Module 5 Past HSC Questions

Question 2

In the Urey and Miller Experiment, what was one of the products in the flask?? (2019)
A. Proteins
B. Amino acids
C. Eukaryotic cells
D. Photosynthetic cells

Answer 2

B. Amino acids

Question 3

Which statement is scientifically correct and consistent with the panspermia hypothesis? (2019)
A. Extraterrestrial objects brought complex life forms to Earth.
B. NASA has found evidence that primitive life existed on Mars.
C. Organic molecules from outer space were brought to Earth on meteorites.
D. The ancestral DNA for primitive plants was brought to Earth from outer space.

Answer 3

C. Organic molecules from outer space were brought to Earth on meteorites.

Question 4

Which era in the Geological Time Scale covers the greatest duration of time? (2020)
A. Cenozoic
B. Mesozoic
C. Neoproterozoic
D. Palaeozoic

Answer 4

A. Cenozoic

Question 5

Which of the following is correctly ordered from oldest to youngest? (2020)
A. Silurian, Paleogene, Cambrian, Jurassic
B. Ordovician, Devonian, Triassic, Cretaceous
C. Archaean, Hadean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
D. Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Palaeozoic, Neoproterozoic

Answer 5

B. Ordovician, Devonian, Triassic, Cretaceous

Question 6

Significant increases in oxygen in the atmosphere occurred during the Precambrian.
Which sphere was largely responsible for this increase in the production of oxygen? (2020)
A. Atmosphere
B. Biosphere
C. Geosphere
D. Hydrosphere

Answer 6

B. Biosphere

Question 7

The principle of uniformitarianism states that geological processes acted (2020)
A. in an unexplained manner in the past.
B. randomly in the past as they do in the present.
C. in the same manner and with the same intensity in the past as they do at present.
D. in a different manner and with a different intensity in the past as they do at present.

Answer 7

C. in the same manner and with the same intensity in the past as they do at present.

Question 8

Which of the following is most likely to account for the origin of life on Earth? (2020)
A. Panspermia
B. Superposition
C. Continental drift
D. Anthropogenesis

Answer 8

A. Panspermia

Question 9

To which eon does the Holocene epoch belong? (2021)
A. Palaeozoic
B. Phanerozoic
C. Precambrian
D. Quaternary

Answer 9

B. Phanerozoic

Question 10

What was produced in the flask as a result of Urey and Miller’s experiment? (2021)
A. DNA
B. Amino acids
C. Living tissue
D. The first cells

Answer 10

B. Amino acids

Question 11

Hard-bodied animals are most likely to have evolved in response to (2021)
A. changes in the Earth’s climate.
B. the evolution of vertebrate fauna.
C. the need for protection from predation.
D. the deposition of banded iron formations.

Answer 11

C. the need for protection from predation.

Question 12

The frozen water part of the Earth’s system is the (2022)
A. atmosphere.
B. cryosphere.
C. geosphere.
D. hydrosphere.

Answer 12

B. cryosphere.

Question 13

Which fossil type is the most significant in developing the Geological Time Scale? (2022)
A. Index fossils
B. Trace fossils
C. Cast formations
D. Mould formations

Answer 13

A. Index fossils

Question 14

Which of the following has been most directly related to both the likely origin of organic molecules and the plate tectonic supercycle? (2022)
A. Black smokers
B. Panspermia
C. Stromatolites
D. Super-continents

Answer 14

A. Black smokers

Question 15

Palaeontologists have discovered that fossils of aquatic and marine organisms are more common than those of terrestrial organisms. Which of the following factors is most likely to account for this difference? (2023)
A. Hard parts fossilise more easily than soft parts.
B. There is no tectonic movement of the ocean floor.
C. Rapid burial by sediments is more likely under water.
D. Dissolved oxygen in seawater prevents decomposition.

Answer 15

C. Rapid burial by sediments is more likely under water.

Question 16

Which of the following key features assisted animals in their conquest of the land? A. External fertilisation, stronger legs, permeable skin
B. Permeable skin, paired limbs, leathery-shelled eggs
C. Waterproof scales, external fertilisation, paired limbs
D. Stronger legs, waterproof scales, leathery-shelled eggs

Answer 16

D. Stronger legs, waterproof scales, leathery-shelled eggs

Question 17

The plate tectonic supercycle involves the opening and closing of ocean basins between a single land mass and many smaller continents. How does the presence of many smaller continents increase the rate of evolution? (2023)
A. Divergence of continents increases the variety of habitats.
B. Continental collisions increase the range of possible climates.
C. Convergence of continents increases nutrient transport in the oceans.
D. Rifting of the supercontinent increases the likelihood of ice caps forming and sea levels rising.

Answer 17

A. Divergence of continents increases the variety of habitats.

Question 18

(2023) Outline an effect of photosynthesis on the development of the Geosphere and Atmosphere.

Answer 18

Geosphere: Oxygen from photosynthesis reacted with dissolved iron, forming iron oxide, creating banded iron formations.

Atmosphere: Carbon dioxide is converted into free oxygen during photosynthesis which changed the composition of the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide levels were reduced, and oxygen levels increased.

Question 19

(2023) Describe the similarities and differences between the Ediacaran and Cambrian ecosystems.

Answer 19

Similarities:
* Both ecosystems had soft bodied organisms present
* Both ecosystems had attached, burrowing and swimming movement.

Differences:
* The Ediacaran only had soft bodied organisms whilst the Cambrian had soft and hard body parts
* The Cambrian had walking and carnivorous organisms while the Ediacaran did not.

Answers could include:
* Both were marine ecosystems
* Most organisms in both ecosystems are extinct
* The Cambrian had predation
* The Cambrian ecosystem had more complex interactions than the Ediacaran
* Cambrian organisms were more diverse than Ediacaran organisms.

Question 20

(2023) Explain how relative dating can be used to determine the age of organisms such as those described at the two fossil sites.

Answer 20

Relative dating uses techniques, such as the Law of Superposition, where older layers of rock are found under younger layers in an undisturbed sequence. This allows scientists to place fossils in order from younger to older and sequence them in the geological timescale.