and Great Transformations).
Sample Multiple Choice:
1. Which of the following would not be considered a scientific idea?
a. The earth is round.
b. Life on earth has undergone evolution.
c. All men are created equal.
d. Undiscovered forms of life still exist on earth.
2.
Buffon, Hutton, and Lyell all thought geological change was fairly steady, slow, and caused
by everyday processess, an idea known as
a. uniformitarianism.
b. inheritance of acquired characteristics.
c. catastrophism.
d. stratigraphy.
3.
The explanation of geological and biological change as the result of a series of global floods,
earthquakes, volcanoes, and so on, is known as
a. uniformitarianism.
b. evolution.
c. stratigraphy.
d. catastrophism.
4.
The genetic code is carried by
a. RNA.
b. DNA.
c. proteins.
d. amino acids.
5.
A "word" of three bases in the genetic code is called
a. a codon.
b. a chromosome.
c. DNA.
d. an amino acid.
6.
Approximately what percent of the human genome is noncoding?
a. 25%
c. 75%
b. 50%
d. 98%
7.
Members of the same species
a. all look the same.
b. all have exactly the same adaptations.
c. can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
d. all have identical alleles.
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8.
Mutations are
a. always harmful.
b. always more beneficial than previous forms of the gene.
c. the source of new genetic variation.
d. produced only when there is too much radiation or chemical pollutants.
9.
Speciation, in general, occurs when
a. part of a species decides to stop reproducing with the rest of the species.
b. a species gets spread out into a wide range of environmental circumstances.
c. a portion of a species becomes isolated from the rest of the species.
d. natural selection selects for reproductive isolating traits.
10.
In modern times
a. no new species are discovered.
b. one or two new species are discovered each year.
c. dozens of new species are discovered each year.
d. the only new species discovered are simple one like bacteria.
11.
Charles Darwin thought the origin of new species
a. occurred in a series of sudden jumps.
b. occurred as a result of macromutations.
c. occurred gradually as a result of steady natural selection.
d. could be clearly demonstrated by the fossil record.
12.
The model called punctuated equilibrium maintains that
a. evolution will someday stop.
b. evolution is gradual and slow, but steady over time.
c. evolution moves slowly and then is quickly interrupted by the evolution of a new species.
d. evolution recognizes "slight variations" that are good for the individual.
13.
At the moment, the best guess for the age of the universe is
a. about 10,000 years.
b. 4.5 billion years.
c. 15 billion years.
d. 20 or more billion years.
14.
The heavy elements that now make up the stars, planets, and even us were formed
a. at the very beginning of the universe, during the Big Bang.
b. as the energy of the early universe condensed into matter.
c. by unknown processes.
d. by nuclear reactions within early stars.
15.
Most of the history of life on earth has involved
a. simple, single-celled organisms.
b. complex, multicellular organisms.
c. dinosaurs.
d. mammals.
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Identifications: Be sure to know how to define and explain the significance of the following:
Charles Darwin
Magnambougou
Katherine Dettwyler
Kwashiorkor
Culture Shock
Moussa
Dogo
Georges Cuvier
Sickle Cell Anemia
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Nene
The Grants’ finches
Alfred Wallace
Natural Selection
Mutation
Gregor Mendel
Cambrian Explosion
Meiosis
Punctuated Equilibrium
Acquired Characteristics
Sample Short Answers: Be sure to answer ALL parts of each question.
1. Why was the idea of Evolution so revolutionary in Western Europe in the 1800s?
2. What tentative explanation did the video, Accidents of Creation, give for the difference in
relative brain size between humans and chimpanzees?
3. Briefly describe the 5 major subfields within Anthropology.
4. Explain why "scientific" creationism is considered a pseudoscience. Do you agree?
5. Suppose 2 people who are both heterozygous for the taster trait produce offspring. What
are the possible genotypes and phenotypes of their offspring? In what proportions will
they be produced?
6. What important observations provided Darwin with clues in deriving his explanation for
biological evolution?
7. How did the activities of the "natural scientists" differ from those of their predecessors?
8. If natural selection is so good at maintaining and even improving a species' adaptation,
why then do species become extinct?
9. How do whales swim, and what does this tell us about whale evolution?
10. What happened when Walter Gehring replaced a fly’s gene for eyes (eyeless gene) with a
mouse gene for eyes? What does this suggest?
11. What is our relationship to modern chimpanzees?
12. Describe Darwin's mechanism for evolution by telling how it differed from Lamarck's.
13. A woman who is blood type B gives birth to a child who is type O. She has accused a
type A man of being the father. Is he? Explain your reasoning.
14. What is the significance of the relationship between the poisonous newt and the common
garter snake in Western Oregon?
15. Are mass extinctions a thing of the past?
16. Is evolution a fact, theory, or a hypothesis? Explain.
17. What role do greetings play in Bambara culture?
18. What attempts did Katherine Dettwyler make to help Daouda, the mentally challenged
child? Why did she eventually give up?
19. Why did Katherine Dettwyler collect urine and fecal samples? Why did she take the
samples to the Veterinary Laboratory for analysis?
20. What did the Dogo chief mean by “children who never grow up”? What happens to them?
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