Quranic Concept of Evolution
SUMMARY
According to the Holy Quran, the evolution of life is the result of divine will and divine guidance. The
Holy Quran declares that the harmony and complexity of creation and could not have come of its own
accord. In contrast, natural selection, the foundation of modern theory of evolution, credits accidental
mutation for the survival of life and its complexity. But it fails to explain how the life was created and
how the accidents can guide the life towards complexity.
EVOLUTION OF LIFE: DIVINE WILL, NATURAL SELECTION
The Holy Quran states that life resulted from evolution. However, this evolution was not blind or random.
Rather, evolution was controlled by Divine hand. This Divine hand accounts for the beginning, diversity
and complexity of life on Earth.
However, modern biology, which is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution, attributes evolution to the
principle of natural selection. According to this principle, humans, animals and plants, all evolved by
natural accidents. The evolution of the human body was simply the outcome of automatic natural
processes spread out over billions of years. In this immensely long process, humans evolved from onecelled
organisms without any Divine help, guidance and purpose.
Natural selection is the cornerstone of Darwin’s theory. Unlike the Holy Quran, the principle of natural
selection did not acknowledge the idea that the universe is designed by an intelligent mind.
Another difference between the principle of natural selection and the teachings of Islam is regarding the
path of evolution. Natural selection states humans and apes have evolved from a common ancestor.
Following this logic, biologists consider apes to be the most recent ancestor of humans. The Holy Quran,
however, doesn’t put forward the idea of one common ancestor and thus doesn’t regard ape to be part of
human evolutionary chain.
Natural Selection
Natural selection means that nature, not Divine Will, has guided the direction of evolution.
Three Conditions of Natural Selection
According to neo-Darwins, three conditions must be satisfied before natural selection can take place. The
first condition is reproduction – that is there must be offspring. Secondly, the offspring should vary from
the parents due to mutation, even if negligibly so. Finally, the accidental mutation in offspring should
eventually lead to differences in the ability to survive and to further reproduce. 1
Delivered this as talk series on Evolution to some of my colleagues interested in systems thinking. It was a great learning for me and will incorporate it into a sequel later.
Updates:
1. Version 2013.11.23 - Reorganized some slides, added images and credits
2. Version 2013.11.25 - Reorganized presentation around three aspects. Added better intro.
3. Version 2013.11.26 - Updated implications aspect for global warming and behavioral sink.
4. Version 2013.11.27 - Updated taxonomy discussion.
5. V 2013.12.05 - Updated natural selection, convergent evolution and punctuated equilibrium. Reorg of slides.
6. V 2013.12.16 - Added chaos and self-organization slides.
7. V 2013.12.21 - Added extinctions and explosions.
8. V2013.12.23 - Added more chaos explanation and Wikipedia logo.
9. V2014.05.05 - Corrected spelling mistakes and cleaned up slides.
Chapter 17
Evoution of Life
The Origin of Life
Did Life on Earth Originate on Mars?
Early Life on Earth
Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species
How Natural Selection Works
Adaptation
Staying Warm and Keeping Cool
Evolution and Genetics
How Species Form
Evidence of Evolution
Fossils: Earth's Tangible Evidence of Evolution
The Evolution of Humans
History of Science: The Peppered Moth
Science and Society: Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Our Upper Elementary participates in the National Geographic Bee every year. Preparation for the Geo Bee begins with the Montessori maps in Primary, continues through the pin maps in Lower Elementary, works its way through atlases, Sporcle and much, much more in the Upper Elementary, and finds its way into students’ homes and car rides and conversations leading up to January 15. So how do you think you’d fare in the Geo Bee? Watch this to find out.
Quranic Concept of Evolution
SUMMARY
According to the Holy Quran, the evolution of life is the result of divine will and divine guidance. The
Holy Quran declares that the harmony and complexity of creation and could not have come of its own
accord. In contrast, natural selection, the foundation of modern theory of evolution, credits accidental
mutation for the survival of life and its complexity. But it fails to explain how the life was created and
how the accidents can guide the life towards complexity.
EVOLUTION OF LIFE: DIVINE WILL, NATURAL SELECTION
The Holy Quran states that life resulted from evolution. However, this evolution was not blind or random.
Rather, evolution was controlled by Divine hand. This Divine hand accounts for the beginning, diversity
and complexity of life on Earth.
However, modern biology, which is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution, attributes evolution to the
principle of natural selection. According to this principle, humans, animals and plants, all evolved by
natural accidents. The evolution of the human body was simply the outcome of automatic natural
processes spread out over billions of years. In this immensely long process, humans evolved from onecelled
organisms without any Divine help, guidance and purpose.
Natural selection is the cornerstone of Darwin’s theory. Unlike the Holy Quran, the principle of natural
selection did not acknowledge the idea that the universe is designed by an intelligent mind.
