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Sesson 1: Environmental Influence — Practice Questions

  1. 1. Which of these traits is determined by an animal's parents and NOT by its environment or life experiences?

    • A. A scar from a past injury.
    • B. A dog knowing how to 'sit' on command.
    • C. The natural color of a bear's fur.
    • D. A flamingo's pink color which comes from eating shrimp.
  2. 2. What is the best example of a learned behavior?

    • A. A sea turtle instinctively swimming after it hatches.
    • B. A cat having naturally pointed ears.
    • C. A fish having gills to breathe underwater.
    • D. A parrot repeating words it hears from people.
  3. 3. A person's muscles become larger and stronger after several months of regular exercise. This change in muscle size is a trait shaped primarily by...

    • A. inheritance from parents.
    • B. environmental factors.
    • C. natural instinct.
    • D. a learned behavior.
  4. 4. An organism's traits, such as its appearance and abilities, are determined by what?

    • A. Both its inherited genes and its environment.
    • B. Only by what it inherits from its parents.
    • C. Only by the food it eats and the skills it learns in its lifetime.
    • D. By its parents' environment, but not its own.
  5. 5. Which of the following best describes an organism's environment?

    • A. The physical traits it inherits from its parents.
    • B. Only the other animals an organism lives with.
    • C. All the living and non-living things that surround it.
    • D. The specific set of learned behaviors it has.
  6. 6. A young otter watches its mother use a rock to crack open a shellfish. After several attempts, the young otter begins using rocks in the same way. This is an example of what?

    • A. An inherited trait
    • B. A survival instinct
    • C. A learned behavior
    • D. A random action
  7. 7. What is the primary reason it is beneficial for a young animal to learn skills from its social group?

    • A. It makes the animal more popular within the group.
    • B. It helps the animal find a mate more easily.
    • C. It increases the animal's chances of survival.
    • D. It guarantees the animal will become the leader.
  8. 8. If a young wolf were raised in isolation, completely separated from a pack, what skill would it most likely fail to learn properly?

    • A. How to sleep
    • B. How to breathe
    • C. How to hunt large prey
    • D. How to grow a winter coat
  9. 9. Imagine a group of chimpanzees where one discovers how to use a chewed-up leaf as a sponge to drink water from a hole in a tree. Soon, other young chimps in the group start doing the same thing. This behavior is passed on through what process?

    • A. Genetic inheritance
    • B. Social learning
    • C. Random chance
    • D. A physical mutation
  10. 10. Which of the following is the best definition of a learned behavior?

    • A. A physical trait an animal is born with, like the color of its fur.
    • B. A skill that an animal develops by observing and copying others in its social group.
    • C. An automatic reaction an animal has, such as shivering when it is cold.
    • D. The environment or habitat where an animal lives and finds its food.