Science Assessment ~ Items ~ EN052001

A scientist finds some fossils of an extinct species of fish. Which of the following could he do by studying the fossils?

He could discover what anatomical features the extinct species had, and he could discover similarities and differences between the features of the extinct fish and those of currently existing fish.
He could discover what anatomical features the extinct species had, but he could not discover any similarities and differences between the features of the extinct fish and those of currently existing fish.
He could discover similarities and differences between the features of the extinct fish and those of currently existing fish, but he could not discover what anatomical features the extinct species had.
He could neither discover similarities and differences between the features of the extinct fish and those of currently existing fish, nor could he discover what anatomical features the extinct species had.

Group	Correct	Total	Percent
Overall	1700	3121	55%
Grades
6–8	998	1946	51%
9–12	702	1175	60%
Gender
Male	788	1470	54%
Female	865	1559	55%
Primary Language
English	1529	2806	54%
Other	119	222	54%

Disciplinary Core Ideas: LS4.A Anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record, enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent.
NRC Framework: Grade 5 LS4.A Fossils can be compared with one another and to living organisms according to their similarities and differences.

Science Assessment