Another difference between the principle of natural selection and the teachings of Islam is regarding the
path of evolution. Natural selection states humans and apes have evolved from a common ancestor.
Following this logic, biologists consider apes to be the most recent ancestor of humans. The Holy Quran,
however, doesn’t put forward the idea of one common ancestor and thus doesn’t regard ape to be part of
human evolutionary chain.
Natural Selection
Natural selection means that nature, not Divine Will, has guided the direction of evolution.
Three Conditions of Natural Selection
According to neo-Darwins, three conditions must be satisfied before natural selection can take place. The
first condition is reproduction – that is there must be offspring. Secondly, the offspring should vary from
the parents due to mutation, even if negligibly so. Finally, the accidental mutation in offspring should
eventually lead to differences in the ability to survive and to further reproduce. 1
Delivered this as talk series on Evolution to some of my colleagues interested in systems thinking. It was a great learning for me and will incorporate it into a sequel later.
Updates:
1. Version 2013.11.23 - Reorganized some slides, added images and credits
2. Version 2013.11.25 - Reorganized presentation around three aspects. Added better intro.
3. Version 2013.11.26 - Updated implications aspect for global warming and behavioral sink.
4. Version 2013.11.27 - Updated taxonomy discussion.
5. V 2013.12.05 - Updated natural selection, convergent evolution and punctuated equilibrium. Reorg of slides.
6. V 2013.12.16 - Added chaos and self-organization slides.
7. V 2013.12.21 - Added extinctions and explosions.
8. V2013.12.23 - Added more chaos explanation and Wikipedia logo.
9. V2014.05.05 - Corrected spelling mistakes and cleaned up slides.
Chapter 17
Evoution of Life
The Origin of Life
Did Life on Earth Originate on Mars?
Early Life on Earth
Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species
How Natural Selection Works
Adaptation
Staying Warm and Keeping Cool
Evolution and Genetics
How Species Form
Evidence of Evolution
Fossils: Earth's Tangible Evidence of Evolution
The Evolution of Humans
History of Science: The Peppered Moth
Science and Society: Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Our Upper Elementary participates in the National Geographic Bee every year. Preparation for the Geo Bee begins with the Montessori maps in Primary, continues through the pin maps in Lower Elementary, works its way through atlases, Sporcle and much, much more in the Upper Elementary, and finds its way into students’ homes and car rides and conversations leading up to January 15. So how do you think you’d fare in the Geo Bee? Watch this to find out.
1. An example of primary productivity would beA. a wild raspsandibabcock
1. An example of primary productivity would be
A. a wild raspberry plant growing 30 grams of new leaf mass during a day of photosynthesis.
B. a young oriole growing 10 grams of muscle during a feeding trip to a raspberry bush.
C. a young hawk growing 10 more grams of body mass by killing and eating a young oriole.
D. more than one of the above.
2. Diversity refers to
A. number of different species present
B. number of ecological niches
C. amount of genetic diversity
D. all of the above
3. An ecosystem consists of
A. A physical environment within which a biological community lives
B. The species with which a biological community interacts
C. A biological community and its physical environment
D. The primary producers within a biological community
E. All the species in a biological community
4. A keystone species is a species whose presence
A. Is the main reason a community exists
B. Provides food for all other species in a community
C. Is an indicator of environmental health
D. Influences the population size of many other species in its community
E. Is always at the top of the trophic levels as a top predator
5. Biomass includes all
A. Material in an ecosystem
B. Things that are living at a given time
C. Living and nonliving things
D. Matter produced by primary producers
E. Biological material
6. No two species can occupy the same ecological niche as one species will outcompete the other one.
A. True
B. False
7. Succession can produce changes in soil, degree of shade, available moisture, and species membership of a community.
A True
B False
8. Cheetahs can run extremely fast because
A. They need to run extremely fast in order to catch their prey
B. An ancestor that was able to run fast had an advantage and passed those genes on to its offspring
C. Over time they gradually built up speed as they adapted to faster and faster prey species
D. They are competing with stronger lions and hyenas for their food so they need to be fast
E. All of these are reasons cheetahs can run extremely fast
9. Most organisms' niches are controlled by
A. Genetic determinants
B. Lessons learned from parents
C. Behavior learned from others in their social groups
D. Luck
E. The predators and competitors they encounter
10. A biological community's productivity is a measure of
A. Its number of species
B. The number of individuals in the community
C. Available solar energy that can be converted to biomass
D. The amount of biomass produced in the community
E. All of these are combined in measuring a community's productivity
11. Primary succession occurs when a community develops ____________ while secondary succession occurs when one ________.
