Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Common Ancestry ~ Item CA017003 ~ Student Performance

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The table below shows the presence or absence of traits in seven different species.

Character	Frog	Bird	Crocodile	Whale	Pig	Gorilla
Blowhole				Yes
Body hair				Yes	Yes	Yes
Amniotic egg		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Forelimbs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Backbone	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Holes in Skull		Yes	Yes

Based only on the traits presented in the table, which organism would you expect to have the most genetic similarity with crocodiles?

Birds
Gorillas
Whales
Not enough information is available

Pre-Test

Distribution of responses (prior to studying evolution in high school)
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
		n = 2269	6–8 n = 91	9–12 n = 2013	Male n = 963	Female n = 1143	English n = 2055	Other n = 63
A.	Birds	80%	73%	80%	79%	83%	80%	70%
B.	Gorillas	4%	3%	4%	5%	4%	4%	5%
C.	Whales	10%	11%	10%	11%	8%	10%	13%
D.	Not enough information is available	6%	13%	5%	6%	5%	5%	13%

Post-Test (Control)

Distribution of responses (following typical high school instruction on evolution)
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
		n = 1104	6–8 n = 70	9–12 n = 901	Male n = 434	Female n = 555	English n = 949	Other n = 33
A.	Birds	88%	80%	88%	85%	90%	87%	94%
B.	Gorillas	3%	7%	2%	4%	2%	3%	0%
C.	Whales	5%	3%	6%	7%	4%	5%	3%
D.	Not enough information is available	4%	10%	4%	4%	5%	5%	3%

Post-Test (Treatment)

Distribution of responses (following completion of an evolution curriculum module)
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
		n = 1165	6–8 n = 18	9–12 n = 1059	Male n = 535	Female n = 571	English n = 1055	Other n = 33
A.	Birds	89%	78%	89%	88%	90%	89%	85%
B.	Gorillas	2%	0%	2%	3%	1%	2%	6%
C.	Whales	6%	22%	6%	6%	6%	6%	6%
D.	Not enough information is available	2%	0%	3%	3%	2%	3%	3%