Lynn Margulis — Questions and answers
Read the full story
What big idea did Lynn Margulis share at the scientific conference in 1967?
Choices
- A) A recipe for a delicious new cake.
- B) Her groundbreaking 'Serial Endosymbiotic Theory'. ✓
- C) A story about how animals learned to fly.
- D) A map to a hidden treasure.
Answer: B) Her groundbreaking 'Serial Endosymbiotic Theory'.
From page 1
What big puzzle did scientists have about cells before Lynn Margulis shared her ideas?
Choices
- A) How cells learned to sing and dance.
- B) How simple cells got so many complex parts inside them. ✓
- C) How cells traveled to different planets.
- D) How cells made their own clothes.
Answer: B) How simple cells got so many complex parts inside them.
From page 2
According to Margulis's theory, how did a simple cell become more complex?
Choices
- A) It grew bigger and bigger by itself.
- B) It swallowed smaller bacteria that then lived inside it as partners. ✓
- C) It learned magic tricks to make new parts appear.
- D) It went to school to learn how to be complex.
Answer: B) It swallowed smaller bacteria that then lived inside it as partners.
From page 3
How did many scientists first react to Lynn Margulis's new ideas?
Choices
- A) They immediately celebrated her as a genius.
- B) They were very skeptical and often dismissed her ideas. ✓
- C) They bought her a large bouquet of flowers.
- D) They asked her to write a children's book.
Answer: B) They were very skeptical and often dismissed her ideas.
From page 7
What important new idea did the Endosymbiotic Theory add to how we understand evolution?
Choices
- A) That dinosaurs built the first cells.
- B) That only the strongest cells can survive alone.
- C) That cooperation and working together can be a powerful force in evolution. ✓
- D) That cells prefer to live in outer space.
Answer: C) That cooperation and working together can be a powerful force in evolution.
From page 8
What does the Gaia hypothesis, which Lynn Margulis helped develop, suggest about Earth?
Choices
- A) That Earth is a giant playground for aliens.
- B) That Earth is a single, self-regulating superorganism. ✓
- C) That Earth is flat like a pancake.
- D) That Earth only cares about rocks and mountains.
Answer: B) That Earth is a single, self-regulating superorganism.
From page 9
What is a big part of Lynn Margulis's lasting impact on science?
Choices
- A) She invented a new type of ice cream.
- B) She transformed our understanding of how cells evolved and emphasized cooperation. ✓
- C) She taught animals how to speak human languages.
- D) She found a secret passage to the center of the Earth.
Answer: B) She transformed our understanding of how cells evolved and emphasized cooperation.
From page 10