A. Into a climax community; species replaces another
B. And replaces another; ecosystem becomes stable
C. On unoccupied ground; biological community replaces another
D. And then fails; niche changes
E. Intraspecific competition; experiences inte ...
1. An example of primary productivity would beA. a wild raspberrsandibabcock
1. An example of primary productivity would be
A. a wild raspberry plant growing 30 grams of new leaf mass during a day of photosynthesis.
B. a young oriole growing 10 grams of muscle during a feeding trip to a raspberry bush.
C. a young hawk growing 10 more grams of body mass by killing and eating a young oriole.
D. more than one of the above.
2. Diversity refers to
A. number of different species present
B. number of ecological niches
C. amount of genetic diversity
D. all of the above
3. An ecosystem consists of
A. A physical environment within which a biological community lives
B. The species with which a biological community interacts
C. A biological community and its physical environment
D. The primary producers within a biological community
E. All the species in a biological community
4. A keystone species is a species whose presence
A. Is the main reason a community exists
B. Provides food for all other species in a community
C. Is an indicator of environmental health
D. Influences the population size of many other species in its community
E. Is always at the top of the trophic levels as a top predator
5. Biomass includes all
A. Material in an ecosystem
B. Things that are living at a given time
C. Living and nonliving things
D. Matter produced by primary producers
E. Biological material
6. No two species can occupy the same ecological niche as one species will outcompete the other one.
A. True
B. False
7. Succession can produce changes in soil, degree of shade, available moisture, and species membership of a community.
A True
B False
8. Cheetahs can run extremely fast because
A. They need to run extremely fast in order to catch their prey
B. An ancestor that was able to run fast had an advantage and passed those genes on to its offspring
C. Over time they gradually built up speed as they adapted to faster and faster prey species
D. They are competing with stronger lions and hyenas for their food so they need to be fast
E. All of these are reasons cheetahs can run extremely fast
9. Most organisms' niches are controlled by
A. Genetic determinants
B. Lessons learned from parents
C. Behavior learned from others in their social groups
D. Luck
E. The predators and competitors they encounter
10. A biological community's productivity is a measure of
A. Its number of species
B. The number of individuals in the community
C. Available solar energy that can be converted to biomass
D. The amount of biomass produced in the community
E. All of these are combined in measuring a community's productivity
11. Primary succession occurs when a community develops ____________ while secondary succession occurs when one ________.
A. Into a climax community; species replaces another
B. And replaces another; ecosystem becomes stable
C. On unoccupied ground; biological community replaces another
D. And then fails; niche changes
E. Intraspecific competition; experiences interspecific competitio ...
1 Humans dogs cats and all species of plant in my garden.pdfaadhi2009
1. Humans, dogs, cats, and all species of plant in my garden can perform anaerobic respiration. a.
TRUE b. FALSE 2. Respiration necessarily involves... a. Air b. Carbohydrates c. An
electrochemical gradient across a membrane d. Oxygen e. All of the above f. None of the above 3.
Over the 4-billion-year history of life on Earth, plants have been mostly responsible for all of the
photosynthesis that has taken place. a. TRUE b. FALSE 4. In the Cyanobacteria lineage, a way of
using H2O as an electron donor evolved. What's the big deal about this? Why was this significant?
Select all that apply. a. It changed the water cycle forever b. It created a source of Oxygen, which
spurred the evolution of other metabolisms that could use it c. It created a source of Oxygen,
which, once it became abundant, changed the redox chemistry of the Earth forever d. Never
before had organisms been able to use light energy as a source of energy and reduced
compounds like NADPH e. This form of photosynthesis would go on to become the dominant form
of carbon fixation on the planet 5. It's unlikely that we'd find the Calvin Cycle in any deep-sea
organisms, down where there is no sunlight to absorb. a. TRUE b. FALSE6. Which of the following
terms would describe an organism that harnesses energy from the sun but does not synthesize its
own carbon-based biomolecules from inorganic sources, such as CO2 ? a. Autotroph b.
Photoautotroph c. Chemoautotroph d. Photoheterotroph e. None of the above 7. Which of the
following should return the most results in a search on Web of Science? a. behavior OR color b.
behavio$r AND colo$r c. behavio $r OR colo$r d. behav* AND colo* e. behav* OR colo* f.
