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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the author, humans today have 625 percent more what in their bloodstream compared to previous generations?

2. Had the universe formed just slightly differently:

3. What is an extremophile?

4. An asteroid strike on Earth would most likely affect the climate for how long?

5. Fred Hoyle came up with the term "Big Bang" while trying to:

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened when, in 1896, Henri Becquerel accidentally left a packet of uranium salts on top of a wrapped photographic plate?

2. Why does Bryson consider Pluto to be an oddity?

3. What explanation did James Hutton come up with to describe the phenomenon of seashell fossils frequently found on mountaintops?

4. Who was Clair Patterson? Describe Clair Patterson's campaign against lead contamination.

5. Why is the term "dinosaurian" a misnomer?

6. Describe what the Archbishop James Usser and the Reverend William Buckland concluded regarding the age of Earth.

7. What did geologist Harry Hess discover about the Atlantic Ocean in the 1960s that validated the idea that the continents are drifting apart?

8. Describe what happened after the last supervolcano erupted on Earth. When did this happen?

9. Explain the misunderstanding of radiation during the early 1900s.

10. Explain Albert Einstein's theory of space curvature using a tennis ball and an ant.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the theory that life on Earth was "seeded" from outer space. How was it "seeded"? Where did it come from? How does this theory compare to other theories about the origin of life on our planet?

Essay Topic 2

Explain what Bryson says about water distribution on our planet. How much is saltwater? How much is fresh water? Describe where the different types of water are distributed throughout the world.

Essay Topic 3

How did the dinosaurs become extinct? Explain the sequence of events that happened after the asteroid hit. What was the outcome to other life forms? What conditions changed in the aftermath? What group of animals became dominant following the dinosaur extinction?

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This section contains 959 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample