Use these questions to test your understanding. If you get them wrong, you will be linked back to the relevant part of the notes. 

Be sure you study them thoroughly (don't just get a quick fix for your mistake) so your overall understanding is improved.

1. Convergent evolution means

       a. All animals tend to evolve toward a single, highest form

       b. Facing similar challenges, different types of animal tend to evolve toward similar solutions

       c. Plants and animals are evolving toward a new type of organism

       d. Conditions converged in the Cambrian era for development of a new variety of animals

        e. Non-convergent forms of life are doomed to die out

2. Brain sizes

        a. show no trend with time.

        b. have tended to get smaller with time

        c. have tended to get larger with time

        d. have fluctuated a lot with time

        e. take a big step toward smaller brains after a typical mass extinction

3. Sophisticated, thinking brains and complex nervous and sensory systems developed

        a. to allow location of easily-digested foods

        b. early, in the Devonian era

        c. in the era of dinosaurs for the first time

        d. a number of times, but earlier instances were eliminated in mass extinctions

        e. in a broad variety of animal types

4. Development of civilization on Earth has waited until sophisticated, thinking brains evolved and

        a. visitors from outer space passed on the basic secrets of civilized life

        b. writing was invented    

        c. major predators such as saber-toothed tigers became extinct

        d. humans moved out of caves

        e. the climate entered a mild period that made it easier to grow food

5. The number of civilizations we might be able to receive radio signals from

        a. is very hard to estimate - we can only try and see what happens

        b. is very large, and we should do so very soon

        c. is obviously so small that we should give up trying

        d. depends critically on our determining the number of stars in our galaxy

        e. is virtually zero since any higher civilization would have found another way than radio to communicate

6. The probability of a "fair" coin coming up heads is 1/2. What is the probability of it coming up heads three times in a row?

        a. 1/2            b. 1/4         c. 1/6         d. 1/8         e. 1/12