behavior AND color 8. I'm writing my own paper, and I want to cite a paper by Pardis Sabeti and
16 of her colleagues. The reference will appear at the end of my paper in the Works Cited section
as: Sabeti, P. C., Reich, D. E., Higgins, J. M., Levine, H. Z., Richter, D. J., Schaffner, S. F., ... &
Ackerman, H. C. (2002). Detecting recent positive selection in the human genome from haplotype
structure. Nature, 419(6909),832. Which of the following would be an appropriate way to cite this
paper in an in-text citation? Select all that apply. a. We adapted methods used to identify partial
selective sweeps at SNPs (Sabeti et al. 2002). b. We adapted methods used to identify partial
selective sweeps at SNPs (Sabeti, Reich, Higgins, et al. 2002). c. We adapted methods used to
identify partial selective sweeps at SNPs. (Sabeti et al. 2002) d. A variation on this theme was
proposed by (Sabeti et al. 2002) who considered the increase in the number of distinct haplotypes
away from the location of a putative selective sweep. e. A variation on this theme was proposed by
Sabeti et al. (2002) who considered the increase in the number of distinct haplotypes away from
the location of a putative selective sweep.f. A variation on this theme was proposed by Sabeti et
al. (2002) who considered the increase in the.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Students, digital devices and success - Andreas Schleicher - 27 May 2024..pptxEduSkills OECD
Andreas Schleicher presents at the OECD webinar ‘Digital devices in schools: detrimental distraction or secret to success?’ on 27 May 2024. The presentation was based on findings from PISA 2022 results and the webinar helped launch the PISA in Focus ‘Managing screen time: How to protect and equip students against distraction’ https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/managing-screen-time_7c225af4-en and the OECD Education Policy Perspective ‘Students, digital devices and success’ can be found here - https://oe.cd/il/5yV
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
We all have good and bad thoughts from time to time and situation to situation. We are bombarded daily with spiraling thoughts(both negative and positive) creating all-consuming feel , making us difficult to manage with associated suffering. Good thoughts are like our Mob Signal (Positive thought) amidst noise(negative thought) in the atmosphere. Negative thoughts like noise outweigh positive thoughts. These thoughts often create unwanted confusion, trouble, stress and frustration in our mind as well as chaos in our physical world. Negative thoughts are also known as “distorted thinking”.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
The Indian economy is classified into different sectors to simplify the analysis and understanding of economic activities. For Class 10, it's essential to grasp the sectors of the Indian economy, understand their characteristics, and recognize their importance. This guide will provide detailed notes on the Sectors of the Indian Economy Class 10, using specific long-tail keywords to enhance comprehension.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
How to Split Bills in the Odoo 17 POS ModuleCeline George
Bills have a main role in point of sale procedure. It will help to track sales, handling payments and giving receipts to customers. Bill splitting also has an important role in POS. For example, If some friends come together for dinner and if they want to divide the bill then it is possible by POS bill splitting. This slide will show how to split bills in odoo 17 POS.
2. A grassland community is pictured above. Grasses are considered--
A. Secondary Consumers
B. Primary consumers
C. Decomposers
D. producers
3. The drawing above shows the atoms before and after a
chemical reaction. The drawing illustrates the
a.Law of conservation of energy
b.Law of inertia
c.Law of conservation of mass
d.Law of chemical reactions
4. Early telescopes showed stars as only points
of light, while the planets appeared to be
much larger, providing evidence that stars
must –
a. be more plentiful in our solar system than
planets.
b. be much farther from Earth than planets.
c. reflect much more light than planets.
d. travel in elliptical orbits like planets.
(8.8B)
5. Rabbits having long hair is an
advantage over having short hair in
environments with--
A. High levels of rain
B. A large number of competitors
C. Low temperatures
D. Few predators
6. Ryan is collecting information about
the average temperature in a nearby
stream to determine if it is in the range
for a certain species of fish to survive.
Which of the following is the most
useful instrument for Ryan to have?
A. Thermometer B. anemometer
C. Graduated cylinder D. microscope
7. Biodiversity contributes to the sustainability of ecosystems. If a desert
ecosystem is modeled by the food web above, what is most likely to happen if
the desert paintbrush develops a fatal disease?
A. The entire ecosystem collapses
B. The Golden-mantled ground squirrel goes extinct locally
C. Mohave rattlesnakes start to eat kangaroo rats.
D. Golden-mantled ground squirrels survive by eating more creosote.
8. Which of Newton’s Laws
explains the example below?
A hockey puck
remains on the
ice at rest until
a hockey stick
swings and hits
it across the
ice.
9. Which is an example of competition?
A. Two species of insects that feed
on the same rare plant.
B. A bobcat and a jackrabbit
C. An African lioness feeding her
cubs
D. A tick living on a dog.
10. Tyson is preparing a report about functions
of human body systems. Which statement
does NOT describe the function of a given
body system?
A. The digestive system breaks down and
absorbs food and remove wastes.
B. The respiratory system circulates clean
blood.
C. The skeletal system connects, protects and
supports.
D. The nervous system gathers, processes
and responds to information.
11. Which process causes substances
to react to form one or more new
substances?
a. Chemical change
b. Physical change
c. Evaporation
d. Freezing
12. In a certain breed of cat, brown eyes are dominant
over blue eyes. The allele for brown eyes is B. The
allele for blue eyes is b. As shown in the Punnett
square above, a cat with genotype Bb mates with a
cat that also has genotype Bb. What fraction of the
offspring of these cats would be expected to have
brown eyes?
A. None B. One half
C. Three quarters D. All
B
b
bB
13. Which of Newton’s Laws
explains the example below?
