PENN FOSTER INTRO TO BIOLOGY
PROCTORED COMPREHENSIVE PAPER
2026 QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS GRADED
A+
⩥ Although James Hutton came up with the idea of uniformitarianism,
this viewpoint wasn't widely shared until after his death. Who is
responsible for building on Hutton's work and popularizing
uniformitarianism? Answer: Charles Lyell
⩥ Unlike Lamarck, Darwin proposed that evolution occurs at what level
of organization? Answer: Populations
⩥ What does natural selection require? Answer: Variation within
populations
⩥ Which of the following is not a required condition for natural
selection? Answer: There's interspecific competition for suitable habitat.
⩥ Which of the following is not a topic considered in microevolution?
Answer: The fossil record
⩥ Which of the following is not an assumption of Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium? Answer: Mating is nonrandom
, ⩥ What was the most recent mass extinction event? Answer: The end-
Cretaceous extinction
⩥ Which of the following groups is not monophyletic? Answer: Protista
⩥ What's the term for rod-shaped bacteria? Answer: Bacillus
⩥ Which species concept defines a species as "a reproductive
community of populations (reproductively isolated from others) that
occupies a specific niche in nature"? Answer: The biological species
concept
⩥ What's the term for a taxon that doesn't contain the most recent
ancestor, but does contain all of its descendants? Answer: Polyphyletic
⩥ In radiocarbon dating, scientists measure the relative amounts of
carbon-14 in a sample to determine its age. Carbon dating can be used
on organic materials up to 70,000 years old since the half-life of carbon
is roughly 6,000 years. If a sample originally contained 100 micrograms
of carbon-14 but now contains only 25 micrograms of carbon-14,
approximately how old is that sample? Answer: 12,000 years
PROCTORED COMPREHENSIVE PAPER
2026 QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS GRADED
A+
⩥ Although James Hutton came up with the idea of uniformitarianism,
this viewpoint wasn't widely shared until after his death. Who is
responsible for building on Hutton's work and popularizing
uniformitarianism? Answer: Charles Lyell
⩥ Unlike Lamarck, Darwin proposed that evolution occurs at what level
of organization? Answer: Populations
⩥ What does natural selection require? Answer: Variation within
populations
⩥ Which of the following is not a required condition for natural
selection? Answer: There's interspecific competition for suitable habitat.
⩥ Which of the following is not a topic considered in microevolution?
Answer: The fossil record
⩥ Which of the following is not an assumption of Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium? Answer: Mating is nonrandom
, ⩥ What was the most recent mass extinction event? Answer: The end-
Cretaceous extinction
⩥ Which of the following groups is not monophyletic? Answer: Protista
⩥ What's the term for rod-shaped bacteria? Answer: Bacillus
⩥ Which species concept defines a species as "a reproductive
community of populations (reproductively isolated from others) that
occupies a specific niche in nature"? Answer: The biological species
concept
⩥ What's the term for a taxon that doesn't contain the most recent
ancestor, but does contain all of its descendants? Answer: Polyphyletic
⩥ In radiocarbon dating, scientists measure the relative amounts of
carbon-14 in a sample to determine its age. Carbon dating can be used
on organic materials up to 70,000 years old since the half-life of carbon
is roughly 6,000 years. If a sample originally contained 100 micrograms
of carbon-14 but now contains only 25 micrograms of carbon-14,
approximately how old is that sample? Answer: 12,000 years
