Life Science (Grade 7) Midterm — Units 3–4

Part 1: Multiple Choice

1. What do fossils provide evidence of?
   1. A. How organisms choose their traits
   2. B. Weather patterns from last year
   3. C. The exact age of every living species
   4. D. Organisms that lived long ago and how life changed
2. A reduced structure that no longer performs its original function, such as tiny hip bones in whales, is called what?
   1. A. A camouflage trait
   2. B. A vestigial structure
   3. C. A homologous structure
   4. D. A mutation
3. Which is an example of camouflage?
   1. A. A skunk spraying a predator
   2. B. A bear hibernating through the winter
   3. C. Geese flying south for the winter
   4. D. An arctic fox's white winter fur blending with snow
4. What is a mutation?
   1. A. A new species forming overnight
   2. B. A trait learned during life
   3. C. A change in an organism's DNA
   4. D. A type of cell division
5. Which scientist proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species?
   1. A. Louis Pasteur
   2. B. Charles Darwin
   3. C. Gregor Mendel
   4. D. Isaac Newton
6. Why did dark peppered moths become more common near polluted English cities in the 1800s?
   1. A. Light moths moved to the countryside
   2. B. Pollution dyed the light moths dark
   3. C. They were harder for birds to see on soot-darkened trees
   4. D. Moths chose to change their color
7. A human arm, a whale flipper, and a bat wing have similar bones but different uses. What are these called?
   1. A. Vestigial structures
   2. B. Analogous structures
   3. C. Homologous structures
   4. D. Learned behaviors
8. What is an adaptation?
   1. A. An inherited trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce
   2. B. A change an organism chooses to make
   3. C. A skill an animal learns from its parents
   4. D. A trait shared by every species on Earth
9. Why is variation within a population important?
   1. A. It stops natural selection from happening
   2. B. Some individuals may survive if the environment changes
   3. C. It makes every individual identical
   4. D. It guarantees every individual survives
10. Which statement best describes natural selection?
    1. A. Individuals with helpful inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce more
    2. B. All individuals survive and reproduce equally
    3. C. Organisms change on purpose to fit their environment
    4. D. The largest individual always survives
11. Most scientists today sort all life into which three domains?
    1. A. Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya
    2. B. Protists, Fungi, and Plants
    3. C. Vertebrates, Invertebrates, and Protists
    4. D. Plants, Animals, and Fungi
12. Which scientist created the two-part naming system used for species?
    1. A. Charles Darwin
    2. B. Carolus Linnaeus
    3. C. Anton van Leeuwenhoek
    4. D. Gregor Mendel
13. Mushrooms and yeasts are fungi. How do fungi get their food?
    1. A. They absorb nutrients from their surroundings
    2. B. They take in food through roots and leaves
    3. C. They make food by photosynthesis
    4. D. They hunt and swallow prey
14. Which description best fits bacteria?
    1. A. Nonliving particles that need a host
    2. B. Single-celled organisms without a nucleus
    3. C. Many-celled organisms with a nucleus
    4. D. Single-celled organisms with a nucleus
15. What is a dichotomous key used for?
    1. A. Identifying organisms through a series of paired choices
    2. B. Showing energy flow in a food web
    3. C. Measuring how fast organisms grow
    4. D. Predicting offspring traits
16. A scientific name such as Canis lupus is made of which two parts?
    1. A. Genus and species
    2. B. Family and order
    3. C. Kingdom and phylum
    4. D. Class and genus
17. Which classification level is the broadest?
    1. A. Kingdom
    2. B. Domain
    3. C. Species
    4. D. Phylum
18. Which scientific name is written correctly?
    1. A. Homo Sapiens
    2. B. Homo sapiens
    3. C. homo Sapiens
    4. D. homo sapiens
19. Which classification level is the most specific?
    1. A. Kingdom
    2. B. Family
    3. C. Genus
    4. D. Species
20. Which of these animals is a vertebrate?
    1. A. Jellyfish
    2. B. Earthworm
    3. C. Frog
    4. D. Spider

Part 2: Written Response

21. Explain why scientists classify living things and how scientific names help them. Use the levels of classification in your answer.