A space shuttle pushes gases and fumes
down towards the ground and an equal
and opposite force pushes the shuttle up
into the sky.
14. Jonah sets up an experiment to test the growth of
euglenoids, single celled organisms that have
chloroplasts and get some of their food from
photosynthesis. He places 6 euglenoids in each
of 4 Petri dishes. He shines a light connected to
a timer on each Petri dish. Under what light/dark
schedule can he probably expect the populaton of
euglenoids to grow the largest?
A. 1 hour light; 23 hours dark
B. 6 hours light; 18 hours dark
C. 12 hours light; 12 hours dark
D. 16 hours light; 8 hours dark
15. Two years ago, Javier’s garden
contained 5 strawberry plants, 5 mint
plants, and 1 thyme plant. He has not
weeded it for two years. Today, it
contains 1 strawberry plant, 2 mint
plants, 4 chickweed plants and 3 wild
carrot plants. This is best described as
an example of
A. plant/plant symbiosis B. predator/prey
C. Ecological succession D. genetic mutation
16. The dichotomous key
above helps identify
species of spiders that
are often mistaken for
the brown recluse.
Ashley finds a spider
with a rounded body, six
eyes, black stripes, and
two body parts. What
type of spider is it?
A. daddy longlegs
B. spitting spider
C. cellar spider
D. pirate spider
Species of Spiders
1 a . Has two body parts Go to 2.
1 b . Has one body part daddy longle g s
2 a . Has six eyes Go to 3.
2 b . Has eight eyes Go to 4.
3 a . Has a plain body or a
violin design on its bod y
brown reclu se
3 b . Has black stripes on a
round bo d y
spitting spider
4 a . Has a long body shape cellar spide r
4 b . Has rounded body
shape
pirate spide r
17. A lichen is a combination of fungus and
algae that lives on the sides of
trees, rocks, and other materials. The
fungus provides the algae with water
and minerals and the algae uses the
water and minerals to make food for
both organisms. What type of
relationship does the lichen represent?
A. parasitism B. commensalism
C. mutualism D. decomposer
18. According to the graph above, what relationship exists
between an atom’s atomic number and atomic mass?
a. As atomic number increases, atomic mass decreases
b. As atomic number increases, atomic mass increases
c. There is no relationship between atomic number and
atomic mass
d. Some atoms have no atomic mass
19. Which describes motion in which the person or
object is accelerating?
A A bird flies straight from a tree to the ground
without changing speed.
B A dog walks at a constant speed along a
straight sidewalk.
C A girl runs along a straight path the same
distance each second.
D A truck moves around a curve without
changing speed.
20. A girl swings back and forth on a playground
swing. Her potential energy is lowest and her
kinetic energy is greatest
A when she is at the highest point in her swing.
B when she is at the lowest point in her swing.
C when she pumps her legs halfway between the
highest and lowest point.
D when she jumps off the swing from the highest
point that she reaches.
21. Which of the following does not increase
potential energy?
A compressing a spring
B lifting a book to a higher shelf
C stretching a rubber band
D shooting a pool ball on a pool table
22. In the food web above which organism transfers
energy from producers to secondary consumers?
A. Prickly pear cactus B. Kangaroo rat
C. Great horned owl D. Gila Monster
23. In this food web, which of the following organisms feeds on
the largest variety of different producers?
25. An engineer measures the amount of energy in each
step in the power plant labeled above. Predict what
he is likely to find.
A The amount of nuclear energy released from
atoms will equal the amount of electrical energy
output because of conservation of energy.
B The amount of electrical energy output will be
greater than the amount of nuclear energy because
energy is gained in each energy transformation.
C The amount of electrical energy output will be less
then the amount of nuclear energy produced
because energy is transformed to heat in each
transformation.
D The total amount of energy in the power plant is
always constant, because energy can never be
created or destroyed.
26. In a series of controlled experiments, a
student measures the force acting on a
wheeled cart and the cart’s acceleration.
The student’s data are shown below.
Based on the recorded observations, what is
the mass of the cart in kilograms?
Force (N) Acceleration (m/s2)
10 0.5
20 1.0
30 1.5
40 2.0
27. A toy train engine rests motionless on a track.
One student begins pushing the engine to
the right with a force of 2 newtons. At the same
time, another student begins pushing the
engine to the left with a force of 5 newtons.
Which of the following best describes the
resulting motion of the engine?
A It travels left at a constant speed.
B It travels left at an increasing speed.
C It travels right at a constant speed.
D It travels right at an increasing speed.
28. The box below is stationary. Determine whether or not
an unbalanced force exists on the box if forces are
applied as shown, and then determine which statement
is correct.
A An unbalanced force will
move the box at a
velocity of 3 m/s to the
left.
B The net force on the box
is 13 N, which will
accelerate the box to the
left.
