Evolution
Evolution and Natural Selection
Item EN049005: All dogs and cats share a common ancestor.
What do scientists find out when they trace the ancestors of dogs and cats?
- All dogs and cats living today share a common ancestor with each other that lived a very long time ago.
- All dogs share a common ancestor with each other, and all cats share a common ancestor with each other, but cats and dogs do not share a common ancestor with each other.
- Some, but not all, dogs share a common ancestor with cats. Some, but not all, cats share a common ancestor with dogs.
- Scientists cannot trace the ancestors of any two species back far enough to find out whether they had a common ancestor.
Pre-Test
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 580 |
6–8 n = 25 |
9–12 n = 514 |
Male n = 254 |
Female n = 286 |
English n = 526 |
Other n = 13 |
||
| A. | All dogs and cats living today share a common ancestor with each other that lived a very long time ago. | 43% | 44% | 42% | 46% | 40% | 42% | 38% |
| B. | All dogs share a common ancestor with each other, and all cats share a common ancestor with each other, but cats and dogs do not share a common ancestor with each other. | 21% | 16% | 22% | 20% | 23% | 21% | 23% |
| C. | Some, but not all, dogs share a common ancestor with cats. Some, but not all, cats share a common ancestor with dogs. | 29% | 36% | 29% | 24% | 34% | 29% | 31% |
| D. | Scientists cannot trace the ancestors of any two species back far enough to find out whether they had a common ancestor. | 7% | 4% | 7% | 10% | 4% | 7% | 8% |
Post-Test (Control)
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 255 |
6–8 n = 15 |
9–12 n = 195 |
Male n = 97 |
Female n = 119 |
English n = 205 |
Other n = 6 |
||
| A. | All dogs and cats living today share a common ancestor with each other that lived a very long time ago. | 47% | 33% | 46% | 48% | 45% | 45% | 50% |
| B. | All dogs share a common ancestor with each other, and all cats share a common ancestor with each other, but cats and dogs do not share a common ancestor with each other. | 29% | 47% | 26% | 22% | 32% | 28% | 33% |
| C. | Some, but not all, dogs share a common ancestor with cats. Some, but not all, cats share a common ancestor with dogs. | 19% | 20% | 21% | 22% | 18% | 21% | 0% |
| D. | Scientists cannot trace the ancestors of any two species back far enough to find out whether they had a common ancestor. | 5% | 0% | 7% | 8% | 4% | 6% | 17% |
Post-Test (Treatment)
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 301 |
6–8 n = 8 |
9–12 n = 274 |
Male n = 134 |
Female n = 150 |
English n = 274 |
Other n = 9 |
||
| A. | All dogs and cats living today share a common ancestor with each other that lived a very long time ago. | 57% | 50% | 57% | 57% | 56% | 56% | 56% |
| B. | All dogs share a common ancestor with each other, and all cats share a common ancestor with each other, but cats and dogs do not share a common ancestor with each other. | 21% | 25% | 22% | 20% | 23% | 22% | 22% |
| C. | Some, but not all, dogs share a common ancestor with cats. Some, but not all, cats share a common ancestor with dogs. | 19% | 25% | 19% | 19% | 19% | 19% | 22% |
| D. | Scientists cannot trace the ancestors of any two species back far enough to find out whether they had a common ancestor. | 3% | 0% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 0% |