Extinction & Rapid Change · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

When Change Outruns Adaptation

Science · Ecosystems & Habitats · ages 12-14
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which of these animals is now extinct?

    • African elephant
    • Woolly mammoth
    • Asian elephant

  2. Why do some species go extinct while others survive and adapt?

    • The environment changes faster than the species can evolve
    • The species eats too much food
    • The species has too many babies

  3. A mass extinction wipes out many species across the world much faster than the normal background rate.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. One lake warms by 1 degree over 1000 years. A second lake warms by 5 degrees in just 20 years because of a nearby factory. Which lake's fish face greater risk of extinction?

    • The lake that warmed quickly in 20 years
    • The lake that warmed slowly over 1000 years
    • Both lakes face the same risk

  5. Which of these is a human activity that is pushing species toward extinction today?

    • Planting trees in a park
    • Recycling paper and cans
    • Clearing forests for farmland

  6. Which animal today is critically endangered mainly because it gets trapped in fishing nets meant for other species?

    • Common goldfish
    • Vaquita porpoise
    • House sparrow

  7. Woolly mammoths faced a warming climate along with hunting pressure from humans. Which animal today faces a similar mix of climate change and human pressure?

    • Polar bear, due to melting sea ice and habitat loss
    • Common pigeon, due to extra birdseed in cities
    • Housefly, due to warm indoor lighting

  8. A student says: 'Species have always gone extinct at the same steady rate, so today's losses are nothing unusual.' What is wrong with this claim?

    • The claim is correct and today's rate is completely normal
    • Extinction rates only changed once, during the age of dinosaurs
    • Extinction rates vary a lot, and today's rate is far higher than the normal background rate
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

When Change Outruns Adaptation W1-mt_-r3B4FQyX3-s1

  1. Woolly mammoth · Woolly mammoths died out after the last ice age. Elephants are large mammals that are still alive today.
  2. The environment changes faster than the species can evolve · Adaptation through natural selection takes many generations. If change happens faster than that, the species cannot keep up.
  3. True · Background extinction is the slow, steady loss of species over time. A mass extinction happens in a short burst and affects many species at once.
  4. The lake that warmed quickly in 20 years · Fast change gives fish far less time to adapt through natural selection, so the quickly warming lake is riskier.
  5. Clearing forests for farmland · Clearing forests destroys the habitat many species depend on to survive.
  6. Vaquita porpoise · Fewer than 10 vaquita porpoises are thought to remain, mostly because they drown in fishing nets.
  7. Polar bear, due to melting sea ice and habitat loss · Polar bears rely on sea ice that is shrinking as the climate warms, similar to how mammoths lost their grassland habitat.
  8. Extinction rates vary a lot, and today's rate is far higher than the normal background rate · The background rate is normally slow and steady, but many scientists think today's rate is far higher, more like a mass extinction.
Worksheet · LightMySky