C An unbalanced force of
3N will accelerate the
box to the left.
D The forces on the box
will be balanced, and it
will remain stationary.
3N
5N
2N
3N
29. The Gulf of Mexico contains a large
region known as a dead zone where the
oxygen concentrations are extremely low.
Many animals have difficulty performing
respiration in this area. The best reason for
the dead zone is
a. Fertilizer runoff stimulates the growth of
bacteria that use up the oxygen.
b. The large numbers of oil drilling platforms
serve as artificial reef.
c. Overfishing of shrimp and fish destabilizes
the ecosystem.
d. Too many tourists use the Gulf of Mexico
for a vacation spot.
30. A population of moths living in an area has
changed over many years. Different groups with
different characteristics have developed within
the population. The weather in the area has
also changed. Less rain has resulted in brown
grass and weaker trees. Predict which
characteristic would most likely help a group
survive the change in the environment?
A. Wings that are browner in color
B. Wings that are greener in color
C. Wings with a wider shape
D. Wings with a narrower shape
31. After every laboratory experiment Dina
performed, she threw away all her
equipment, including beakers, test
tubes, and Petri dishes. How should Dina
change her laboratory practices?
a. She should not change her practices. The equipment may
have contained harmful acids and bases and should be
disposed of.
b. She should recycle her equipment so it can get made into
new equipment.
c. She should save her equipment and leave it dirty so she
doesn’t waste water.
d. She should clean and reuse her equipment to save the
Earth’s resources.
33. In a classroom experiment, Samuel measures
the motion of a wind up toy car. He finds that it
after 1 s it has moved 10 cm left of the starting
point, after 2 s it has moved 20 cm left of the
starting point, and after 3 s it has moved 30 cm
left of the starting point. Which of the graphs
above could Samuel use to represent the
motion of the toy car?
A A and B
B B and D
C A and E
D C and F
34. After the experiment has ended, the toy car
sits at rest on the track. Which of the graphs
above represent the motion of the toy car
now?
A. B
B. B and E
C. B and F
D. Since the car is at rest, none of the
graphs show its motion.
35. Use the graph to answer this
question.
Calculate the average
speed, in m/s, of the
object whose motion is
shown in this graph.
36. Windmills are used to convert wind energy into a
more useful form. In most cases, there are three
steps in this process. The energy is in a different
form at each step. Which of the following flowcharts
shows the most likely order of the energy changes?
A. wind energy mechanical energy solar energy
B. wind energy thermal energy mechanical energy
C. wind energy solar energy electrical energy
D. wind energy mechanical energy electrical energy
37. What energy transformation happens in a
toaster?
a. Mechanical Electrical
b. Electrical Thermal
c. Thermal Chemical
38. A flashlight converts _____________ energy
to ____________ energy.
a. chemical; thermal
b. Light; sound
c. Chemical; electromagnetic
d. Mechanical; sound
39. If a ping-pong ball, a golf ball, and a rubber
bouncy ball were dropped from the top of
the Henry Winston Mustang Stadium, which
would hit the ground first? (Assume there is
no air resistance.)
A. golf ball
B. ping-pong ball
C. rubber bouncy ball
D. all hit at the same time
40. Which of Newton’s Laws
explains the example below?
A shopping cart is rolling down a hill filled
with 52 watermelons. 20 watermelons fall
out when the cart hits a bump. The
acceleration of the shopping increases
due to the decreased mass.
41. An atom that has 12 protons, 14
neutrons, and 12 electrons has an
atomic number of:
a. 12
b. 14
c. 26
d. 38
42. Which of Newton’s Laws
explains the example below?
You are riding in the passenger seat of a
car and the driver makes a sudden turn
left. Your body leans towards the right
side of the car because it wants to resist
change of motion.
43. Who explained that gravity keeps
objects in orbit?
a. Kepler
b. Galileo
c. Brahe
d. Newton
(6.11B)
44. Nitrogen fertilizer is often added to soil
to increase the growth of grass in lawns.
Which of these nearby ecosystems
would most likely be harmed by the use
of nitrogen fertilizer?
a. Forest
b. Meadow
c. Park
d. Pond
(7.8C)
45. How does the Gulf
Stream current
probably affect
Iceland?
a. The current carries
cold water to
Iceland.
b. The current causes
Iceland’s climate
to be warmer.
c. The current causes
Iceland’s climate
to be colder.
d. The current
prevents sunlight
from reaching
Iceland.
(8.10B)
46. The tilt of Earth’s axis determines the –
a. length of a day.
b. length of a year.
c. phases of the moon.
d. seasons.
(8.7A)
47. You cannot see a new moon because –
a. Earth’s axis tilts away from the moon.
b. The moon has absorbed all the light
that hits it.
c. The moon’s sunlit side is facing away
from Earth.
d. The sun is not shining on the moon.
(8.7B)
48. The diagram shows the orbit of the moon around the earth.
At which point in the moon’s orbit will a person standing
on Earth see a waxing crescent moon?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
(8.7B)
49. When the phase of the moon is a full moon, -
a. the sunlit side of the moon is facing away from
Earth.
b. the sunlit side of the moon is facing the earth.
c. the sun is not shining on the moon.
d. the moon is in Earth’s shadow.
(8.7B)
50. Which of the following statements about
the structure and function of each cell
organelle is correct?
A. The nucleus is the smallest of the cell’s
organelles.
B. Plant cells usually have one large vacuole
to store water.
C. Mitochondria have a lot of surface area to
transport proteins.
D. The cell wall allows only certain
substances to pass into the cell.
51. Which of the following causes the
moon’s phases to occur?
a. The Earth’s rotation on its axis
b. The Earth’s revolution around
the sun
c. The moon’s rotation on its axis
d. The moon’s revolution around
the Earth.
(8.7B)
52. Lydia made a hypothesis that all metals
were solids at room temperature. Is her
hypothesis correct?
a. No; mercury is a metal, but is liquid at
room temperature
b. No; the noble gases in group 18 are
metals
c. There is no relationship between
atomic number and atomic mass
d. Some atoms have no atomic mass
53. If the moon were located to the right of
position B, which would be the best title
for the diagram?
A. High tide
B. Low tide
C. Neap tide
D. Spring tide
(8.7C)
54. The moon’s surface is made up of
rocks and dust-like soil. Which is the
likely cause of the “soil” on the
moon?
a. Breakup of rocks from rain and moving
water.
b. Breakup of rocks when meteors struck
the moon.
c. Weathering by glaciers.
d. Weathering by wind.
(8.8A)
55. The runner in the
image above is
jumping hurdles that
are set 10 m apart.
She jumps each
hurdle in 2-second
intervals. In 6
seconds, she has
jumped the hurdle that
is set at 30 m from the
start. Calculate the
average speed of the
runner in m/s after 6
seconds.
56. An atom is the smallest particle of an element that still
retains all the properties of that element. Which best
completes the description of an atom?
a. An atom has electrons that can be found in one or
more energy levels outside the atom’s nucleus
b. The number of electrons an atom has is always
different from the number of protons it has
c. The total number of electrons in an atom is equal to
the number of protons plus the number of neutrons
d. Every atom has a nucleus, which is usually made up
of protons and neutrons, surrounded by energy levels
containing one or more electrons
57. Astronomers have discovered many differences in
stars through their observations. One theory
used to explain these differences is that –
a. Earth’s atmosphere distorts our view of the stars.
b. stars are at different points in their life cycles.
c. the distances between stars are huge.
d. there is too much light pollution on Earth to study
stars.
(8.8A)
58. The Sun is a main sequence, yellow
star in the Milky Way galaxy, which is
described as a(n)–
a. dwarf galaxy.
b. elliptical galaxy.
c. irregular galaxy.
d. spiral galaxy.
(8.8B)
59. The light from this flashlight is brighter at
point A than point B because
a. light can travel only in a vacuum.
b. light does not travel very fast in air.
c. air particles absorb some energy from the
light.
d. destructive interference makes the light
appear dimmer.
(8.8C)
60. Look at the advertisement. Why wouldn’t you buy
this speaker if you lived on the moon?
a. The speaker wouldn’t work in space because sound
waves need a medium and space is empty.
b. The speaker wouldn’t work in space because there
is no light in space.
c. The speaker wouldn’t work in space because sound
waves travel as transverse waves.
d. The speaker wouldn’t work in space because sound
waves have more compression then rarefaction in
space.
(8.8C)
61. Light-years are the most appropriate
measurement for which of the following
distances?
a. The distance between the moon and Earth.
b. The distance between the North and South
Poles.
c. The distance from the sun to the center of the
galaxy.
d. The distance from Florida to California.
(8.8D)
62. Look at the chart,
which shows some
ions and their
charges. According
to the chart, an
aluminum ion has-
a. 3 electrons.
b. 3 neutrons.
c. 3 fewer protons than electrons.
d. 3 more protons than electrons.
63. Which of the following is the best evidence
that Earth’s continents were once in very
different positions than they are today?
a. Fossils of tropical plants have been found in
Antarctica.
b. Major rivers form deltas from erosion.
c. Penguins are found only in the Southern
Hemisphere.
d. Volcanoes surround the Pacific ocean.
(8.9A)
64. Pressure builds up along a fault line
and eventually the rocks along the
fault shift positions. What will be the
effect of this process?
a. An earthquake will occur.
b. A hot spot will form.
c. A tsunami will form.
d. A volcanic eruption will occur.
(8.9B)
65. The Eurasian plate and North American plate are moving
away from each other. This is causing the Atlantic Ocean
to become wider. What other change will this movement
most likely cause?
a. The destruction of beaches along the coast of Europe.
b. The formation of mountains along the east coast of North
America.
c. The Pacific Ocean is becoming smaller in size.
d. The Gulf of Mexico is becoming deeper.
(8.9B)
66. A land developer cleared
all the trees in a
neighborhood to be able
to build new homes. A
direct result of removing
trees from the area would
be –
a. a lower amount of carbon
dioxide in the air.
b. a higher rate of erosion.
c. an increase in the
carnivore population.
d. a slowdown of the
nitrogen cycle.
(8.9C)
67. Many weather systems form over
oceans. The energy needed to form
these weather systems starts from –
a. prevailing winds.
b. the moon.
c. the sun.
d. water currents.
(8.10A)
(8.10C)
68. Earth’s land areas, oceans, and atmosphere
maintain fairly constant average temperatures.
What is the best explanation for these constant
average temperatures?
a. Earth’s Northern Hemisphere and Southern
Hemisphere have opposite seasons.
b. Earth is tilted and rotates daily on its axis.
c. The continuous motion of air and water
distributes the sun’s energy.
d. Global weather systems generally move from
west to east.
(8.10A)
69. A current carries water from Canada and
Alaska to the south along the California
coast. How does this current most likely
affect California’s climate?
a. The current causes floods in California.
b. The current caused droughts in
California.
c. The current cools California.
d. The current warms California.
(8.10B)
70. Look at the drawing above. How many
neutrons are found in a Carbon-14
nucleus?
71. When looking at the model of the atom
above, what is the best description of
the structure identified by line 1?
72. Two groups of children are playing tug-of-war, a
contest in which each team tugs on a rope to pull
the other across a line. Everyone is tugging on the
rope, but no one is moving. This is because
A the forces acting on the rope are balanced.
B the children do not have enough mass to create
force.
C the rope resists any change in motion.
D there is too much friction for the rope to move.
73. Which of these is the balanced form of the
above chemical equation?
a. H202 H2O + O2
b. 2H202 2H2O + O2
c. 3H2O2 3H2O + O2
d. 2H2O2 H2O + 2O2
74. Look at the diagram above. Which of the following is
NOT true of electrons?
a. They have a negative charge.
b. They have little mass.
c. Beryllium contains 5 electrons.
d. They are likely to be found around the nucleus within
the electron cloud.
75. These elements are grouped together on the periodic
table because they are
a. Listed alphabetically
b. Are all transition metals
c. Are noble gases
d. Have the same number of valence electrons
76. An element is located on the periodic
table according to
a. when it was discovered.
b. its chemical symbol.
c. its chemical name.
d. its physical and chemical
properties.
77. The chart above shows
the number of elements
discovered during
different periods of time.
The greatest number of
elements were
discovered
a. before 1750.
b. between 1801-1850.
c. between 1851-1900.
d. from 1951-present.
78. The plates of the Earth’s lithosphere
are moved around by –
a. winds in the atmosphere.
b. conduction in the asthenosphere.
c. convection currents in the ocean.
d. convection currents in the
asthenosphere.
(6.9A)
(8.9B)
79. The formula for water is H2O. What is the
chemical composition of water?
a. One atom of hydrogen and one atom of
oxygen
b. Two atoms of hydrogen and two atoms of
oxygen
c. One atom of hydrogen and two atoms of
oxygen
d. Two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of
oxygen
80. Which of the following lunar
phases occurs approximately 28
days after a full moon in the
lunar cycle?
a. Full moon
b. Crescent
c. Gibbous
d. New moon
(8.7B)
81. According to the chemical formula
shown here, all of the following
elements are found in the chemical
compound sulfuric acid EXCEPT
a. Hydrogen
b. Sulfur
c. Carbon
d. Oxygen
82. The substances listed on the left
side of a chemical equation are
the
a. Coefficients
b. Precipitate
c. Products
d. Reactants
83. Which of the following
molecules is composed of only
four atoms?
a. H2O
b. NaCl
c. SO3
d. MgCl2
84. What effect would a shoulder belt and a lap belt
have on the inertia of a crash-test dummy when the
car hits a barrier?
A The shoulder and lap belts cause an unbalanced
force to act on the crash-test dummy, causing it to
stop moving in the direction the car was traveling.
B The shoulder and lap belt would increase the
momentum of the crash-test dummy.
C The shoulder and lap belt would allow the crash-
test dummy to continue moving with constant
velocity in the direction the car was traveling.
D The shoulder and lap belt would have no effect on
the crash-test dummy.
85. The image shows a man pushing a sofa up a ramp.
What is the amount of work being done on the sofa?
A 1000 J
B 1005 J
C 5000 J
D There is no work
being done on the
sofa.
Weight:
500 N
1m